Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
built with.' Which when we visited meant work to develop a lighter brick to be used in
ceilings while being flexible enough to withstand an earthquake.
It's a haunting walk, but even after the
zelzele
(earthquake) the sheer scale of the Arg
and the remaining or rebuilt ramparts, arches and supporting walls mean it's not difficult
to imagine its majesty.
There is little shade so go in the early morning or late afternoon.
DANGERS & ANNOYANCES: EXTREMISTS & DRUG
SMUGGLERS
The road from Kerman to Bam, Zahedan and Pakistan is unavoidable if you are travelling overland to or from
Pakistan. In the past few years travellers have been kidnapped in three separate events on this road, all associated
with a disgruntled drug smuggler trying to get a relative out of jail. They were all eventually released unharmed and
reported being 'treated well', though for one Japanese man kidnapped in Bam in 2007, it took several months. As
we published, that was the last kidnapping of a foreigner in Iran.
Unrelated to this, in Zahedan and elsewhere in Sistan-va Baluchistan province Sunni extremists have conducted
infrequent but persistent attacks on Iranian military and civilians that, given it's been going on for several years,
amounts to a low-level insurgency. The leader of these Jundollah extremists was captured and eventually hanged in
2010, but sporadic events have continued. Locals we spoke with in Zahedan were critical of Tehran's handling of
the issue, and openly sympathetic with the emotion, if not the actions, of the Jundollah rebels. So far no foreigners
have been targeted.
Clearly travelling in this area is not as safe as travelling elsewhere in Iran. But people continue to do it, usually
without trouble. If you're coming this way, particularly east of Bam, keep a low profile, don't go off alone and do
your research. Read the
Thorn Tree
(
www.lonelyplanet.com/thorntree
)
and search
Horizons Unlimited
(
www.horizonsunlimited.com
)
for trip reports, and ask at each stop as you head east. If you're driving, you might
want to link up with other vehicles at Akbar Tourist Guest House (
Click here
) in Bam.
Tours
Local guide
Reza Bahraminejad
( 0939-556 475; reza_bahraminejad@yahoo.com)
is
contactable through Akbar Tourist Guest House and conducts informative, enthusiastic
tours, including of Bam (US$20 per person), to the Jebalbarez mountains (US$60), and to
visit Baluchi nomads on the two-day drive/trek to the 92m-high Vorvar Abshahr waterfall
(one/two people US$120/170).
