Sooza

The island's coastline is dotted with small, sleepy fishermen villages and we encountered only very few cars till we got closer to Qeshm Town in the East. There are many more Geopark sites on the southern coast such as the Namakdan salt cave, one of the longest salt cave systems in the world, and the Kharbas caves which are embedded in an almost vertical limestone cliff.

Sleeping under clear night skies, going for a swim in the gulf, spotting dolphins, watching the banderi life in the fishermen villages and marveling at the hand-decorated sewings made by local women rounded up our pretty relaxed time on the southern coastline.

In Qeshm Town, a shopping paradise cluttered with malls and hotels, we finally should experience Iranian hospitality for the last time. Majid approached us when we're hanging out with Gabriel at a falafel shop and invited us to stay at his apartment over night. We couldn't refuse and finally had a great evening with him and his friends :)

A quick note on the 'sustainable development' the Geopark is promoting on Qeshm: For us, cycling around the island was still like cycling through an almost untouched paradise, except the area around Qeshm Town, but we have doubts that the island will manage to preserve its special flair... It is rich in gas and oil deposits waiting to be exploited, you can see that port facilities are being built into the sea in every little village, they've started but stopped building a bridge to the mainland which would increase traffic volume dramatically and there are discussions about building a deepwater port. As if that weren't enough, shark oil, soap and shampoo is sold by souvenir shops - thumbs down for that.Read more