Write to make it happen( Travel to western Iran )

I am Amir, a travel enthusiast from Isfahan (Iran), with my wife and two children we try to use every opportunity to travel.

I always read a few travelogues to the desired destination before each trip so that we can get on the road with more familiarity. This time I decided to write my first travelogue on your site, maybe I also helped a traveler.

As always, I was sitting at the computer, planning trips in my mind that we had not taken, and on days when Corona would not allow us to travel, I would just spend time with photos of previous trips and possible future travel plans. My eye fell on the calendar and the four days off September 27 to 30( in Iran ) stared me in the eye. I told myself that traveling in these circumstances is not wise! But I was still arguing with myself and saying that thinking about it and dreaming that there is nothing wrong with it, I just added a day off to it in my mind and it became five days.

I opened the Google Map summary and checked the route home to Oramanat, Kurdistan. Now why Kurdistan? firstly, I had not been there before, and secondly, because the holiday in question was religious, Which did not include that city.

I was busy for a few days and I had to work on Thursday, I even forgot about traveling. The situation developed in such a way that I made sure that I would leave work at noon on Thursday but there would be no leave, I had decided to travel even now that we only had three and a half days! We turned our hearts to the sea and closed the baggage of the trip, emphasizing that we should have the least contact with the local people so that we do not carry the corona virus and cause them trouble ...

As always, my wife prepared the travel items with the experience she had. Of course, on this trip, items such as masks, gloves, and disinfectant solution were also our new guests.

ok, now we had to turn our thoughts into action, and this is where our journey officially began:

first day (or actually the first half of the day):

On Thursday, before I returned home, as I said, my wife prepared the things and we left for the road an hour after arriving home. The program was definitely not in line with previous perceptions and should have been more intensive. According to calculations, before dark, we could reach the Borujerd city and plan to stay at a tourist hotel on the Borujerd roof. We were on the road for about five hours to reach Chagha Park, or better to say the Borujerd roof. Hotel was full and had no place. We decided to set up a tent as usual and my wife would prepare the food. We found a place in the same area of ​​Borujerd roof and we learned about our furniture. map, showed a pond near us, But the darkness and tiredness forced us to be carefree and rested. Although the view of the city at night was very beautiful.

second day:

The tiredness of the previous day, made it very easy for us to spend the night in the tent in the morning, and while we had chosen a quiet place for the tent at night, when we woke up in the morning, we saw several tents around us. After eating breakfast, The sound of a waterfall made my son curious and I saw him return after ten minutes and he said that there is a waterfall fifty meters away from us and we all went to see it and we saw not only the waterfall but also the pond next to us.

My son found a statue of "Arash Kamangir(The legendary hero of Iran)" and since his name is Arash, he started photographing it with special taste. We took a small walk through the city streets so as not to leave it unnoticed. The toilets inside the city were all closed because of the Corona virus, and the atmosphere of Muharram month(Muslim religious month) ruled the city! When we were disappointed with Toilet services in the city, we took the road to get to the intercity gas station sooner and fill the car tank and empty ourselves !!(The toilet must have been open there).

It was around noon when we reached the "Kermanshah-Kamyaran" crossroads and with a collective consultation we decided to go to "Taq-e-Bostan" Boulevard and eat "Kermanshahi ribs" for lunch and relive old memories, even though the children chose chicken and pounded !.

Due to the fact that we have already visited many tourist attractions in that area, I did not mention it in this travelogue.

After passing "Kamyaran", we entered the "Palangan" sub-district, and the nature, which had its own beauty even now that the season was not suitable, dazzled our eyes. We have already heard in travelogues and from friends that April is the best season to travel to Kurdistan, but we never had the opportunity until now.

the road leading to "Palangan" village

We reached the entrance of "Palangan", but what we feared happened and the village was in quarantine and we were not allowed to enter. We took photos from a distance and with regret and sadness why we did not get information earlier from our friends, we continued our journey to "Marivan" and kept ourselves satisfied by seeing the nature around the road .

I remembered a poem that said: "I will come back again, since I was left unfinished I will start again"

We moved all the way faster to reach "Marivan" sooner, from the very entrance of Marivan city, the excessive and unnatural crowd, especially in this corona Virus situation, surprised us. The entrance park of the city seemed to be suitable for camping, but we preferred to explore other places, especially the "Zaribar" Lake (also called "Zarivar"). After passing through the heavy traffic at the beginning of the lake, we decided to set up a tent there. Considering the social distance, we set up our house next to the car and started walking towards the lake. While on both sides of the road there were bazaars that had both a variety of goods and a reasonable price, although we did not intend to buy, but we got some clothes for the children. After a long time, the children were away from quarantine and solitude, and seeing the passion and excitement of the people, they did not become idle, but began to play and go sightseeing.We thought for a moment that the corona virus was not there and this was the factor that made us buy "falafel" dinner from the vendor and eat it ...

There were many pedal boats and motorboats for the entertainment of tourists, which were also welcomed. All the vendors also used Kurdish, unless we announced that we did not understand what they were saying. Of course, the Kurdish tribes are very warm-hearted and kind, and at the same time we found few friends who insisted that we be their guests, but the promise of our meeting remained for another time when there is no corona Virus! One of the shopkeepers helped me to learn a few Kurdish words and I was happy to learn the same few words.

third day:

Around noon, we arrived in "Orman Takht", which is the center of "Oramanat" city and has a very beautiful stepped shape. The air was hot and the bellies were hungry! Seeing a restaurant that also had a local dish called "Qavourmeh" on menu, we stopped and entered. There was a beautiful view in front of us that doubled our appetite. I recommend that you never miss this local food if you go to "Oraman" or in the local language of "Horaman".

I spent an hour in the hot air in the back alleys of the stepped city of "Oraman Takht" while my wife and children stayed in the car in the shade and rested. The wooden doors and windows, which were mostly blue and green.

I had previously read on the internet that a ceremony is held there as a wedding celebration of "Pir Shalyar", which of course is in May and February, and we ourselves have not yet been able to see it up close. But for your familiarity, I will write a little about the philosophy of this ceremony that if you could schedule a visit to "Oramanat" with this ceremony:

"According to the people and their sayings, "Pir Shalyar", the son of one of the leaders of Zarathustra, was perfect. He devoted his whole life to worshiping God, helping people and freeing himself from selfishness. At the end of his life, he converted to Islam. It is said that "Pir Shalyar "was a physician and performed miracles; he was also a poet and wrote fond poems, but a story that has made people still remember him alive after many years. ‌ is the story of the treatment of the daughter of Shah Bukhara and her marriage

It is said that "Bukhara" king had a deaf and dumb girl named "Bahar Khatun", whom the doctors were unable to treat, but "Pir Shalyar", with God's help, was able to treat her on the way to the village before meeting her. The king of Bukhara, who promised to marry his daughter in return, chose "Pir Shalyar" as his son-in-law. The ceremony was held with the help and support of the elders of different tribes; Just like today, people still hold it with empathy and help. The ancient ceremony of "Pir shalyar" is held in two different times, the first ceremony is on 15th of may and its name is "Kuhsari" in which a speech is made about "Pir Shalyar" and the local bread called "Klireh" is used to serve. The next ceremony will be held on 15th of February and People make sacrifices according to the old custom and listen to and praise God.

"Pir Shalyar" Ceremony - Photo from the Internet

We continued along the road to reach the next villages. I had heard about the road to "Bolber" village before and had seen some pictures, so I slowed down to get ready to see it. Somewhere along the road, two cars stopped and while traveling, I realized that we had reached a suitable location to see this road. We stopped and watched the attraction from the top of the winding road, and took a few pictures.

The village of "Bolbar", like other villages in the region, is stepped and many pomegranate trees could be seen along the way. In one of the shops in the village, we got some curd and mineral water. I suggest that you, like us, make some of your purchases along the way from local people to help the indigenous economy of each region.

Slowly, the "Sirvan" River, which had hidden itself from us after leaving "Palangan", reappeared. The road was not out of asphalt and the road was dirt and under repair, but do not worry too much, because it can be easily crossed with any car, and maybe now that you have read this travelogue, you intend to travel and it has become asphalt.

After "Bolbar", the village of "Zhivar" is located in a sub-district which, like all the villages in that area, is tourist-friendly. We were about to go when the children craved water in the middle of the river and we stopped by the river for a few hours and the children reached their destination. After passing through two other villages, we practically left the geographical borders of "Kurdistan" and entered the west of "Kermanshah".

fountainhead "Bell", "Darian" Dam Lake and the village of "Hojich" were places we had to visit before the end of the day to reach overnight in the city of Paveh.

fountainhead "Bell", which is also called "Kani Bell" in the local language, after the changes that took place in 2016and 2017, in order to create the "Darian Dam", went out of its natural state and in the form of a waterfall, a new route was built for it. It is also known as "Bell waterfal". If you have enough time, do not miss the pleasure of boating in "Darian" Dam. These boats are traveling from the destination of "Hojich" village to the bottom of waterfall and at the level of the dam.

After stopping for an hour at these points, we moved to the city of "Paveh", which is known as the largest stepped city in Iran, and reached "Komeh Kal" Park. Adjacent to this park were municipal suites and residences where we still prefer to use our tent camp. Park facilities were good, toilets, supermarkets and restaurants. Many travelers had stayed in the park and locals had gathered in the park for fun. The park is in the shape of a circle that could be parked near the tent, and with concrete platforms and electric lights, it was a good place to spend the night. My daughter "Anisa" also found a friend for herself and spent an hour playing with her. These temporary neighbors, were residents of "Urmia" who had come to "Paveh" for the border bazaar. For dinner, with the purchases that my son was in charge of, and with my wife's constant cooperation, we had a pasta, the thought of which still makes my mouth water. I do not know why the food cooked on the trip is so delicious and the taste stays in the mind for a long time.

Day four (last):

With "Arash's" research the night before, we realized that we could make "omelets" for breakfast from a restaurant near the park, so we packed up and ordered breakfast, and started moving with the mindset that we had to get home tonight.

According to the promise I made to my wife, we had to go to the border bazaar of Paveh, which was the result of buying some cosmetics and clothes. Of course, I had not checked the prices long ago, but my wife described them as cheaper than in "Isfahan".

In short, around noon, we were able to leave "Paveh" and for lunch we went to the "Qori Qaleh" cave and the first resturant. Of course, the food was delicious, but I felt that there was not enough cleanliness and order.

After getting energized, we went to visit the "Qori Qaleh" cave, which we had heard a lot about. "Qori Qaleh" cave is one of the most attractive caves in Iran. This cave is the largest water cave in Asia and is the longest cave in Iran. This cave is 12 km long and 3140 meters deep. Of course, "Qori Qaleh" cave has two main phases that are very popular with tourists. The first phase with a length of 500 meters is the bed for the formation of two famous halls of the cave called "Maryam" Hall and "Kohan Shatr" Hall and the second phase of the cave is 1000 meters long and the bridal, "Beethoven" and "prayer" halls are formed in it. Currently only the first phase Is viewable.

It is interesting to know that the temperature of the castle is constant in all seasons of the year. This cave has a temperature in the range of 7 to 11 degrees Celsius. The depth of the cave floor ponds reaches 14 meters in their deepest state. "Qori Qaleh" Cave is millions of years old. The cave dates back to 65 million years ago and the second geological period, the Mesozoic period. In 1976, a group of English geologists discovered this cave and geological studies began on this cave.

since the discovery of the cave, several caves have been explored by cavers. The guide who was present at the beginning of the cave cited the lack of budget as a reason to stop exploring or launching the next phases of the cave, and according to the pictures and videos he showed us, we saw only 10% of the cave and its amazing beauty still It is far from the eyes of visitors.

After visiting "Qori Qaleh" Cave, the next short stop was at the entrance of "Kermanshah", where we bought some rice bread and reached the river "gamasiab" to eat Kermanshah souvenirs ourselves!

When we entered Lorestan province, the streets revived the "Muharram" atmosphere in us, and it was clear that this issue is given special importance in this province. We were in the city of "Dorud" for dinner. We visited several cafeterias and restaurants we knew, but all of them were either closed or only served hookah that night!

After passing the traffic caused by the mourning processions, we finally found a resturant and ordered a "Liver" ("Jegrvaz"-Doroud local food). I believe that when traveling, you should try the local cuisine.

We finally got home at the end of the night ...

And I'm at home, browsing through the photos and writing this travelogue while my mind is planning another trip.

I hope you like our first family travel story.

Your encouragement can motivate me to write a travelogue again.