On our way further south we stop in the city of Kerman. Most tourists in Iran skip this destination, but for us the proximity to one of the hottest deserts in the world is too tempting to move on. We gladly accept the offer of a guide to take us to the desert and to spend the night in an oasis – but without looking at the weather. Snow almost obstructs our plans, but fortunately the mountain road that leads into the desert remains passable even with summer tyres. The Lut desert is known for its rock formations and has been on the UNESCO World Heritage List since 2016. Of course sunset and sunrise are a must, the first one we reach with the for us typical short delay.
We stay overnight in an “eco lodge” operated by local people. Our guide complains that when you call yourself an eco lodge in an oasis, you shouldn’t have beds or air conditioning. We would indeed have slept on the floor. There is a little bit of adventure for me, because there is no western toilet here, of course – for the first time on our trip to Iran. I am relieved to note that this type of toilet works quite well and uses even less of the scarce water.
About water. The oases in the deserts also have the Qanat water supply system. A 35 km long underground tunnel brings drinking water from the mountains to the oasis, since thousands of year ago. We had already read a lot about it in Yazd, now we can see the Qanats in action for the first time and are amazed again at the ingenuity of the inventors of this system.
Back in Kerman we notice that the people here are a little more reserved than before. We are surprised to find that our taxi drivers repeatedly refuse to accept the money for the journey. It is only after repeated pressure that they finally agree to accept the agreed price. Our guide finally enlightens us. The whole thing is part of the Iranian politeness, called Ta’ rof. In fact he should actually apologize to us as a driver for turning his back on us. The right response is: flowers don’t have a back at all.
