Iran - One of the most beautiful railway lines in the world - Andimeshk - Dorud and back

One of the most beautiful railway lines in the world. So they say. On our travels, we have fallen for the regions' onomatopoeic and blatant marketing campaigns several times. The biggest, the most beautiful. The oldest, the deepest or even the highest and so on and so forth.

Most of the time it was also beautiful, big, old, deep or high. Most of the time, our expectations were huge in line with the texts. And that's the way it is with expectations: They are doomed to be disappointed. If you travel without expectations, you can't be disappointed.

But it's not that simple. And if expectations were met or exceeded, that would also be something!

So we find a car park for our Felix in Andimeshk, stand in a small alley between the police station and the high school and walk to the train station. We want to enquire about the possibility of taking this wonderful train journey through a mountainous canyon region. After Gerd has to soothe his fright (he has been sternly warned by the police that shorts are really not appropriate), we ask our way through the station.

We are in a region of Iran where the lack of tourists means that there are no English signs or language skills. We feel a little as if we can't read, write, speak or hear. Okay, we can smile. So we smile our way through the station to the stationmaster, our phone lights up, Google Translate speaks for us and we learn that there is a train at 6am. We should be there early, 30 minutes earlier would be enough. To be on the safe side, I ask if there are toilets on the train and how long the journey will take. Yes, there would be toilets and something to eat. They didn't know how long the train journey would take, but the return train departs Dorud at 2 o'clock and we would definitely make it.

Good, now buy tickets and good. "No, you don't need tickets! You are our guests." Oh yes, that's something new. Even after months in the country, we still can't believe it and once again think it's a translation error.

The next morning, we're at the station at 5.30 a.m. on the dot, having brought a toothbrush and a change of slippers just in case we don't make the connection in Dorud and have to stay overnight. In the meantime, our Felix is well guarded, the insurance agency we park in front of has our telephone number and will inform us if anything happens. (I don't need to mention that they invited us for tea, do I?)

The stationmaster welcomes us and we are allowed to board first. 1st class (the only difference is the slightly more legroom, otherwise, well...). We take our seats and a woman immediately comes and tells us that we should sit next to each other and not opposite each other. Aha, why? That's just the way it is.

While we are sitting on the train, we suddenly see the "train run". Someone has signalled that you can now board the train. The sky and people start running, crawling under the train to get to the right platform and throwing their bags through the windows onto the seats. That's how seat reservation works here. The whole thing reminds us of the train journey from Colombo to Candy in Sri Lanka. Also an adventure. At some point, everyone has a seat and we have a picnic. Of course, we are not allowed to eat our own food, we have to try some here and there.

One of my theories is that you eat too much on the train here because the benches are constantly breaking. Including the one that the woman chased me off, who is now sitting on it herself and suddenly crashes to the floor. I smile and think quietly and secretly "karma" for a moment. The little secret pleasures...

However, one of my fellow travellers laughs out loud at the collapse of the benches and says just one name: "Reza Shah!" I look at him questioningly and he says that the line was driven through the mountains by Reza Shah and that the trains themselves date back to that time. I have a quick look: He was Shah of Persia from 1925 to 1941. Okay, so the trains aren't so bad after all.

The sun rises slowly and we travel for 6 hours through one of the most beautiful areas we have ever seen. The train winds its way through countless gorges, with rivers below and rock formations of unique rugged beauty to the right and left! It's a good thing we emptied the camera's memory beforehand, Gerd snaps and snaps. I take one video after another. My goodness, it's beautiful here.

Our friends in Tehran, to whom I send a few pictures, tell me that the provinces of Loristan and Khuzestan are the most beautiful in spring. Oh yes, we can confirm that. We take a few naps in between and every time we wake up, it's just as beautiful.

We realise that the train is from a different millennium. Unfortunately, we try to ignore the fact that it is also really dirty. What else can we do?

In Dorud - contrary to expectations - we only have a stay of just under an hour. I had read something about 3.5 hours, but I was probably wrong. So we take a rest at the station, have a quick cup of tea, go to the toilet (the one on the train is really only for emergencies, we think) and get on exactly the same train we came on.

Here, too, we try to pay, the conductor looks at us, recognises us, laughs, shakes his head and says something about "Nice try!" And off we go again for the next 6 hours for free. Why? Why only? (By the way, the tickets only cost around 2 dollars, so that really wouldn't have been out of our budget).

The afternoon sun bathes the area in a more beautiful light again, we savour every moment and arrive back in Andimeshk late, very late in the evening. But there is another reason why we can hardly rest here. But more on that soon!

Conclusion: Our expectations were exceeded, we are simply thrilled and would do this tour again and again. Perhaps not in one day, but we would split the route over two days. Because at some point, even us long-term travellers get sore behinds.

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Merci for "travelling with us

Our first lectures in Switzerland are planned. Others in Germany could follow. We'll see. We would love to take you into the Persian world somewhere in western Germany and also in the Berlin area. We are still looking for venues. If you know anything, please write to us.

Lecture & Persian tea time
Camels, cultures & many contrasts
Life-pure travelling with the camper through mysterious Persia

Two dates:21.06.24 or 28.06.24; 7 pm Muri/Bern
21 or 28 June 2024 - start 7 pm, doors open at 6:45 pm RoomZoom - Thunstrasse 162 - 3074 Muri b. Bern

We are happy about 20 CHF per person. Kids are free of charge.Please register by e-mail: andrea.kormann@dakor.ch

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