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Travels in Iran and Iraqi Kurdistan

Map of Iran and Iraq with the approximate locations of the pictures on this page highlighted.

These pictures were taken on a three-month journey in the spring of 2016, across parts of Iran and Iraqi Kurdistan.

The journey had two distinct halves:

  1. In March and April, I traveled about 8,000 kilometers by vehicle across Iran with my wife Natalie Kallay, joined in the south-east by our friend Daniel Belenyi.

  2. In May, I traveled by myself across the Zagros Mountains, from Hamadan, in Western Iran, to Erbil, the capital of Iraqi Kurdistan. On this part of the journey I walked every step of the way, a distance of some 800 kilometers.

The pictures are presented in no particular order.

Women walk past a shop with musicians playing in front of it.

Perfume shop | Tehran, Iran | March 9, 2016
A man in the medium distance inspects one of the trees in a mulberry grove in the evening light.
Mulberry trees | Tehran, Iran | March 9, 2016

A small girl runs past a large sparkler placed on the ground, on a street at night.

Chaharshanbe Suri | Tehran, Iran | March 15, 2016

Closeup of pink flowers on a tree.

Cherry blossoms | Near Khulak, Gilan Province, Iran | March 21, 2016

A woman wearing a headscarf, sitting in the passenger seat of a car, holds up a goldfish in a glass.

New year fish | Tehran, Iran | March 20, 2016

A hand hold a glass of clear liquid whose viscosity suggests it is hard liquor. Behind the glass, people sit around a dinner table.

Illegal drinks | Between Lahijan and Rasht, Gilan Province, Iran | March 23, 2016

A man plays a large, handheld drum, and another a guitar-like instrument at a table on a hillside in the evening light.

Legal drinks | Above Sulaymaniyah, Iraqi Kurdistan | May 19, 2016

A woman walks in a walnut forest towards a high waterfall.

Laton Waterfall | Astara, Gilan Province, Iran | March 25, 2016
A high, rocky mountain fills the horizon behind green fields and wildflowers in spectacular, glowing evening light.
Zagros sunset | Kermanshah, Iran | May 5, 2016

A woman in a blue headscarf and a white shirt looks up at the intricately patterned ceiling of a mosque.

Hakim Mosque | Isfahan, Iran | March 28, 2016

Looking straight up at a dome with a window in its center.

Bazaar dome | Yazd, Iran | April 2, 2016

The main building of an Armenian cathedral in the evening light, with a large, undecorated dome.

Vank Cathedral | Isfahan, Iran | March 29, 2016
A crow flies past the brown and turquoise dome of one of the most beautiful buildings in the world.
Sheikh Lotfollah Mosque | Isfahan, Iran | March 31, 2016

In the evening light, dome-shaped structured in the tent which are lit up from the inside

Desert camp | Near Shahdad, Kerman Province, Iran | April 18, 2016

At night, people walk around an octogonal pavilion, framed by trees.

Tomb of Hafez | Shiraz, Iran | April 8, 2016

Looking up at the entrance of a large tomb carved into a vertical rock wall.

Tomb of Darius the Great | Naqsh-e Rustam, Fars Province, Iran | April 9, 2016

People sit in a park in the evening light in front of a tall building which looks like a concrete rocket.

Tomb of Avicenna | Hamadan, Iran | April 30, 2016

Closeup of lots of colorful flowers.

Flower Garden of Isfahan | Isfahan, Iran | March 30, 2016

Closeup of even more colorful flowers.

Eram Garden | Shiraz, Iran | April 6, 2016

Closeup of small pink flowers.

Wildflowers | Along the Gogasur River, Sulaymaniyah Governorate, Iraqi Kurdistan | May 19, 2016

Pink flowers in a straw-yellow, hilly landscape.

Unmarked minefield | Along the Gogasur River, Sulaymaniyah Governorate, Iraqi Kurdistan | May 18, 2016
Bright green fields in what looks like strong winds under a dark grey sky.
Spring storm | Between Hush and Shanabad, Hamadan Province, Iran | May 2, 2016

A lot of people throng the door of a restaurant.

Lunch queue | Isfahan, Iran | March 30, 2016

Young men dancing under a stone brige at night.

Midnight party | Isfahan, Iran | March 31, 2016

Two large, carved wooden clubs at the entrance of a woodworking shop.

Zurkhaneh clubs | Yazd, Iran | April 3, 2016

A man in white running clothes jogs past a picture of Ayatollah Khomeini on a very straight country road.

Marathon man | Persepolis, Fars Province, Iran | April 9, 2016

A black-haired woman applies makeup to a blond woman whose eyes are closed.

Makeup for afternoon shopping, light European version | Shiraz, Iran | April 8, 2016

The black-haired woman is joined by a brown-haired woman in front of a mirror, where they apply makeup together.

Makeup for afternoon shopping, proper Iranian version | Shiraz, Iran | April 8, 2016
A woman in a dark headscarf, only her silhouette visible, hugs a woman whose hair peeks out from under her headscarf, in front of a yellow brick wall.
Khatere and Mahsa | Shiraz, Iran | April 8, 2016

Closeup of fine embroidery on a piece of clothing.

Aisha’s trousers | Bandar-e Doulab, Hormozgan Province, Iran | April 11, 2016

A symmetrical flower carved in a broken stone which lies in the grass.

Achaemenid ruins | Persepolis, Fars Province, Iran | April 9, 2016

Two men with spray paint guns smile into the camera in front of a large mural which depicts peshmerga, Kurdish warriors.

Peshmerga mural | Erbil, Iraqi Kurdistan | May 25, 2016

A straight and a circular door knocker on a door that looks very old.

Sex-segregated door knockers | Yazd, Iran | April 4, 2016

Two women look into a large pool of crude oil, a 1970s piece of modern art, in which portraits of the two Supreme Leaders of Iran are reflected.

Ayatollahs Khomeini and Khamenei | Tehran, Iran | April 25, 2016

Closeup of a mudskipper in the mud.

Mudskipper | Hara forest of Qeshm, Hormozgan Province, Iran | April 11, 2016

Closeup of a sand dollar.

Fossilized sand dollar | Qeshm, Hormozgan Province, Iran | April 14, 2016
A woman jumps across a canyon barely wider than a human being.
Chahkooh Valley | Qeshm, Hormozgan Province, Iran | April 12, 2016

Panoramic view of the Citadel of Bam.

Arg-e Bam | Bam, Kerman Province, Iran | April 15, 2016

A small village in the mountains at dusk.

Sunset in the Hawraman | Vara, Kermanshah Province, Iran | May 12, 2016

Small pink flowers on dry yellow stalks.

Mountain flowers | Meymand, Kerman Province, Iran | April 20, 2016

Children ride in the bed of a white Toyota pickup truck which drives along the dirt floor of long tunnel.

Unfinished tunnel | Between Hajij and Bil Spring, Kermanshah Province, Iran | May 13, 2016

A younger and two older men stand at the gate of a church at night.

Assyrian men | Ankawa, Erbil, Iraqi Kurdistan | May 27, 2016

Four boys stand in a line and smile into the camera.

Kurdish boys | Penjwen, Sulaymaniyah Governorate, Iraqi Kurdistan | May 16, 2016
Three girls and two boys of various ages eat ice cream in a shop; one of the girls shows the V-sign into the camera.
Kurdish girls | Hajij, Kermanshah Province, Iran | May 13, 2016

A young woman in an embroidered pink dress holds a baby in front of a large tree with a red balloon in its branches.

Red balloon | Between Nevin and Selin, Kordestan Province, Iran | May 13, 2016
A beautiful young girl in a red dress smiles into the camera.
A one-eyed man wearing a turban looks into the camera.
Derun and her father, Hassan | Along the Gogasur River, Sulaymaniyah Governorate, Iraqi Kurdistan | May 19, 2016

A bearded man smiles into the camera under an arched ceiling.

Said | Upper Ali Korzan, Kermanshah Province, Iran | May 4, 2016

The lights of a small village in the mountains.

Dusk above Selin (population: 910) | Selin, Kordestan Province, Iran | May 13, 2016

The lights of an enormous city stretch to the horizon.

Dusk above Tehran (population: 16,000,000) | 🏔 Mount Tochal, Iran | March 13, 2016
Men drag a fishing net from a sea with a tractor, aided by lights in the complete darkness.
Night fishing | The Caspian Sea at Chapar Pord-e Zaman, Gilan Province, Iran | March 26, 2016

Two Arabian-looking boats under construction on the shore, with a completed one floating by in the sunset.

Shipyard | Guran, Hormozgan Province, Iran | April 11, 2016

A man in a pink striped polo shirt with a scarf wrapped around his head drives a powerboat under a cloudy sky.

Boatman | Near Hengam Island, Hormozgan Province, Iran | April 13, 2016

Closeup of a person holding a large handful of salt crystals in their hands.

Salt | Qeshm salt dome, Hormozgan Province, Iran | April 12, 2016

On a pier in a dramatically pink lake, boys stand around colorful boats.

Love boats and boys | Maharloo Lake, Fars Province, Iran | April 21, 2016

On a pier on a normal-looking lake, three women gear up to kayak, with white swan boats anchored near them.

Love boats and girls | Zarivar Lake, Kordestan Province, Iran | May 16, 2016
A mule walks down a deserted asphalt road in a hilly countryside.
Mule | Along the Gogasur River, Sulaymaniyah Governorate, Iraqi Kurdistan | May 18, 2016

Two goats stand by a wall in an Arabic-looking village.

Two goats | Bandar-e Doulab, Hormozgan Province, Iran | April 10, 2016

A number of cows and two grey goats graze on a hillside burned yellow by the sun.

Two more goats | Between Dokan and Koya, Erbil Governorate, Iraqi Kurdistan | May 23, 2016

A dead goat lies on green artificial grass next to what looks like a dead sheep.

Halabja Memorial Monument | Halabja, Iraqi Kurdistan | May 20, 2016

Seven men, all dressed in wide-legged Kurdish trousers, stand in a line by a fence.

Construction workers | Near Ahmadawa, Sulaymaniyah Governorate, Iraqi Kurdistan | May 19, 2016

A line of men stand in a mosque during prayer, all but one facing away from the camera.

Night prayer | Penjwen, Sulaymaniyah Governorate, Iraqi Kurdistan | May 16, 2016

Seen from ground level, a small boy sits on a tall chair and plays with a laser pointer in a shrine whose ceilings are decorated entirely with mirrored tiles.

Morteza and his son Saam at the imamzadeh | Bisotun, Kermanshah Province, Iran | May 4, 2016

Three young man lie and sit around on a carpeted floor, with a woman stepping lightly on the back of one of them.

Shahab gets a back massage | Kuzaran, Kermanshah Province, Iran | May 8, 2016

Two men in traditional Kurdish dress pose in front of a general store.

Two shopkeepers | Halabja, Iraqi Kurdistan | May 20, 2016

Three bottles of Coke, a little left in one of them, a large straw hat, and a pair of sunglasses on a table.

40 °C in the shade | Between Dokan and Koya, Sulaymaniyah Governorate, Iraqi Kurdistan | May 23, 2016
Fields glow with strange golden light in front of a line of low hills.
Moonlit fields | Between Koya and Erbil, Erbil Governorate, Iraqi Kurdistan | May 25, 2016

Closeup of a very colorful carpet.

Kurdish felt carpet | Erbil, Iraqi Kurdistan | May 26, 2016

A man in traditional Kurdish dress rides a motorcycle at night without holding on to its handlebars, as seen from another motorcycle.

Motorbike ride | Along the Gogasur River, Sulaymaniyah Governorate, Iraqi Kurdistan | May 18, 2016

Looking down from a bridge at people washing their cars and having picnics by a river.

Sunset on the Little Zab | Dokan, Sulaymaniyah Governorate, Iraqi Kurdistan | May 22, 2016

An old white sedan parked on a road with a view of rolling green hills.

Sunset in the Hawraman | Between Uraman Takht and Daraki, Kordestan Province, Iran | May 14, 2016
A yellow Lamborghini Gallardo parked across the road from what looks like an enormous trash fire which lights up the night sky.
Dream City | Erbil, Iraqi Kurdistan | May 27, 2016

A young boy in an FC Barcelona shirt holds a paper cup of tea, sitting on a chair by the side of a road.

Tea house | Ankawa, Erbil, Iraqi Kurdistan | May 27, 2016

Closeup of a hand with Persian numbers and an email address, my previous one, scrawled on its palm in blue biro.

Contact received | Between Uraman Takht and Daraki, Kordestan Province, Iran | May 14, 2016

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