A Visit to Sistan and Baluchistan, Eastern Iran

By Marziyeh Ebrahimi

We visited a forgotten tourist destination in Eastern Part of Iran bordering Afghanistan and Pakistan. Although “Sistan & Baluchistan” provinces receive few tourists, it has so many tourism attractions to offer!

It was spring and there was a 20 day holiday for Iranian New Year (Norooz). We were looking for a destination in Iran that we had not visited yet. We decided to go on an adventure visiting Sistan & Baluchistan. Just take a look at your world map looking at the Middle East.

On Iran’s eastern border, there is a vast province bordering Afghanistan and Pakistan and has a long shoreline with Oman We left the capital, Tehran, and flew to Chabahar, maybe the last city in Iran with a big surprise!

Still Iran, But…

Although it was still Iran there, not another country, many things were different. Even the language they speak for daily greeting and work.

As an Iranian, the first thing that grabbed my attention was the clothes people wear. The clothes are most likely the ones are worn in Afghanistan and Pakistan–long white shirts which reach down to the knees and white trousers, they also wear a hat which is very popular among them.

We were staying in the Lipar hotel right in front of the seashore where we watched the beautiful sunset on the water. Many people travel here just to watch sunrise and sunsets. There are so many ships and boats in the water. An nice old sea captain who owns two beautiful yachts and recently bought a one for his son, invited us for a short drive in a boat on the sea.

We happily accepted enjoying the water and so many see birds flying above our heads. He told us about how close Pakistan is nearby –just 30 to 45 minute boat ride to the border.

On the shore there was underwater photography festival. It was very crowded on the shore and a German tourist whose job was trading clothes in Europe was among them. He told me that Iran is the cheapest country he has ever traveled. Pointing out that he has spent in his one-month stay in Iran the money he would spend in a five-day trip in Europe.

Days are hot in Chabahar, so we returned the hotel. Foods in this region of Iran are inspired by Indian foods and are very spicy and hot. There is a special table in the hotel’s restaurant just for very spicy foods.

I’m not used to this kind of food so I took a bowl of yogurt with myself to put on my tongue after the taste! I guess one bowl was not enough because my tongue was hot even one hour after that. We all loved the food of course.

We spent evening watching the sunset on the beach, taking photos for our web profiles showing friends we also had access to the internet at the hotel checking our emails.

Perfect Weather at Night

The weather here is perfect at night. There is a beautiful yard at the hotel with a bench and tables and it’s possible to order tea, ice cream, coffee and hubble-bubble, (hookah with flavored tobacco). We spent time until 11 pm and went for a walk along the beach. Although we sometime hear in the media that this is not a safe area, we didn’t believe it.

Locals also believe that it is safe. So we went on walking until 3 am to reach a nice part of the beach called Tis. It was silent so we sat to listen to the water of the Oman sea for an hour. Coming back we asked a passing car for a ride to hotel. He welcomed us as tourists there and didn’t accept our money for the ride.

Famous Handicrafts

Handicrafts in this region are very famous you can see them often in women’s clothes. Shell handicrafts are also very famous in Chabahar. Shell surrounded mirrors, earrings, necklaces and more. with good prices that made me buy a lot!

As Chabahar is a free trade zone, many famous producers have a branch there and the prices are less inside the country especially home appliances, clothes, shoes, baby items, bedroom sheets and decorations and many others.

There are a number of malls there. Chinese products like all over the world have some branches there but there is a difference– The sellers are also Chinese!

I saw many Chinese people working there as sellers in malls selling things which shows the Chinese culture. One of the nation famous tourist attractions in Chabahar is the volcano which sprays mud instead of fire.

Iranian Crocodiles

It’s one of the geological attractions of this area. Nature has interesting things here. An Iranian crocodile called “Gando” inhabits in Chabahar and there is also a farm for the Gandos here. A woman is responsible for this farm full of crocodiles!

One of the famous things in this province is the way locals dance. They have different group dances. The famous one is the sword dancing. I saw this dance first in Tehran, capital; a famous group of these dancers are invited to many cultural programs especially cultural weeks in Tehran. They play with their traditional musical instruments and dance.

Although we made friends with many local people we should continue our new year’s holiday by returning to Tehran and visiting relatives. The airport is about an hour drive from center of city.

Before going to our flight, the check of luggage is done very seriously much differently than the way it is done in any other airports. As the airplane goes up all we see below is just desert. There is the East part of Iran were there is a huge desert and no city inside.

Marziyeh Ebrahimi is an Iranian young journalist with seven years’ experience as a journalist in ISNA. She received her B.A & M.A in journalism and now works as a freelancer with many magazines and newspapers. She also is a researcher and has taken part in many international conferences. She enjoys writing about travel, music and visual arts.

Read more of Marziyeh’s stories on GoNOMAD:

Mecca and Medina Saudi Arabia for Hajj
The Desert City of Yazd, Where Iranians Honeymoon