MIR Corporation's Travel Blog:
Ancient Persia, Modern Iran

Follow along with MIR Corporation Tour Specialist Meaghan Samuels as she explores beautiful and enigmatic Iran on MIR's Ancient Persia, Modern Iran small group tour.

• Day 1: Arrival in Tehran
• Day 2: Tehran
• Days 3-4: Tehran, Bandar-e Anzali, Masuleh Village
• Day 5: Tehran, Yazd
• Day 6: Yazd
• Days 7-8: Yazd, Kerman
• Days 9-10: Kerman, Shiraz, Persepolis
• Days 11-12: Shiraz, Firuzabad, Yasuj
• Day 13: Yasuj, Isfahan
• Day 14: Isfahan, Tehran

April 8-9, 2008

We rise early and depart for Bandar-e-Anzali and Masuleh Village today. The landscape changes vastly as we move along, from arid and dusty to lush and wet. Instead of sand, we begin to see pistachio fields and even rice plantations. As we approach the Caspian Sea, the weather begins to change. We move under rain clouds, and the temperature drops slightly.

The bus pulls into Masuleh Village in low evening light and fog. The village has a unique structure; houses and shops are built into the Talesh mountainside and on top of one another. As you walk the pathways that wind upward, you are actually passing over the roofs of the homes on the path below.

We walk upward and into the village, stopping along the way in shops nestled into the mountainside and between residential homes.

Our guide encourages us to stop for a rest in a local teahouse, where we have the opportunity to sip hot tea and try some of the local flavored tobacco with a waterpipe. We try several different tobacco flavors, selecting apple and strawberry from a longer list including cherry, chocolate, peach, and more. The teashop has a gorgeous view of the mountains and village below. Since the village is built in this tiered form, there is a view at all times from almost anywhere in the village. We are protected under the awning of the shop, while rain continues lightly, enriching the deep red mud colored buildings and greenery. The creek in the ravine below gathers momentum as we reluctantly depart.

In the morning before we depart our hotel in Bandar-e Anzali, I take a walk along the beach on the Caspian Sea. Looking out I think of all the other countries that border this very same body of water, Azerbaijan, Russia, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan and imagine that I can see them from my perspective on this Iranian strip of beach.

We depart from the hotel and cruise alongside the sea until we find Chalus road. This road is an alternative route from the highway we drove in on. Chalus road heads into the Alborz mountains for a scenic drive which at times reminds me of being in the Yosemite Valley in terms of scope and majesty. We arrive in Tehran in the evening, in time for dinner and an early bedtime.

Photos from this leg of the tour (click to enlarge):