Hengam Island coast
A shy sun peeks out over the Indian Ocean as we take the ferry in bandar pol , south of Iran . Although we are in the middle of December and it is six in the morning, the body asks us for short sleeves. The ship wakes up sliding down the golden and calm waters of the Persian Gulf.
The crossing lasts twenty minutes and ends at the qeshm island , where we are greeted by warm gusts of saline air that tickle our nostrils. We take a deep breath and look around: we have reached one of the most unique and unknown corners of Iran , a country that is taking giant steps to stop being an indie tourist destination, and open itself to all audiences.
Qeshm Island
Qeshm extends its 300 square kilometers throughout the Strait Of Hormuz, one of the most important sea routes in the world. If today a third of the world's oil passes through it - plugging it would be equivalent to drying up the gas stations of half the world -, five centuries ago the best spices, silks and other prized products from the Far East . The Kingdom of Portugal was no stranger to it, which for 80 years, then, took over Hormuz to monopolize trade with China.
“You can still find someone who speaks to you in Portuguese around here”, he assures enigmatic Amir , the taxi driver who has offered to take us from the coastal town of Dargahan to the opposite shore of Qeshm.
The trip, of just over twenty minutes, lasts just four meters and allows us to discover the first brushstrokes of a landscape from another planet: tiny, quiet villages surrounded by palm trees and herds of camels, flanked by small rugged mountains that vaguely resemble a large seabed, only without water.
Qeshm Island Valley of Stars
Among the adobe brick houses, some large vault-shaped constructions of the same material stand out. "They are our refrigerators and water tanks" , comments Amir jokingly, without losing sight of the road. He, one of the many locals willing to transport visitors all over the island for the ridiculous price of four euros - oil abounds in Iran - still remembers, and recounts between laughs **, his comings and goings in the past to the neighboring Oman **, revelry in muscat included. “By speedboat, we barely got there in a couple of hours. We came back loaded with tobacco and clothes to sell here”, he ditches.
Those were the years of smuggling between the shores of the Persian Gulf , where many of its inhabitants, most of them Arabs, have more affinity with their relatives on the other side of the waters than with their own Persian neighbours.
The state security forces have gradually put an end to this way of life to promote, in return, a growing tourism business. We have decided to spend our first night on the southernmost island: hengam.
Hengam Coast
Amir drops us off at the Kandalu port , south of Qeshm, from where boats depart whose skippers, again for a few euros, maintain the connection with Hengam. One of the favorite activities of tourists who choose not to sleep in Hengam - the island does not have a hotel, but the more adventurous, like us, have huge beaches where to camp - is to surround the island sighting abundant dolphin schools.
To which nobody makes an ugly is to disembark in new hengam , the only island town, and browse the stalls selling jewelery made from shells and seashells.
In the meantime we can taste the samosa, delicious triangular dumplings, stuffed with fish or meat, which preserve the essence of these coasts in the same way that the women who cook them do.
They are people like Samira and her daughter twentysomething who, in the face of the recent worsening of the economy, due to the sanctions, have thrown a family of eight on their backs. “The situation is difficult but here we are. Please, he writes: the more tourists the better ”, Orders the matriarch, with the same energetic gestures-Andalusian salt shaker, we would point out, what those from the south have-that those of her relatives who are dedicated to fishing.
Qeshm Island
Their brightly colored silk garments, finished off with characteristic masks and legs woven with delicate gold brocades, recall the precious materials that were traded in the past through these lands.
The sun begins to say goodbye as we approach a commissary stock up on water, dates, bread and cheese to spend the night . A taxi driver agrees to take us to Jamaica beach , at South of that country. At this time of year, the presence of an algae in its waters that emits purple flashes at night makes it possible to enjoy a unique spectacle.
The adjoining beaches, practically uninhabited, allow us to enjoy a peace that is rare for those of us who grew up hearing news of war in the Persian Gulf . If we get up early and feel like exploring on foot, we can enjoy an unforgettable extra: spotting herds of gazelles in search of water and approaching the - almost - inaccessible and spectacular silver beach : his name is a spoiler.
The next day we pick up the tent early to return to new hengam , embark back to Qeshm and prepare to explore the most spectacular corners of the island.
the silver beach
The first stop is the imposing hara mangrove , a labyrinth of water channels, full of protected aerial and aquatic species, which we travel at full speed in a boat. Not far from there, one of the most picturesque places in Iran awaits us: the chahku canyon , fruit of a patient work of water, modeling the rock for millennia to sculpt capricious curves.
After lunch - ask for the famous shark kebab wherever they go - we will allow ourselves the luxury of going to the namesake capital of Qeshm, checking into hotels like the Olympics and, for a small fee, get ready to spend the night.
If there is still strength, we will approach one of the s century-old Portuguese forts , from where our Iberian neighbors battled the Safavid empire for control of this crucial corner of the world. We slept early, because the next day, at dawn, the boat leaves from the port of Qeshm to take us to the tiny island that gives its name to the entire region.
Hormuz Beaches
The island of Hormuz it's wild, it's red, it's grey, it's gold, it's black and it's, in short, an almost psychotropic place. This is known by many of the Tehran urbanite hippies who have made it their place of pilgrimage.
Among its rugged Martian landscapes, which we will have to cover mostly on foot, we find, to the south, with the Rainbow Valley. All around you, dreamlike beaches and breathtaking cliffs. When you want to photograph them for your Instagram, be careful. For everything else, enjoy.
Hormuz Island