Famous the world over, the elaborately woven Persian rugs and carpets, "gilims"and "jajims" ....
There are literally thousands of dealers in the country but in which city should you buy?
A lovely French-Moroccan family were our guests in Khoonegeli last year. I organized a round Iran trip for them with an English speaking guide and then finally they came to Khoonegeli for a trek. We went to Lemira to spend a night.
They went to buy a Persian rug from a shop in Isfahan and the guy asked for 6000usd, they thought it was a little overpriced so they started the usual haggling and the guy came down to 4000usd. Not convinced they took a picture and sent it to an Iranian friend in Dubai who was a carpet dealer. He valued it at 2000usd max!! And haggling further they ended up buying it for 2300usd! A whopping 3700usd cheaper!!
So where to buy? Yazd and Shiraz are two good places but perhaps just as good or maybe even better would be the bazaar of Qom or Tehran, they are far less touristy and you have a much larger choice. The down side is the time you would need to allocate to filter through thousands of extremely attractive carpets. If time is on your side try one of these two towns, you may end up getting a real bargain.
Or you may write to me for further advice!
Day Hikes and one day summits from Khoonegeli 1. Lemira : - is a summer settlement of some 50 odd adobe houses in an alpine pastureland above the forest line in an altitude of some 2300m in the Goleyjan district of southern Tonekabon. It is one of the most picturesque summer villages in the area within easy reach of Khoonegeli. It has an amazing panoramic view of the Caspian Sea, the forest below, and the coastal towns from Ramsar to Chalous of some 70km radius. There are 3 trails to reach Lemira a) Khoonegeli (altitude 80m ASL) – Beysar a tiny settlement at an altitude of 600m ASL 15 minutes by car then trek via an old forest trail, hardly used these days as a dirt road to Aghuzhal has shorten the journey to Lemira, the return can be via Aghuzhal (1200m ASL) to Khoonegeli 17km 45 minutes. Approximate hiking time : 8 hours b) Khoonegeli- Aghuzhal –Lemira, return ...