Western Iran - Iran - page 205

Bus, Minibus & Savari
From the main terminal (Moqaddas-e-Ardabili St) , 5km northeast of the centre, Tehran
buses (US$8 to US$11, 10 hours) leave hourly (7am to 11pm) via Astara (US$0.50 to
US$1, two hours), Rasht (US$2 to US$4, five hours) and Qazvin (US$6 to US$12, eight
hours). Buses run to Tabriz (US$2 to US$4, four hours) via Sarab hourly till 3.30pm.
Savaris to Astara (back/front/whole car US$1/US$2/US$10, 1½ hours) use Istgah
Astara ( 882 0876; Jam'e-Jam St) , a small yard with a green sign 100m northeast of Ja-
had Sq.
Getting Around
The airport is 1km off the Astara road, 11km northeast of Ardabil (US$6 by taxi). From
Imam Khomeini Sq shuttle taxis run to Bahonar Sq (for Sara'eyn minibuses) and to Besat
Sq. Khalkhoran minibuses start near Imam Hossein Sq.
THE MIGHTY CASPIAN SEA
At 370,000 sq km the Caspian (Darya-ye Khazar) is five times the size of Lake Superior. That makes it by far the
world's largest lake. Or does it? Its littoral states (Iran, Russia, Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan) can't de-
cide if the Caspian's a lake at all. Perhaps it's a 'sea'. That's more than petty semantics. In international legal terms,
each nation deserves its own territorial slice of any 'sea' it borders. But with a 'lake', resources below it must be
shared equally among all littoral states. So the exact definition has vast economic implications given the Caspian's
immensely valuable offshore oilfields. The debate continues.
The Caspian has many environmental worries (see www.caspianenvironment.org ) . Under-sea mud volcanoes and
oil vents add to the murk of industrial effluent flowing in through its tributary rivers, notably the Volga. And at 26.5m
below sea level, there's no outlet from which pollution can escape. Pollution along with climate change are given as
reasons for increasingly severe algal blooms, the vast annual growth of surface water-weeds which, in summer 2005,
covered an astonishing 20,000 sq km of the Caspian. Scientists are also worried by the appearance of Mnemiopsis
Leydiyi (a comb jellyfish) whose explosive 1990's reproduction in the Black Sea had threatened fish stocks there. All
this, along with heavy over-fishing, is a particular worry for the slow-growing Caspian sturgeon, which produces 95%
of the world's caviar, but is now facing possible extinction.
To Westerners brought up reading CS Lewis novels, the name 'Caspian' sounds romantic. Sadly the reality isn't
very beautiful. Between 1977 and 1994 Caspian Sea levels rose an astonishing 15cm to 20cm per year. Those beaches
that survived are mostly grey and ugly, but local holidaymakers don't seem to mind too much. After all, swimming in
full chador isn't much fun. When Iranians tell you how wonderful the coast is, they might mean because of all the
lovely rain. Rasht incorporates rain drops into the calligraphy of its welcome sign. There are even seaside restaurants
named Barun (Rain). For people from the desert plateau, the Caspian coast's regular downpours must seem exotic.
But few foreigners share their enthusiasm.