Dezful doesn’t even get a mention in the Lonely Planet Guide for Iran but we had a fantastic stay here and used it as a base to get to a couple of amazing places – actually some of our favourite spots in a country of outstanding destinations – but more on those in a separate post.
Dezful – What remains of a water mill from 300 BCE can be seen under the modern bridge.
Dezful itself is a town of around 420,000 people located in the west of Iran, about halfway between where we started our trip in the south (Bandar Abbas) and where we finished (north of Tabriz on the Armenian border). A former wrestler now mountain guide couchsurf host wrote to us in response to our public trip on couchsurfing and we decided to accept his invitation. He lived with his parents who were delightful and very hospitable (who isn’t in Iran!?).
More than just a base for nearby highlights Choqa Zanbil, Shushtar and Shush, Dezful turned out to have a lot to offer. During our stay Mehdi took us around the river area which had an interesting history and provided nice spots for camping, to the local bazaar, to a shrine of some sort and to the Dezful Dam… which for my dam-loving husband was fantastic!
Shoe-shop, Dezful Bazaar.
The Bazar in Dezful has been trading since 500 CE and we enjoyed seeing all kinds of different trades and crafts-people at work, along with salesmen, bakers etc. The bazaar was not as crowded as those in other cities so we quite enjoyed wandering, taking pictures and chatting with people. We bought some goodies and discovered some unique products and creative arrangements of spices etc.
A baker, Dezful Bazaar.
Men at work, Dezful Bazaar
Plenty of sweets, spices, herbs, dried fruit & nuts for sale, along with shisha pipes and birds.
Antony trying out local toothpaste alternative! Copper pots also plentiful.
The river area was popular, by day and night. Colourful water features, an old bridge and what remains of water mills from around 300 CE make for a particularly interesting and atmospheric place to hang out. The Old Bridge, with its fourteen water arches, was built by 70,000 Roman prisoners of war in the 3rd century and is still (after repairs and restorations throughout the years) in use today.
There were free camping spots along the river – note that tents can be freely put up most places in Iran it seems, but oddly not on the grass. There are platforms provided for this purpose – wooden or concrete platforms on which to put the tent. These platforms can also be used by families picnicing during the day; they place their carpets on them and then picnic away.
Along the Dez River at night, bottom right is the Old Bridge (3rd C) Dezful.
Parts of the 1700 year old water mills still remain, Dezful River.
There are great views of the Old Bridge (looking downstream) and the Watermills (looking upstream) from Tizno House – one of the oldest and biggest residential homes in Dezful. It is possible to visit Tizno House which is ok but more interesting in my opinion are the views it offers of the river and city.
Tizno House and the view from there of the Old Bridge (3rd century).
Usually closed to the public, the Dez Dam was open because it was Noruz. There was a huge line of cars to get in and I can see why – the dam construction was incredible! At 203m high it is one of the highest dams in the country. Antony remembers (6 months after our visit) that there were 8 turbines at 65 megawatts. A quick google confirms this and tells me a few other facts about this interesting place. The dam which was completed in 1963, thanks to considerate funding from the World Bank, has a capacity of 3.34 cubic kilometres. It is located 32km upstrean from Dezful and provides electricity for the city from its associated 520 MW power station. It also provides water for the city and water for irrigation for 80,500 hectares of farmland.
Looking down on the Dez Dam – note for scale the people at the top.
I was impressed with how they had built it in such a steep and narrow gorge, incredible engineering. Not so impressive was the rubbish floating in the water and on the side of the reservoir. This was the only thing we didn’t like about Iran – rubbish everywhere. But aside from the rubbish, the Dez Dam was a beautiful and impressive place.
Dez Dam Reservoir – rubbish marring the otherwise beautiful place!
The last place of interest we went to in Dezful was a shrine or mosque with a tomb of some description inside. The place was small but beautiful, I can’t remember what it was called.
Our stay in Dezful concluded with a visit to our host’s uncle’s farm on the outskirts of the city. It was really interesting for us to meet a local farmer and see how things are done here – quite a contrast to the large scale farming we are used to in Canterbury, NZ. He grew eggplants mostly and some beans without any pesticides or chemicals and also had a few trees which produced orange blossom. He didn’t live at the farm – it seems most farms don’t have housing on the farm like they do in NZ. Farmers live in town and then come to the fields to work.
Local farm visit, Dezful
If you are wondering if you can make it this far west on your travels in Iran, I say do it! Visit Dezful, camp by the river and use it as a base to visit the wonderful towns of Shush & Shushtar and the ancient site Choqa Zanbil. You won’t be disappointed.