The Desert of Varzaneh, Isfahan, Iran

Winter in the Varzaneh Desert. Source: Paris Echo Camp

 

Winter in the Varzaneh Desert. Source: Paris Echo Camp

Winter in the Varzaneh Desert. Source: Paris Echo Camp

Varzaneh is located just east of Isfahan where salt flats and sand dunes meet the sky.

About 100km southeast of Isfahan, which was once the capital of the empire, there is a small city called Varzaneh. 

Since it's a place that locals can visit relatively easily, it can also get crowded with tourists who charter buses even from Tehran, Iran's current capital, far away. 

 What makes Varzaneh special among Iran's deserts is its convenient accessibility (from downtown Isfahan by taxi for 480,000 tomans - about $8 at the time, taking about 1 hour and 30 minutes), affordable accommodation (private contact including meals for $20 and tour provided), and the opportunity to experience both a sand desert and a salt desert made of salt. In winter, you can walk on the snow-covered desert, and when it rarely rains, the salt desert becomes crowded with tourists who want to walk on the shimmering mirror-like shallow water surface. 

Regrettably and fortunately, when I visited in July, it was the off-season, so it wasn't very crowded with people, but it was an extremely hot journey with no expectation of rain.

Light filters through vibrant glass, illuminating the calm of a desert home

Sweet moments in the desert . watermelon served on a Persian rug in a traditional Iranian home.

The accommodation built by plastering mud mixed with sand and straw on a pile of bricks brought to the middle of the desert gave a mysterious feeling as if one had become a merchant crossing this place hundreds of years ago. 

He, who previously worked as a university professor, said that even in the off-season when there are no tourists, he comes here almost every day to maintain this accommodation built with his own hands using bricks and earth, and that his daily routine includes lying on the roof at night looking at the stars, and that this place is very beautiful at night as well as for its beautiful desert landscape. 

To him, who assures that if I come back here again after a few years, the pile of bricks stacked in the empty lot next to the accommodation will have become a new accommodation building, this small but traditional accommodation will remain here as his f inal mark in life beyond being a business for him who has retired from a long academic life.

 A silent standoff: the guardian dog watches the fallen intruder.

Even in accommodations in the middle of a remote desert, there are occasional intruders. 

As if warning such intruders, the head of an unfortunate intruder was placed conspicuously in front of the accommodation. 

I couldn't tell what animal it was from the dried-up skin, but according to Reza later, it was probably either a coyote or a wild wolf. 

However, as I will explain later, there was truly an intruder at night that startled travelers here and made them feel mysterious.

ach step reshapes the dune. walking the fragile edge of the Varzaneh sands.

As the desert breathes out its final light, silence takes over the dunes.

Racing down the dune. when the desert turns into your playground

The feeling of walking in a desert in midsummer with temperatures exceeding 50 degrees is not much different from walking on a beach heated in midsummer, but climbing a mountain made of pure sand was more difficult than I thought. 

Every time I stepped, I had to climb while correcting my staggering posture due to the sand pouring down, and countless grains of sand that rose with each gust of wind would sweep across my face like raindrops colliding in a storm. 

Even when standing still, the charging ports of my camera and spare battery were filled with fine sand from the blowing sand wind, and the small camera I had set up was losing its trace as if it would soon be buried without a trace. 

So I had no choice but to use a makeshift tripod to film. 

More difficult than the hot sand and weather was the sand wind that kept getting into my eyes and mouth.

As the desert swallows the sun, silence becomes everything.

The sky ignites in soft pastels as day fades over the endless dunes.

 A cool glass of iced juice on top of a desert dune felt like a momentary reprieve from divine judgment in hell. 

As the setting sun began to touch the surface beyond the dry land extending from the uninhabited desert, the wind started to grow stronger, as if a spirit might suddenly appear. 

 We had to come down from the desert peak before it got darker. 

I had heard somewhere that the peaks of the desert, continuously eroded by the wind, wear down and create new peaks beside them. 

Isn't that how all life is, including human lives...mine, my parents', my friends'?

The desert holds its breath as day slips into silence.

The final farewell. when the sun vanishes and the desert turns to memory.

Night came to the desert. While Mr. Reza returned home to prepare dinner, I waited for him in the pitch darkness, relying on the lights installed outside the accommodation. 

The whistling sound created by the wind blowing as fiercely as a storm made darkness instinctively create fear and imaginings even for someone over thirty. 

After enduring for about 10 minutes, I asked Mr. Reza when he would call, but I was too embarrassed to say it was because I was scared.

Fortunately, the dogs guarding the accommodation, which I had forgotten about, saw the light from my phone and came back to stay by my side. 

And then unexpected guests arrived. After confirming there was someone at the accommodation, they approached me and asked if Mr. Reza was there. 

As I chatted about various things with these photographers who had come to get permission from Reza to stay here briefly because it was a good day to take pictures of stars, Mr. Reza arrived.

A simple meal under the stars, where warmth and silence are shared alike.

Embers glow quietly in the desert night warming food, hands, and memories alike.

I helped Mr. Reza, who apologized for being a little late as he was cooking a chicken, to make the Iranian style skewer grilled koobideh (kebab). 

Just as the meat was cooking and emitting a good smell, an intruder finally arrived

A true desert intruder... encounter with a camel spider in the guesthouse.

Creatures that are neither scorpions nor spiders, called camel spiders in Korea, were wandering around the accommodation, and one of them infiltrated. 

And suddenly one became two, and they seemed to claim my luggage bag by climbing on it and raising their arms. 

 I had heard they have no venom and are just very timid creatures, but the problem was that I was also one of the equally timid creatures. 

When we faced each other, both the spider and I were startled and ran away, and when I checked the bag again, the creature had disappeared somewhere and never appeared again.

Silent and armored, the beetles of the desert patrol under moonlight.

Plasma bugs from the movie Starship Troopers also appeared, but fortunately, they didn't engage in anti-aircraft fire😁😂

Gathered around warmth and food... an authentic Iranian dinner in a desert village.

Looking at the desert filled with darkness while eating well-grilled kubideh and nan with a cup of tea is certainly a special experience. 

Fortunately, Mr. Reza told me that since today is a day when many shooting stars fall, a group of tourists from Tehran are expected to arrive around 12 o'clock. 

In a desert covered with darkness all around, the stars shine more clearly because of how dark it is.

Silence above, stillness below, Varzaneh’s rooftops under starlight.

When city lights vanish, the universe whispers above Varzaneh.

The rooftops fall into shadow, as Varzaneh prepares for a star-studded night.

When the Milky Way, which I had seen with young eyes in the countryside where my maternal grandfather used to live and remembered faintly, clearly came into view after a long time, scenes of the countryside from that time and walking with family members shone vividly in my memory once again after a long time. 

 On this day, so many shooting stars fell.

A sky without noise, just stars...Varzaneh’s untouched heavens.

A quiet rooftop beneath the stars...where even the ladder leads upward into silence.

At midnight on this day, two buses approached with faint lights from a distance, and guests from Tehran filled Mr. Reza's accommodation yard. 

They rented off-road vehicles, crossed the desert all night, listened to music, chatted, and disappeared before sunrise as if they had never been there. 

 Occasionally, cars that didn't stay at the accommodation would approach and then disappear somewhere in the desert one by one. 

According to my local friend, though it was hearsay, there might be people who came to drink alcohol, which is prohibited in Iran, with friends, and some might have come for dates. 

I only saw cars passing through the middle of the desert from a distance; no one knows the exact details.

The desert awakens light seeps in quietly, painting the horizon gold.

Not long after the bus carrying tourists returning to Tehran left, clouds passed by and swept away all the stars. 

As dawn broke, the gently blowing wind stopped, and just as the hot air began to heat up the ceiling of the accommodation once again, I opened my eyes, and Mr. Reza had brought breakfast

Morning sweetness begins with a melon and quiet hospitality.

As the light returns, the dunes whisper their stillness into a new day.

Mr. Reza, who had a light meal of melon and watermelon, asked if I had enough time as there was one more place to visit. 

Saying he wanted to show me the traditional way the local villagers had been drawing water from the desert since ancient times, he took me to a small rural area near Varzaneh Desert

Life behind desert walls, Varzaneh’s quiet rhythm of cows and morning chores

In a desert where rain comes only a few times a year, to cultivate crops to feed their families, they had to pump up groundwater, and to irrigate the vast cultivation land, they had to create waterways and flow the groundwater, which was impossible without the help of oxen.  

Currently, due to technological development, this method is disappearing, and this almost solely remaining household is said to be teaching oxen how to draw water as a precious cultural heritage that reminds visitors to Varzaneh of the past

With each pull, the desert breathes, water rising from the earth by hoof and hand.

Water drawn the ancient way, timeless desert ingenuity.

Even in this dry city, people settled their roots here following the desert sand long ago and built a village. 

They knew how to survive on barren land, and the precious knowledge passed down through generations has protected their descendants until now, and as long as livestock and people continue to rely on each other and write history, this place will remain with people until the last sun sets on this desert.

Morning light pours through the doorway, revealing the vast quiet of the Varzaneh sands.

In the hush of dawn, even the bull waits quietly beside sunlit bricks.

 In the quiet of morning, water and sun flow together through the heart of the desert home.

 Here is some additional information and precautions: 

• When entering Iran by land, try to avoid very late night arrivals. If you enter late at night, you won't find any place to exchange money. It's also impossible to activate your mobile phone. 
• As of March 25, 2025, the current exchange rate in Iran is 98000 tomans to 1 dollar. When I traveled there, it was approximately 57000 tomans 2024. 
• Prices are very affordable. I stayed at economy hotels for about $8-20. Although sometimes the toilet had low water pressure, I was generally satisfied, and people were friendly. 
• When activating your phone, be sure to ask if they can install a VPN for you. It will be a great help to you. Never forget this. If the employee is a very nice person, give them a small tip and then look for a paid VPN. Free VPNs are sufficient, but paid VPNs perform very well. 
• The Snapp app is almost essential for travelers. If you have a close local friend, ask for their help. It has all the necessary functions such as delivery, finding accommodation, calling taxis, etc 
• When calling a taxi with the Snapp app, drivers often cancel for intercity travel because the price is too low. Once a driver accepts your call, try to negotiate paying more with a Persian message. While there are drivers who will take you to your destination at the price suggested by the Snapp app, if you can't get a Snapp taxi for a long time, it wasn't bad to offer about 1.5 times the price via message. Even if you offer a slightly higher price, it is still very reasonable compared to travel in other countries. If all else fails, try finding taxi drivers directly and negotiate the price. 
• I used a taxi to get from Isfahan to Varzaneh Desert. You can negotiate a price between about $10-20. The Snapp app is even cheaper, but if no one accepts your request, try negotiating by offering to add a little extra to the fare. 
• This is the address of the accommodation where I stayed. They provide you with a decent room and meals in the desert.