Iran / Kavir Desert / In the Desert
Kavir Desert
Partitioned between the provinces of Khorasan, Semnan, Tehran, Esfahan and Yazd, the Kavir Desert (meaning 'the desert of salt marsh') is a great salt desert lying in the middle of the Iranian plateau, with a surface area of around 80,000 square kilometres.
The desert is all but uniform and shows many faces. As one enters the desert from the north, it is mostly gray, mountainous and rocky...
... slowly leading to a vast flat area and dried salt lakes.
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But, most stunning, and the reason I keep coming back to visit, is the russet coloured iron-rich hills across the seemingly never-ending horizon. I feel like setting foot on Mars.
Salt leaves its traces in geometrical shapes or in the surprising blue of the creek that comes out of nowhere.
Closest to one's expectation of the desert with its sand dunes and unspoiled blue sky, Rig-e-Jen, which translates into "sand of spirits", captures the imagination, with folk tales of haunting spirits in this part of the desert still popular.
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... and back to Mars.
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