Caspiantrek

A fascinating documentary by the late renowned anthropologist Dr Nader Afshar Naderi on the tribes of the Zagros mountains. https://www.aparat.com/v/RdfbY/%D9%81%DB%8C%D9%84%D9%85_%D8%A8%D9%84%D9%88%D8%B7_%D8%A7%D8%AB%D8%B1_%D8%AF%DA%A9%D8%AA%D8%B1_%D9%86%D8%A7%D8%AF%D8%B1_%D8%A7%D9%81%D8%B4%D8%A7%D8%B1_%D9%86%D8%A7%D8%AF%D8%B1%DB%8C

There are 548 species of bird recorded in Iran which belong to 26 Order and 68 Families. If you are interested in a bird watching tour of Iran please write to info@caspiantrek.com Here is a useful website for reference http://www.iranbirds.com For any tour reservation or further information please write to info@caspiantrek.com or send a Whats App to +98 937 150 1993

This is a scholarly book on this interesting subject http://www.ibtauris.com/Books/The-arts/Architecture/Residential-buildings-domestic-buildings/Castles--fortifications/The-Eagles-Nest-Ismaili-Castles-in-Iran-and-Syria?menuitem={9FBE298D-9FCE-4C9A-A4FA-3C2B6D2D7D48} For any tour reservation or further information please write to info@caspiantrek.com or send a Whats App to +98 937 150 1993

Andy was a man from down under. He was travelling with his girlfriend round the world doing a bit of everything, paragliding, deep sea diving etc and then they came to me for hiking. I chose Lemira a summer settlement south of Khoonegeli above the forest line. It is an authentic settlement of some 50 odd houses which only sees people in the hot summer months when people from Tonekabon escape the humid heat of the Caspian littoral to spend a few weeks with their families and friends there. There is still no road access to the village. Here is what we encountered. It was a memorable night of rain and wind but boy the clouds were amazing. https://youtu.be/NeGnIxvH1MU

A few travellers have used banks to change money . This is a mistake as the banks will buy your foreign currency at a much lower state rate but will never sell you hard currency at that rate if you are left with the fast devaluing Iranian Rial, in fact the banks never sell hard currencies to anyone let alone foreigners so you lose out if you go to a bank! There are official bureau de changes where you can sell ( and only sometimes buy) your currency at the market rate. You can find them in most city centers as well as international airports. You do not need Iranian Rials to enter Iran, USD and Euros are readily exchangeable in Iran. Update March 2020 The currency situation is very unstable at the moment. The US dollar has gone up from 42000 Rials to 1 USD in Spring 2019 to over 150000 Rials per 1 USD ( the euro being around 170.000 Rials per 1 euros at the time of this going to the press!!) The advice is to exchange little by little. Banks have resumed buying and selling curr...

Trekkers who are opting for an English speaking nature or mountain guide in Iran should be aware of the fact that the general level of English spoken by many of these guides is not up to the standard they might expect. Cultural guides usually have a better level of English than most nature or mountain guides. The reason many trekkers wish to have an English speaking guide is to interact with the locals more meaningfully and learn about local cultures, however, the English the guides speak may disappoint them. The reason is that English learnt by many of these guides when they undergo training is inadequate and unless they have a strong motivation to take extra lessons their knowledge of the language especially spoken language remains generally low. Besides, many of these guides never get the chance to travel outside Iran mainly because it is extremely difficult to get visas (bar for a few far eastern and middle eastern countries) and also because until recently the number of incoming t...

The general European conception about dealing with the middle eastern is that they should bargain or haggle for a better price. In Europe you have price labels, taxi meters and no-one argues with them they take it or leave it. In Iran like many other third world countries sometimes labels lack, there are no taxi meters and you could end up paying much more that what is due. So here are some useful tips. If you want to buy a rug, carpet, jajim or kilim then try not to buy it in Isfahan. Try the big bazaar in Tehran first and buy from a whole seller. Here you should bargain a little perhaps for a 20% reduction. If going through the labyrinth of hundreds of narrow alleys in the bazaar is unattractive for you then try Shiraz, Qom or Yazd. You are much less likely to be ripped off. If you have seen something you like and it happened to be in a shop in a touristy area of Isfahan then bargain hard and long. A family staying with us came across a rug they really liked. It happened to be in...