Agriculture in Kerman area
Kerman is a surprising land when it comes to agriculture. To prove this, it is enough to know that the distance from the hottest spot on the earth (Lut Desert) to one of the coldest spots in Iran (Lalezar) is only 150 kilmeters less than two hours!!
Almost all types for corns grow in the area. South of Kerman (Jiroft, Kahnuj, Ghaleganj) produce a diversity of vegetables throughout the year. Every day, you can get fresh tomatoes, cucumber, egg plant, etc, in the market.
The agricultural products in Kerman area are dates, pistachio, oranges, water melons, melons, all types of vegetables, apples, quinces, peaches, grapes, pomegranates, apricots, almonds, figs, many types of nuts, walnuts, ceder, henna, garlic, cumin and many types of medicinal herbs.
Pistachio, dates, oranges and garlic are the main agricultural products that are exported to different parts of the world. However, best types of pistachios grow in Rafsanjan, dates in Bam, henna and garlic in Shahdad.
Diario di viagio
They talked to each other and a few hours later called their group like this. The four kind nice Italians were fully in agreement during the 2 day tour to Kerman, Mahan, Rayen and Kaluts in Lut Desert. 
4 different personalities but always close and friendly. While Ivan was very much into photography,
Nicoletta was more into enjoying the new landscapes and places. The time before and after sunset and sunrise of Kaluts was so incredible that Francesca and Nicoletta tried to sink into silence and surprise the stunning landscape offered.
Ivan was the nice friendly photographer for every one. Veronica was courageous and and strong. Trekking on the earth in Kaluts was not easy with bare feet for Francesca!
The tour also visited the colorful mountains and they enjoyed the carpet weaving workshop on the way to Rayen. Ivan and Veronica visited towers of silence on the hills near Kerman while Francesca and Nicoletta preferred to stay in Yas Guesthouse and rest. Saluti a tutti.
Nice Italian Girls
Valentina and Serena, two brave girls from Italy, visited Kerman area for 3 days. By brave, it means that while many Europeans are afraid of traveling to the hottest spot of the earth, these two did it!
June 5 in the afternoon, they stepped into the Kaluts area on an off-road tour by a 4*4 pickup. They left shoes aside and trekked on the hot sand around with bare feet.
From two full days being in Lut desert, they passed one day in Keshit where the amazing canyon is an enjoyable destination not only as an amazing destination but also funny trekking in water and even swimming and diving!
The round big cement cake with candles around at the garden in Keshit village was a big surprise to Valentina because it was her birthday! While Helia, the daughter of the owner of the garden was giving a ride on the 4*4 motorbike to Valentina, others in her absence decorated that strange cake with candles in the dark. When she returned to the garden, she was so excited by hearing the happy birthday song at the garden in the dark with candles burning.
Serena, the master in special jumping in the air (!!), was always kind, smiling and helpful.
Irankalut wishes them a happy prosperous life.
Belgium and France
The three dutch speaking Belgiums David, Victor and Seimen together with Frank from France visited Lut Desert, colorful mountains, Rayen and Mahan. Breaking and eating sunflower seeds is an easy thing for Iranians but sometimes very complicating for Europeans. Frank was so amused with breaking and eating that the guide had to mention that he was losing the chance of watching the beautiful landscapes on the way. Victor was very stingy. He was holding the small nylon of seeds in the back seat. whenever the driver asked for more seeds, he put only one or two in his palm. The four members of the tour were really good companies. The guide in the first minutes after the start of the tour said that David looked like a famous footballer when Frank who was sitting in the front seat approved and mentioned the name of Van Persi from the Netherlands.
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’.
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.
Gandomberyan
According to the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), the highest temperature ever measured on Earth came on September 13, 1922, when the thermometer at a weather station in El Azizia, Libya, reached 58.0°C (136.4°F). That measurement shifted the title for “the world’s hottest place” away from Death Valley, California, which set the previous record (56.7°C or 134°F) in July 1913.
But more recent research says that neither location has a true claim to the title. “Most of the places that call themselves the hottest on Earth are not even serious contenders,” says Steve Running of the University of Montana.
In a study of seven years of global land surface temperatures as measured by satellites, the Lut Desert ranked as hottest in five of the years.
“The Earth’s hot deserts—such as the Sahara, the Gobi, the Sonoran, and the Lut—are climatically harsh and so remote that access for routine measurements and maintenance of a weather station is impractical,” says David Mildrexler, also at the University of Montana. “The majority of Earth’s hottest spots are simply not being directly measured by ground-based instruments.”
That’s where satellites come in. Orbiting instruments can scan every parcel of the planet’s surface and fill in the gaps in global temperature measurements. In their analysis, Running, Mildrexler, and Maosheng Zhao scrutinized global measurements of land “skin” temperatures from 2003 to 2009. As opposed to air temperatures, which are measured 1.5 to 2 meters above the ground, land skin temperatures reflect the pure heating of a parcel of ground by radiation from the sun, the atmosphere, and other heat flows.
In five of the seven years—2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, and 2009—the highest surface temperature on Earth was found in the Lut Desert. The single highest LST recorded in any year, in any region, occurred there in 2005, when MODIS recorded a temperature of 70.7°C (159.3°F)—more than 12°C (22°F) warmer than the official air temperature record from Libya.
Adopted from:
https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=77627
Shahdad
Shahdad is a small town off the Sirch mountains at the south-east margine od Lut Desert on the way to Kaluts. The name means the generosity of the king. Also, in the past it was called Khabis which means a sweet dish made of dates.
Shahdad is a hot area with some villages around with qanats for irrigating the farms and palm tree gardens. The farmers raise different types of things from corns to special plants and flowers used in herbal medication.
Shahdad history may date back to the Mesopotamian civilizations era. In recent decades, there has been archeological excavations which has led to very strange discoveries in which a mud statue of a man with crossed arms and a metal flag on which there are amazing paintings carved. Both of these two discovered objects together with other objects found are kept in the museum of Ancient Iran in the capital city of Tehran. A factory of making jewelry out of metal and stone with short walls is another discovery of Shahdad area. Locals call this factory as the city of the dwarf humans (Shahr-e-Kutuleha). North of town the Aratta civilization village and the dwarf humans are said to have existed since 6,000 BC.
The ruins of the Sasanid adobe city of ancient Shahdad with a wall around is eye-catching, though lots of houses and structures have been swept away either by winds and rains or man’s meddling. However, the large thick wall around is still there and beautiful.
Besides, there are an old water mill and a water reservoir so amazing inside the town. Going inside the large city water reservoir is really exciting. Those who once built it and those who for long benefited its water NEVER had the chance of finding themselves inside because there were not any entry at that time except for a small hole on the roof for the repairmen.
water reservoir
A water reservoir or water storage is a building that functioned as a water supply for home use.
To provide water for home use in the past, people made water reservoirs. They were built in private and public places, in caravansarais, center of cities and madrasa (religious school).
Water reservoirs are below the ground level for two reasons: to easily conduct surface water inside from the roof and to prevent the destruction of walls by water pressure.
The water reservoirs were all round in shape with a dome as a roof on top surrounded by some wind catchers which conducted air into the water reservoir to make the water cool by circulating inside. So, the dome also helped the heat leave the water reservoir.
Once a year, the skilled men entered the water reservoir through a hole form the dome for cleaning and preparing it to be filled with water. People were happy to have access to potable clean water during the whole year!
Shahdad city water reservoir is very large. It has a diameter of 13 meters and a height of over 25 meters.
People had to walk down many stairs to reach the water tap. there were two platforms at the sides of the water tap for rest.
Visiting the water reservoir is part of Shahdad tour.
water mill
In Shahdad, the small town right at the margin of lut desert edge, there is an old water mill dating back to Qajar era. People from different areas of Kerman came to Shahdad to grind their corns like wheat or barley.
There are two deep shafts, rooms, stocks, and a watching tower. It is located in the old part of the town viewing desert. It is exciting to know how small amount of water was acumulated in a deep shaft to make the upper heavy stones move to change the corns into powder.
It is interesting to see how people of the past struggled to provide flour to bake bread. How the water mill worked is a matter of technique in a deserted area.
The tourists who order Kalut tours can order this under Shahdad category of tours.