Alamut Castle is today’s goal. Well, not quite today’s, as we’ll leave Masuleh and have to travel almost 400 km to the Alamut Valley. It will be dark by then, so we’ll spend the night at a nearby village and go to Alamut Castle the next morning.
For those of you wondering what is so special about Alamut Valley (and who doesn’t?), it’s the place where you go to see Alamut Castle.
Alamut Castle was a mountain fortress not so far from present-day Tehran. The name means «Eagle’s Nest» or something similar cool. Alamut became the site of intense activity for the Shi’a Nizari Ismai’li, along with a smaller subgroup known as the Assassins, between 1090 and 1256 AD.
In 1256, the fortress was lost to the invading Mongols, and it was basically destroyed.
Of course we have to see it.
So when we take off from Masuleh, we expect winding mountain roads and another hot day.
We are not disappointed.
We travel in the general direction of Alamut Town, where it’s important to note you don’t go to Alamut Castle. The Castle is to be reached from the village of Gazor Khan.
I know!
On the way to Gazor Khan
So we drive past but don’t see any obvious roads. The different guidebooks mentioned «Obvious steps that lead to the castle». Well, they aren’t obvious in the failing light, and besides, we’re hungry too.
We stop at the Navizar Hotel in Garmarud, where Mr. Farzin is nice enough to prepare some fresh river fish for a couple of weary and hungry travellers.
Lovely fish prepared by Mr. Farzin at the Navizar Hotel in Garmarud
The next day we wake early and make preparations to leave Garmarud and search for the fabled Castle of the Assassins.
Garmarud, near Alamut
A couple of kilometers later, in daylight, the obvious steps become quite obvious after we find the sign for Alamut Castle hewn into a sizable rock by the side of the road.
Signpost for Alamut Castle
We pay the fee of $3 each for the privilege of climbing the 800 steps in the heat of the morning. Good thing we remembered to wear hats and bring water, as the sun is merciless even well before noon.
The 800 steps to Alamut Castle
Smiling through the pain
When we reach the top after a sweaty 25 minutes of climbing, the effort is well worth it!
Mountains surrounding Alamut Castle
The mountains, crags and valleys around the castle ruins make it clear why this was such a good place to build fortifications.
The view from Alamut Castle
Alas, very little is left of the actual castle, as it was almost completely wiped out by the Mongols around 1256. The national heritage foundation of Iran has tried its best, but the steel and metal frames that try to protect the ruins from the elements are unsightly at best.
Part of Alamut Castle
We walk around among what is left of ancient guard rooms, cisterns and kitchen, before some Persian tourists with their own guide break the silence and make us realize that we have seen enough.
The lookout in Alamut Castle
We take one last look at the spectacular formations all around us, before we begin the descent back to our car. More tourists start showing up, making us hurry up. Not too much, since we don’t want to fall down 800 steps and find out how good our travel insurance really is.
More mountains around Alamut Castle
Retracing our steps
We get in the car and start on our return journey to Tehran. The winding roads are beckoning and we are eager to go back to Iran’s largest city before moving east and towards Turkmenistan.
Leaving Alamut
As we descend towards the plains surrounding Dasht-e Kavir, the great Iranian desert, the temperature continues to climb, until we reach an almost unprecedented 50°C.
50°C
We drive for almost four hours, when we enter the slightly cooler city. The good Mr. Mousavi at the Firouzeh Hotel – home away from home – has a room for us and we collapse into it. We’ve only gone 260 km today, but the temperature made it extremely tiring.
As we fall into a coma, we know that tomorrow the road takes us further east. We’ll leave for Gorgan and Mashhad – the holiest city in Iran.
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