QUIET LITTLE QESHM - Qeshm Island, Iran

......we left you in......Bandar Abbas......

Qeshm Island is an hour’s ferry ride from Bandar, and as our host had a friend there, we thought we would check in out for a few days. Our host, was welcoming man who had lived in Germany for many years, and spoke fluent German, and a bit less English. He’s 60-something and had had an interesting life, and we enjoyed his many stories. Although he had a bakery that he lived above, he wasn’t a baker, rather a highly educated man who was an engineer/inventor specializing in machinery. His tiny apartment was cosy and comfortable, with Rich and me sharing a single bed (first time since Scotland!).

With new friend, Qeshm Island (and more food!)

Our host lived near the beach, and we spent a couple of enjoyable evenings with he and his friends, eating, meeting, drinking and getting to know new people, and a day out and about checking out the local castle and old town area.

Friends, Qeshm

Colourful wall, Qeshm

Hitch-hiking, Qeshm

Portuguese fort, Qeshm

Canon at Portuguese fort, Qeshm

Qeshm cutie

Qeshm-style mask

Portuguese fort, Qeshm

Rich's new friend, Qeshm

Rich and I had a day hitch-hiking around most of the island. The main thing we wanted to see was the village of Laft, and we eventually got there, via a roundabout scenic route, due to getting lifts by locals. We wandered about the ruins of an old Portuguese castle, and admired the badgirs, an amazing and beautiful invention on the tops of house to steer the wind into the house below. The Portuguese were here for some time in the past, and there are quite a few castles in the area, but most are pretty unimpressive and falling down. But then, we have just come from the ultimate place for forts- Rajasthan!

Alley cat, Qeshm Island

Traditional house, Laft, Qeshm Island

Ancient wells, Qeshm

Building, Laft, Qeshm

Laneway, Qeshm Island

Beautiful architecture, Qeshm

Laft village, Qeshm Island

Badgir (wind funnel), Laft village, Qeshm

Our host wanted us to stay longer, and would have loved to, but only having three months in Iran, and being such slow travellers, we knew we had to get going. It was a sad good bye, when we left for the ferry terminal, and we knew this would be the first of many.

Our new friends had explained to us how much Iranians love hitch-hiking, camping, picnics and travelling- usually in their own country, but other places too. Their way of thinking is very different from the SE Asian attitude of needing a reason to go somewhere- not just for the adventure of it. We’ve seen Iranians with backpacks wandering around, and being No Ruz, there are campers everywhere. They camp in the strangest places, though, such as on the side of the road in the towns or directly outside buildings. They also seem to have a different attitude to untraditional lifestyles, such as ours, and generally we had no problem about being honest about our backgrounds and choices- something we would never do in India, for instance, as it would be impossible for them to understand.

We had arrived in Iran just before the biggest holiday of the year, No Ruz, or New Day. It is a massive and long affair, with almost the entire population travelling around the country, either to see family, or to visit as tourists. Many popular towns such as Shiraz and Esfahan would be mobbed, and the coastal regions were preparing for an onslaught of tens of thousands of incomers. Officially it lasts for 2 weeks, but businesses, and even Government departments, close whenever they feel like it, and people often just don’t turn up for work. The week before and after are still vague regarding opening times. So, it was not the best time to be heading to the more touristy areas, and that in part was a deciding factor in our heading east to Sistan and Baluchistan province, and the coastal town of Chabahar in particular.


.......onwards to....A Baluchi Adventure.....