Trekking through the Alborz mountains
The Valleys of the Assassins, Masuleh & Rudkhan Castle
In this tour you will have enough time for trekking in Alborz Mountain range, explore the villages around, taste local cuisine, socialize with local people and stay in their homes.
The highlight of this tour can be visiting the castle of Alamut and know more about its history and Andej canyon in the Alamut valley. Also trekking from Alamut towards the unknown villages is another main highlight of your journey.
On the way to the Caspian Sea you will visit a beautiful lake “Ovan” having the chance of staying with local people and tasting their food.
In the second part of the trip we will visit Masulehwhich is a historical village, attracting many tourists because of its architecture and people. Masouleh is surrounded by forest from valley to mountain and fog is the predominate weather feature of Masouleh.
In this trip you will also have the chance to visit Rudkhan castle and we will be hiking up to there, which is a medieval brick and stone castle built on two tips of a mountain.
Rasht is the capital of Gilan province by far the largest city of the Shomal (Caspian littoral) region. So we will visit Gilan Rural Heritage Museum (Legacy of Old Houses) to get the feeling of the tradition and history of the people and customs as well. Also Gilan is very famous for tea and foods and one of the best places in Iran in terms of vegetarian foods. So we are trying to give you a chance of the taste of different type of meals of Gilaki cuisine in the second part of your trip. Also we will visit tea plantation and the factory as well.
During this tour we have tried to use local people and their facilities as much as possible (to increase the local
village peoples' way of life, by generating income for them. So that the villager’s won’t move out of their city and into big cities) We appreciate the locals for their support and help which enabled us to offer such a trip.
Day 1.Teherán - Qazvin
Upon arrival in Tehran IKA international you will be met at the airport and a representative will greet you and we will drive you to Qazvin west of the Capital (180 km).
Overnight stay at hotel
Day 2. Qazvin to Alamut Valley – hiking to the Castle of Assassin
After breakfast in the hotel, we will drive towards the Valley of Alamut. It is about 80 km through the curvy mountainous road which we will stop every now and then to take a quick shot with photographers.
In the
beginning of this tour we will visit Ovan village. There is a beautiful lake in the village where we have the first
visit of the village and the people. After walking in the village, we will drive around 25 km to the Andej village
and we have visited a spectacular valley called Andej.
The Andej canyon is surrounded by three awesome red-rock, side canyons. After walking in the valley we will have stopped for lunch in the local house with the taste of the local cuisine in the village. Then we will continue the journey with hiking through the canyon to the castle of Assassins. We will pass the mountains to the spectacular valley takes around 5 hours. Afterward, we reach to the village of Gazorkhan (the village nearby the castle) which has historical significance and from the main gate it takes around half an hour to climb to the Eagles Nest (another name of the Castle).
We spend some time visiting & photography from the remains of the castle and get a much better idea why they built it in such a place and some of the historical facts related to the Hashashin. We have panoramic views from the top of the castle to see the vast valley. After a short visit and taking some photographs will back to the village. Then our vehicle pick up us from Andej and transfer us to Garmarud village. The remainder of the
day will be spent at the village which has quite pleasant surroundings. We will have time to socialize with locals and hear the fables of the Hashashin. Overnight stay at the local home stay. (B, L, D)
Day 3. Hiking from Garmarud to Dineh rood- Narmelad
6.00 a.m. Wake up for breakfast and start at 7.00 a.m. Today we have around 15 km hiking from Garmarud
to Narmelad village. From Garma-rood there was the old historical trail which has connected locals from
southern part of Alborz to the northern part (Caspian Sea).
Through that road (single track) locals transferred
their goods by mules within many years ago. Recently they have made a dirt road to the facility of local and these people use is for their transfers. We will escape this road and we made our own trek through the mountains and beautiful nature towards the next village. We will have lunch on another village and continue
hiking in the late afternoon. Overnight we will stay in camp or local house. (B, L, D)
Day 4. Hiking to Piche bon
Wake up early morning for breakfast and start at 7.00 a.m. Today we have around 12 km hiking from Narmelad to Piche bon village. Today's hike is through the valley and we will get altitude around 800 m. There is a beautiful waterfall and some impressive fields and plantations on our way. After lunch closed to the waterfall, we continue to gently climb our way up to about 2700 meters to the village. The village is located in Qazvin province and retains some picturesque old mud and straw houses and a few families living there. We will walk around the village and we have dinner there. Overnight we will stay in camp or local house. (B, L, D)
Day 5. Masuleh village
After breakfast, the vehicle pick up us from the village and we have one tight day sightseeing and exploring tour from the Alamut in route to the Masuleh historical village which is taken around 6 hours. En route, we visit the main attractions of Rasht, Gilan Rural Heritage Museum (Legacy of Old Houses). We reach Masuleh late afternoon and explore the village. Afterwards, we continue our path towards Masuleh’s historic village. In Masuleh we have a nice evening walking where you can buy some handicrafts and souvenirs. Then we drive for half an hour to an exotic village. We stay in a friendly local village home stay with the warm hospitality. (B, L, D)
Day 6. Village exploring & Anzali lagoon
Early in the morning after breakfast, we have half day walking, exploring tour to see an unknown historical village. First we walk towards the Menareh, it takes about 15 minutes. Visit, photography and explore the village. We will see the rice field, the traditional style of the houses, tasting some fresh organic tea and visit
historical local market. We are in contact with local people during our excursion.
Back to the guest house for a Gilaki meal. We rest for one hour and then drive to Anzali lagoon it will take 1 hour.
Boating in the lagoon with a local boat. It Depend to the season we can see beautiful birds and animals to watch and photograph. Then we drive to the beach for optional swimming in the Caspian sea. Back to the guest house for dinner and the night. (B, L, D)
Day 7. Hiking in Rudkhan Castle & tea plantation
“Rudkhan Castle” which takes about one hour. Rudkhan Castle is a brick and stone medieval castle goes back to 1500 years. You will have 3 hours hiking in the castle. We spend around one hour in the castle for visiting and photography. We carry our lunch in our backpack. Lunch in the castle. Then back to base in afternoon.
Then back to base in late afternoon and drive to Tehran, which is taking 5-6 hours. We arrive in Tehran
around midnight. Check in to the hotel. Overnight we will stay hotel. (B, L)
Day 8. Departure date
According to the flight ticket you will transfer to Tehran international airport (IKA) and fly back home. (B)
Includes: 2 nights hotel in Tehran and Qazvin, 1 night local house in the Alamut valley, 2 night tent camping or village in the field, 2 nights guesthouse (the Caspian Sea). All transportation, backpack handling during the trek (up to 15 Kg), backpack handling by cars or mules/horses, sleeping arrangement.
Not includes: plane, visa and travel insurance for not spanish travelers.