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TRAVEL BLOG ENTRY
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Getting There
For Masuleh the previous day, at least I knew how I was going to get there, but to go to Alamut and the Castles of Assassins was going to be a whole lot different. The castles were built in the middle of the mountains in the 11th century to be accessible only to the few that lived there, so I was prepared for a battle. Even the local knowledge with my friends here was struggling. Kazem checks and thinks that a savari (shared taxi) may be the only way there.
He delayed his departure to work to bring me to the square where the taxi's depart from. They're a rough and ready bunch, but he found me a taxi to bring me all the way to Gazor Khan, where the most accessible castle is. Like every Iranian that leaves me, himself and Amir were concerned. You don't know this taxi driver, you are heading into the mountains to isolated areas, be careful!
The heat was boiling, probably about 30 degC, and waiting for the taxi driver to fill his taxi was no fun. The sweat was pouring out of me, and I finally made a deal with the guy just to go with two of us in the car. He makes up for the price that the guys negotiated for me earlier!
Alamut and the Castle
We quickly started to climb into the mountains of eastern Iran. The road wound through the mountain hairpins and I rather the taxi driver at the wheel than me. He even takes it on himself to have a race with one of his 'friends' through the hairpins. Unlike F1 there aren't any crash barriers on these bends, just 1000ft drops. He finally gave up on this when I looked at him and told him in no uncertain sign language that I'd walk the rest of the way if he kept it up!
Almost 2 hours later we hit Gazor Khan. The site is not famous for any terrific castle that is sited there, but the location that these invaders picked to launch their quest from. Their much feared residents were dispatched to murder or kidnap leading political and religious figures. They were finally captured by the Mongols in 1256.
The site for the castle is on top of a huge single rock formation, pointing like a finger into the valley below. They had a birdseye view for miles around. What remains now are just a few walls that are under restoration, but they knew how to pick a location! You could stay up there for hours taking in the scenery. Jagged snow capped peaks to one side, and a lush valley to the other. I took a couple of hours to follow a stream into a canyon, a tricky exercise!
The tiny village of Gazor Khan has one 'hotel'. It's a quaint house, with the top floor an open room for travelers to stay in. The lady welcomes me like one of her own. Anything more in a setting like this would spoil the atmosphere of the place. After all it's location was picked so that it was almost a place of folklore, so anything more elaborate would take from the setting.
Departure
There is only one bus per day from Gazor Khan to the next town. The owner of the hotel had told me that departure was at 06:30. Next morning I have my alarm up for six, and just as it's going off I hear a knock on the door. It's the lady of the hostel. 'Bus. Bus' she's shouting. Turns out that the bus time is actually six and the town is waiting for me to get the sleep out of my eyes. I got a few dirty looks getting on that bus 10 minutes late! Sitting there at six in the morning because a tourist can't get out of bed!
previous travel blog entry
iran travel says:
i plan to go to iran as a female independent tourist but as i have a friend who lives in iran who has offerd to rent a small apartment for me to stay in i am not sure how to write a itinerey of my plans while i am in iran as i have to apply for my visa first before i can book my trip