Recently my friend AliMo N brought some hotel brochures for us. I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw the one for the hotel in Kandovan. Other friends had mailed me photos of the hotel project a couple of years back but I never thought that it would actually be built. A five-star hotel in the middle of nowhere, at the end of the world!

I wanted to take pictures for the greeting-card that I send to friends for the New-Year, plus the area has good ski touring possibilities that I thought may be interesting to further investigate; we had had a quick look last year that was promising. That, added to the excitement of seeing this intriguing new hotel was more than enough to get me going. I invited AliMo N, Hooshmand L and Kaveh EM to join me.

We packed the old Patrol with clothes and equipment for a long weekend including touring skis, sealskins and of course cameras and other toys such as laptop computers, GPS, walkie-talkies and most important the iPod which I couldn't wait to test with the new powerful speakers just installed on the patrol and off we were...

The village of Kandovan is about seven hundred kilometers North-West of Tehran. It is off the Tabriz-Urmia road, above Osku. The place is well known and well indicated. Most of the locals can give you directions. So, although it is a long way from Tehran, it is straightforward to find once you have reached Tabriz.

Kandovan is famous because the settlement is built into the volcanic rock from the nearby Sahand volcano. To a lesser extent it is known for its mineral water source believed to have therapeutic effects on the liver and kidney.

There are various tales about Kandovan; some dating back to pre-islamic times, others to the 13 the century AD during the Mongol injunction in Iran. None, I think, are reliable but whatever the true history of Kandovan may be, the village and hotel are both unique and very interesting architecturally. The nature in the area is also winsome: green and cool in the summer with creeks, streams, rivers, lush pastures and high mountain ranges all around.

I understand there are only two similar places in the world, one in Turkey and one in Brazil.

In winter Kandovan is very cold with abundant snow. Early in the morning, I could hardly resist more than a minute or two to take photos without gloves! We stayed at the Kandovan Laleh Rocky Hotel as it is officially known. An attraction in itself, it has four rooms and six suites for a total of ten, all hand carved into the rock. The suites even have jacuzzis! Rates, which vary according to the season, are reasonable by European standards but very high for the ordinary Iranian.

As very often in Iran it could have been a great hotel but its not; even-though it is much better than anything I expected. The staff was friendly and the service acceptable. The food ok too. Were it not in Iran it could have been a lovers’ retreat but with no wine, music, dancing and all the restrictions put on women's wear chances, at least for the foreseeable future, are slim...

We had a good time just exploring the surroundings, taking photos, etc… and then being able to rest in a clean, well heated hotel.

Before returning to Tehran we had an excellent Kebab dinner in Sardrud which is just a few kilometers from Tabriz.

J-M Houtcieff
micky@amanieh.com

Why don't you refer to your site?

From the above email I found your site is amanieh.com and your tour page is http://www.amanieh.com/tours.htm

What an amazing shot this is!!!