Wonderful villages for spring visits

Here are the most amazing villages in the country. So pack and don’t waste a minute. You can head off for villages where people have kept an old lifestyle; they might not be familiar with modern ways of communication. Or you can even choose a destination where people still live on rocks.
If you’d like to go to a village with a pleasant climate , our option is Silvana where according to experts the purest oxygen in the world exists. So head off and take deep breaths as much as you can.

A dreamy place

Su in Turkish means water and Batan means submerge; the texture of the soil receives water easily and it penetrates in. The summer village lies 30 km from the city of Talesh.
The region is a favorite place for tourists mainly due to its nice climate and spectacular nature. The village features a broad valley surrounded by high mountains from four sides. Right before the sunset it gets foggy and that’s why the villagers call it Iran’s Alp.
Karim Rahmani, the legal official for the environment department in Talesh says: life exists in the 6 months of the year and once autumn and winter arrive and cold starts over villagers leave for hot places. In fact, only 8 families are among the permeant villagers and the rest go down the heights once it grows cold.
One of the highlights of the village is the 50- meter high waterfall named Varazan. It’s always cold even in summer. Also there is a natural cave where people believe treasure is hidden. That’s why it’s called treasure’s house cave. But Rahmani believes that these are gossips people have spread . No treasure out of the cave yet.
The entrance is large enough for one person to enter. But it gets narrower gradually so that once you are 5 to 6 meters from it you ‘ll have to crawl. It’s extremely dingy and humid and as a result no one has ever managed to get to the end of it.
It’s known as free fall valley; there is a flat and even land in the region and behind it there is a 90-degree natural wall. Imagine you are walking on the smooth and soft grass and all of a sudden you feel like you are falling.
The height of the valley measures about 1 km; that’s why it’s called Jahanam Darre (or hell’s valley). Late in spring wild anemones grow in the region and beautify the spot , making it delightful and fragrant.
Rahmani says : there is a traditional market here where you can easily get your necessary stuff from products of farms and gardens to handicrafts. In the past the villagers used to build their houses with wood but their architecture has now changed and stones and blocks have replaced wood.
It is interesting to know that wedding ceremonies are held in a traditional way ; the groom goes over to the bride’s house where a celebration takes place and then they leave. The groom holds bride’s horse’s harness and they move on to their own house. People clap and play timpani and accompany them.
If you travel on holidays, you might be lucky to witness one such local celebration and take some beautiful photos.

Take a deep breath here!

It is said that this village has the cleanest weather; a place where you can take deep breaths and breath in the clean air.
Yeah, it’s the village of Silvana. It lies 30km from Oromiye between two valleys. It features walnut , apple and forest trees.
Behrooz Khan Mohammadi , the archeologist in cultural heritage and tourism department in Oromiye says: it’s among the cleanest air in the world due to dense trees and water streams of Silvana valleys collected behind the dam. Green valleys of Banar and Maliyan and several freshwater springs such as Kani Taber and Chalashan have created beautiful scenery.
He continues: Sule Dokol waterfall , 40 meters high, is a highlight. Here is where you get to see industrial and medicinal plants like tragacanth, borage, licorice, mint etc.
According to him, houses feature an interesting architecture; they lie on a steep slope one on top of the other. The ceilings of the houses below are the yards of the houses on top.

Colored pencils and canvas of nature

In the village of Darre Porab , there is a place named Tange Arghavan ( judas-tree canyon) where is known as the colored pencils valley among tourists. As far as I can see , there is judas-tree.
The flowers need sunlight and so the best time to visit is in spring when beautiful flowers start blooming. The 10-meter long canyon is along the Ilam to Shirvan road.
Mohammad Noorollahi , head of public relations in cultural heritage department says: the judas tree turns light red when there is a direct sunlight but once the sunset gradually arrives and shades exist they grow purple. Change of colors has made the region more charming. In fact, that’s why tourists call the valley colored pencils. If you ever travel there in Farvardin( the first month in spring) , you’’ witness colored pencils beautifying the canvas of nature. This is a place where colors of trees and nature have created spectacular scenery.
Of course, the village is not the only place to see the beauties of nature as there are plenty of amazing villages in the country and it takes much time to introduce them.

Meimand , a village in the heart of rocks

It lies in the city of Babak in Keramn province, 40 km from the city of Kerman.
Archeologists believe that the villagers built the houses on rocks with their own hands using the available materials in order to live in peace and protect themselves.
They have dogged rocks within mountains to build their houses. Inside the mountains there are 400 rooms which are called Kiche by locals. Their height reaches 2 meters. Each covers an area of 16 to 20 square meters. Going through a narrow corridor, you’ll see the Kiches devide; some are hay lofts, some allocated for living, and some for the groom.
According to Mohammad Mehdi Afzali , the head of public relations in cultural heritage and tourism office in Keramn, the villagers believed that the groom should live independently and separately . He can meet his fiancée occasionally and then take her to his own house.
In the middle of the Kiches there was a place for stoves and building fire. People ,then, were Zoroastrians and to them fire was highly respected.
They had built the doors so small that one had to bow first to get in ‘ and it was a kind of way to respect fire.
If you now take a look at Kiche’s ceilings in the 2000-year-old village , you’ll notice black spots remaining as a result of fire over many years. Smokes went out through ceilings but the carbon remained inside the rocks and made the houses stronger and the roofs waterproof. Nowadays, they don’t light fire inside Kiches.
The villagers had chronometers too; they had made holes in the east and west parts of their ceilings to know about the sun’s location and decide about time.
They still use their local and traditional clothing. They speak in the old Pahlavi; a language which traces back to the Sassanid era. Now if you’d like to get to know the Kiche residents , don’t miss this exciting journey.

Visit honey bee hives

If you’d like to know how it feels to live in bee hives , you should go 50 kn from Tabriz; to a village resembling pyramids and honey bees hives.the vilagers’ houses rise out of rocks inside mountains. About 500to 600 people live in there; in 3 to 5 -storey pyramids; the first floor is used to keep animals, or sheep pen to be exact, the second ,the third and the fourth were used for living and the top floor was used as a place for storing things.
Torab mohammadi , the general manager of cultural heritage and tourism office in Azerbaijan says: the village is over 6,000 years old and archeologists have found that 1,600 years ago people came here and built the village atop rocks. Research shows that since then building several-storey houses or apartments have developed in the region .
According to him each pyramid has a door which is connected to the upper floors through a narrow steep corridor. It’s quite interesting to know that the house are hugely strong and protect
Since rocks are thick air moves automatically and as a result houses are neither too hot nor very cold. The villagers have built bathrooms inside and put pottery instead of pipes and v-shaped doors to keep it warm.
Interestingly, people still live with the same old traditions and power, water and gas
Since rocks are made of limestones, using gas might result in destruction of houses . People use oil to cook and heat the place.
The major jobs are farming and agricultural activities. Also they earn money through mosaic and inlay and making scarves. It is believed that the water in the village is a cure for people suffering from kidney stones; after a week of use the disease will be removed. In the old days, people came over to drink its water.; they would wait in long queues to cure their disease. Some would even stay there for an entire week.
In the world , there are 3 rocky villages. The other two lie in America and Turkey which have now converted to hotels. Kandovan is the only one resided by villagers.
Of course, they have turned parts of pyramids to a 5 star hotel. With suitable facilities it’s well prepared to receive the visitors.
Don’t miss it at all; especially if you have kidney diseases. Water therapy will definitely benefit you.