Iran / Hormozgan

Hormozgan (Province)

In Spring 2019 we made a longer trip starting in the Hormozgan province, visiting Qeshm island, Bandar Abbas harbour and Hormoz island. 

Hormozgan is in the South of Iran facing Oman. This province has 14 islands in the Persian Gulf and about 1,000km of coastline and is depending on agriculture, fishery and trade. Strategically the province is very important as it covers the narrow Strait of Hormoz.

We continued the trip in the Sistan and Baluchestan province.

Qeshm

We started our trip flying from Tehran to the island of Qeshm, an island in the Strait of Hormoz in the Persian Gulf, and spent some days here.

Qeshm is a popular touristic destination mostly for Iranian tourists, with an airport and ferry connection to Bandar Abbas. 

Star Valley and Chakooh Gorge are popular destinations on Qeshm. Both places display fantastic rock formations. Fortunately we were there just after the Persian New Year and did not face too many people.

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On the first day we made a boat tour through the Mangroves. On the way back to the hotel we saw ship wrecks on many beaches and visited a small harbour where traditional fishing and transport ships were built and repaired. The sight of this type of ship accompanied us on our trip along the Persian Gulf up to Chabahar.

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In the city of Qeshm we visited the bazaar. Our hotel was a traditional house, a so called 'homestay', which provides one with a rare opportunity of witnessing the lifestyle of the local inhabitants.  We enjoyed a phenomenal goat kebab in the restaurant close by.

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Hormoz

From Qeshm  we took the ferry early in the morning to Bandar Abbas and continued our trip to the island of Hormoz northeast of Qeshm.

Even though it was spring, it was already unbearably hot – at least for us. The locals seemed unbothered by the temperature. They live with heat up to 49°C during summer, paired with humidity. 

Hormoz is a small island with traditional villages and magnificent, colourful and wild landscape and coastlines. Iranian tourists are fond of collecting vibrant and colourful sand from the island. 

Eventually we escaped from the excruciating heat to a pleasant and tasteful traditional café. We also visited a small private museum that was engaged in mostly woman-led small local art and handicraft with an environmental vision.

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Bandar Abbas (and the road to Zarabad)

Bandar Abbas is – for Iranian standards – a rather small city with a population of about 500,000, and yet an important harbour. It occupies a strategically significant position in the Strait of Hormoz.

We spent only a short time in Bandar Abbas, essentially for breakfast and dinner, visited a local market and continued our trip along the Gulf of Oman to Sistan and Baluchestan.

Next: Sistan and Baluchestan