Two Martins!!
Martin from Belgium and Martin from Germany together with Luana and Diew were welcomed in Lut Desert by a sudden exciting sand storm. Driving with gear 3 even was not possible and finally the visibility of the road reduced to 0. They got out of the car to experience how strong and touching the storm was. Taking selfi pictures was the funniest thing ever which they did. Visiting Kaluts was postponed to the next morning.
One of the beautiful egg hills is exactly like a submarine. Since two martins were together, it was called after their names as ‘Martins submarine’.
Nice Italian family
The four member tour to Kaluts, Mahan and Keshit Canyon was memorable. Danilo, the father, was full of energy and very dynamic. He was always trying to explore more and he was the first to start, climb etc. He was not very much into talking but could not hide his excitement at the amazing sites and landscapes and expressed in Italian, “Multobello”. His prefossinal camera could not take any rest as he tried to record any amazing view.
His wife, Stefania, was calm and relaxed. She was into watching the landscapes and just being with the group. She was not into photography. She enjoyed her favorite food, ‘Ghoormeh Sabzi and Dolmeh’ in Shahdad and Kerman. She complained about absence of vegetarian dishes but when she had it during the tour, she was very happy.
The son, Emiliano and his wife Stefania, were really nice. Emiliano sometimes made funny games. It was interesting to see the father and son creating happy atmosphere by making jokes or even trying to make their childhood revived. The young Stefania, so kind and good company, made videos of almost all places. She was the first to sleep in the car on the long routes. This warm nice friendly group left us lots of positive energy.
Fransois, Cathy & Sonia
What a memorable tour ! All the attractions in Lut Desert were visited. Cathy got surprised when we lighted candles and started singing the happy birthday song. On the way back from Yalan dunes, what a nice thing happened. Francois learned all numbers in Persian even a nine-digit number but after a while the car went deep into sand and every one tried to help taking it out. Cathy finally sat at the role and pulled back while we were pushing. Our plates were really helpful. Sonia kept on laughing all the time that transferred lots of energy to the group. On the off road to Keshit, the tour was chanting french songs and it helped them to enjoy the long sandy off-road trip. Thank you for your happy moods.
Anna & Mario
The two day tour to Salty river, egg hills and Kaluts was really fun. The only problem was the cloudy sky that covered the sun and we couldn’t see the sunset.
Jumping gestures were Anna’s most favorite. However, they refused to return for the sunrise and they preferred to sleep for long. Qanat, large caravanserai, water mill and water reservoir were other places they visited. Now, they have a profound knowledge about all such structures and old Persian techniques in deserted areas.
German students of geography
A group of 15 German students with their professor visited Kaluts and Keshit canyon in our tour on 27-28 January 2018. These nice young familiar faces enjoyed the area, especially the land forms. They ended the tour by diving and swimming in Keshit Canyon which is incredibly wonderful.
Caravansarai
In the past, travelers on routes needed a place to rest and feed their animals (mainly horses and camels). So, a building with special rooms, water pool and water reservoir were constructed.
Based on the area, mountain or desert, the materials used for construction were either stone or mud and mud brick while wood was also used in both.
There were three types of caravansarai: on the route, near the city walls and inside the city. The first was in deserts or in the mountains just on the routes. The second was for caravan heavy loads so that the representative of the group entered the city, talked to the merchants, concluded contracts or deals and then the loads were little by little carried into the city shops.
We must remember that the cities, especially deserted cities had a wall around in the past, just as Kerman had. So, the passages inside such cities were not wide enough for a caravan with lots of animals carrying heavy loads to pass through. therefore, they had to wait just in a place out of the city.
The caravansarais inside the city were used to accommodate merchants, talks and deals, and lots of other exchanges.
In Kerman area, there are two types of caravansarais left and tourists can visit them. As Kerman was a transit spot on the ancient silk route, caravans from China, India and Europe stopped here, did their negotiations and deals and finally some left for China and India, some for Persian Gulf and some for north-west and Europe.
There are plenty of inside-city caravansarais in Kerman some of them still active and named after the type of merchants met for deals, for example, Hindu caravansarai near Ganjali Khan historical complex.
Also, there are two caravansarais on the desert routs in lut desert which are really spectacular. We must not forget that Zeinodin caravansarai on the road to Yazd was built under the order of Zeinodin Ganjali Khan the Safavid ruler of Kerman. Kerman was very large in the past and its borders reached Persian Gulf, India and Isfahan.
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Visiting the two deserted caravansarais is included in our tours of kalut.
Kalut
Dasht-e Lut in some scientific sources was also called the Lut Hole is located between the latitudes of 28 to 32 degrees N. It has 900 kilometers long from north to south, and it has 200 to 300 kilometers width from west to east. It is 199,000 square kilometers in area, which covers a region surrounded by South Khorasan Province, Sistan va Baluchistan, and Kerman. This area is massive and prone to earthquakes.
This beautiful and varied land is a display of the most wonderful desert-related structural phenomena and features which their study can be of value to geology and geography researchers as well as geotourism lovers. This amazing desert with its giant dunes, salt plains and kaluts provides an epic journey of breathtaking beauty and wilderness. A kalut (also kalout or kaloot) is a system of ridges and corridors hollowed out in a solid rock by particle-loaded wind. In fact, these terms are local equevalents to the term used by geologists as “Yardang”.
Kalout as one of the most exciting geomorphological structures of Lut desert is the biggest natural clod structure in the world; they are the most unique structures in the desert. Kalouts are similar to parallel tunnels which are positioned from northwest to southeast. Kaloots are 80 km in width, 145 km in length, and in some cases 120 meters high. They are located in the west of Central Lut desert (Dasht-e-Lut) at a distance of 43 kilometers from Shahdad. From a distance, Kaluts look like the ruins of a big legendary city with grand palaces and buidlings both short and high. In fact, they have been created by strong winds and rain through tens of thousands of years and they are really attractive.
To reach Kaluts area in Lut desert, a distance of 145 kilometers from Kerman must be driven. Juts twenty kilometers on the way to Bam, the road turns left to the mountains. The Sirch mountains are really different in size, color and most attractive of all is formation. Joftan is the peak of a 3990 meter height above sea level. There is snow all year round on top although it may not be quite visible in late summer. A tunnel as long as 1750 meters facilitates access to the summer resort of Sirch. Sirch village is situated in a valley surrounded by eye-catching mountains. It has 3 very nice green, yellow and white views in summer, autumn and winter. There is a twin cypress old tree which is said to be of 800 years old. Having passed Sirch, there is a road to the right going to the range of mountains which gives access to lots of hot spas (hot springs).
The last mountains on the way are like sand castles children make at the beach. No stone or rock is seen! Right on the other side of the mountains, the small town of Shahdad is visible from a distance of 10 kilometers. Also, if you are lucky and the air is clean, you can see Kaluts as a brown thick line on the horizon ahead of you. Around Shahdad, there are some villages and oasis called Takab. Thanks to the underground water resources flown onto the surface through the underground aqueduct system called qanaat which has made life possible in the villages of the area for thousands of years.
The first thing that attracts the visitor in the desert toward Kaluts is a jungle of blurred green which the road passes through. They are the bushes that can live without water for a long time. They are called Gaz (not to be mistaken with the white sweet souvenir of Isfahan or the fuel, gas!). Gaz has needle-shape leaves as long as 10 to 15 centimeters and too salty to be eaten by any insect or animal. They stop the flow of the dust and sand in storms and little by little form a lump of earth. The tree is located on top of such a small hill which is famous as Nebka. Again, thanks to these Nebkas that protect life in deserted oasis against sand storms.
The more one approaches Kaluts, the more silence and surprise dominates! A large city with tall buildings and skyscrapers of different shapes all abandoned from residents. The joy and tranquility is awaiting …..
It depends when to visit the area. From May to October, the tours start in the afternoon to avoid the heat. The visitor can visit the area for an hour or so and celebrate the wonderful sunset and return to Kerman, or he can decide to stay the night at the deserted area and return to Kaluts before the sunrise the other day and stay a few hours and finally leave for Kerman before noon.
But from November to April, the start time can be different. The tours can start in the morning or at noon. Whereas the days grow shorter, the tour is organized so that the visitor can see the sites before the sun sets. Again, he/she can decide to stay a night in the area or return to Kerman. During winter days, staying the whole day in the Kaluts is possible.
In spring, the deserted villages are beautiful. The farms are nice and it’s a good experience to spend time with farmers and locals of villages especially when they are working on the farms or collecting some medication flowers or herds.
Camel riding and off-road excursions are the recreational activities that visitors can enjoy during the time they are in the area. However, the arrangement for such activities must be done prior to the tour and based on request.