Zagros Mountains

We left Espahan direction to Shiraz, the starting point of our trek through Zagros Mountains. From Paris we had contacted Abdullah, a trek guide who knew the area very well. He proposed us a 3 days trek through nice landscapes between 2.400 and 3.500 metres.

The Zagros Mountain range is Iran’s largest mountain range,  about 1.500 km long and it stretches from northeastern Iraq to the Strait of Hormuz. Zagros has many peaks higher than 3.000 m and the tallest mountain is Zard-Kuh (4.548 m). This range consists of folded mountains made up mostly of limestone and dolomite.

The pick-up was at 7.00 am in Shiraz. At the beginning of the trek, Abdullah’s friend, Ibrahim, joined us with his horse. He would help with the logistics, like the tents and  food. He looked like a Bonanza’s character with his cowboy hat and outfit but he was hilarious. I laughed a lot with him during the trek.

During the first day hike we walked up to 3.500 metres. It was early May but there was still snow on the path. On the way to the top, we found very beautiful red flowers standing out on the snow. Abdullah did not know its name but he told us that they only bloom during 10 – 15 days in May so I felt very lucky to see this beautiful show.

On the top of the hill there were beautiful views over a lake, which would be our picnic spot. I did not find a better way to go down to the lake than like if I was on a slide. It was so funny!

 

In the afternoon we arrived to an area with some nomad’s tents. They were very welcoming and proposed us to share their dinner. We spent the night there close to them.

 

The second day was harder because it was very hot. The landscape was also drier. When Abdullah came to cheer me up (I was walking more slowly than the previous day) I told him that it was useless because when I usually hike, what motivates me is the super fresh beer at the end of the hike and on Zagros the maximum that I could expect at the end of the third day was a simple coke. He told me that if I walked faster he could give us a “surprise”. I cannot tell you what he proposed (this is a public blog) but definitely it helped, lol.

During the second day hike we met some locals and we could have some interesting discussions with them thanks to the help of Abdullah. At night we shared a super barbecue with them and we set up our tents not far from their hut.

The trek ended  on the third day at a popular spot with a 60 metres high waterfall called Margoon. It was Friday, the day off in Iran, and the place was very crowded. Abdullah’s family came to join us for a picnic and we had a nice time all together. I enjoyed these three days in the Iranian mountains and this is a trek that I will definitely recommend to all my friends.

My tips:

• Iran Sightseeing website and Mr Abdullah Raeeisi’s mail is raeesi@iransightseeing.com.  They propose treks through Zagros Mountains but also in other parts of Iran.