Article by: Ahmad Papoli Baravati, Persian Walk’s local tour guide in Bam & Ehsan Niroumand, Co-founder of Persian Walk. Photos by: Mehdi Mostafaiy, Mohammad Javad Kamaladini, Ayoub Khorshidi, Ahmad Papoli Baravati & Ehsan Niroumand
Where is Bam and why do you visit?
Bam is situated in the southeastern country, in Kerman province, 185 km from the city of Kerman toward Zahedan. Bam is a historic city on the ancient Silk Road and the only Iranian city with its entire area registered by UNESCO World Heritage Organization as Bam and its Cultural Landscape.
Many tourists believe, Bam is one of the top 10 places in Iran you must see. Bam has been situated at the crossroads of important trade routes from ancient times up to now. In this blog, we will talk about the 8 best things to do in Bam.
How to get to Bam?
You can start your travel in Iran by a direct flight or train from Tehran to Bam and then visit Kerman, Yazd, Shiraz, Isfahan, Kashan, and Tehran. Also, if you want to go to Pakistan after visiting Iran or vice versa, or if you want to visit Chabahar port in the southeastern part of the country, you should definitely cross Bam.
Here are the 8 Best Things to Do in Bam:
1. Bam Walking Tour and City Tour
Persian Walk proudly runs the daily Bam Walking Tour and Bam City Tour. So, to explore the best things to do in Bam you can book your tours online now. On both tours, the Persian Walk’s local guide who is fluent in English, German, and Persian languages will show you the city and surroundings.
2. Walking through the history
Arg-e Bam (the historic citadel of Bam) is the largest adobe complex in the world with an area of about 20 hectares and needs at least 2 hrs to visit. It is one of the most important things to do in Bam. After exploring Arg-e Bam, history enthusiasts have several other fascinating sites to visit in Bam, such as:
A. Yakhchal (Ice House) around Arg-e Bam. In old times in order to have ice during the summertime, Iranians created a very unique way to produce and store ice during winter and use it all the summer. So, they used Yakhcahl which literally means the hole of ice.
B. Qale Dokhtar (a small ruined castle) a Sassanid castle as a temple for praying Anahita, the Goddess of water in ancient Iran.
C. Koushk Rahim Abad, a 1000-year-old palace, some days in the middle of a CharBagh in a Persian Garden.
D. Henna Grinding Factory with the loving story of Henna. It is now kept in a well-shaped and worth visiting.
3. Dating the Dates
Actually, the date palm tree is a lovely tree and worthy of respect & dating. It is counted with the unit of human in Persian (Nafar). A date tree has interesting aspects different from other types of trees, no matter what time you are in Bam, you can participate in seasonal agricultural functions of date palm gardens.
In March, you can experience artificial pollination (insemination) at the beginning of the spring. This process is essential to get the high quality and quantity harvest of trees.
At the beginning of the summer, in June, farmers start to fasten the clusters. This process is difficult for every cluster.
Late summer (Aug-Sep) is harvesting time, when Bami people, gather all the family together in date palm gardens. Here at this time, you see a strict social network connecting humans & nature to form a beautiful cultural landscape, so that is definitely an opportunity for the tourists to take part in this social ceremony. All these special functions, done in Bam Gardens are mentioned as the main result for the registration of the Bam Mazafati date in WIPO as a unique Mazafati date in the world. (registration number: 1022, registration date: December 28, 2015).
Many date palm gardens have citrus fruits (mainly orange), pomegranate, mulberry, grape, and a few bananas. This is a real Bio-diversity that you see in these gardens from the past up to now, despite the changes and impacts of modern life. December & June are the times to harvest citrus fruits and a special date called “Hallile” and also winter is the best time to prune the excess branches.
4. Garden Alleys
In the garden city of Bam & Baravat, you can find some beautiful garden alleys, some reach more than two kilometers long where by walking through, you can feel real peace of nature mixed with the melody of nightingales & water. The Persian Walk team suggests you experience donkey riding in these memorable alleys or at least bicycle.
5. Lut Desert
Among the things to do in Bam Lut desert is very unique, especially for nature lovers. Bam lies on the borders of the hottest desert in the world, the Lut desert. From Bam, you can do a desert tour to discover the highlights of this unique desert. From the entrance gate of Bam to Lut desert you visit a beautiful historic castle, the ancient tumulus of Tale-Atashin (dating back to more than 6000 BC some excavations say), the linking point of the Earth to the Sky, sand dunes, night camping beside blinking stars & Kaluts.
We offer you a one to three-day desert tour with a 4WD car and local & professional drivers.
If you do not have enough time, our suggestion is a half-day semi-desert in the city of Rigan (90 km From Bam) on the road to Chabahar port. Over there you see some sand dunes up to 70 m high and you can feel the softness of the dunes by walking over. Here in Rigan, the price you pay will be lower than the Lut Desert because you don’t need a 4WD car and also the duration is much lower than the previous one.
6. Qanats & Agricultural Night Life
The cultural landscape you see in Bam represents a historic interaction between man and nature in an arid land, using the wonderful engineering & complex system of Qanat. The qanat system has a strict social system with some defined tasks of the local people which has been organized throughout history by people, not by the government and right now is still in use.
The irrigation process of the date palm gardens is so special when you start from the outlet of qanat to the garden especially when you do that at night.The sense of silence, the moderate temp of the weather, murmurs of water, the chirp of crickets, blinking stars, and the smooth light of the dear moon. All these magic feelings call us to Bam Agricultural Night Life.
7. Mountains
On one side of Bam, you see the vast deserts, and on the other side, you face some mountains with completely different weather, a real geographical contrast. Jebal Barez mountains are situated on the southern side of Bam with some villages in its northern ranges with different fauna and flora. There’s the habitat of Asiatic Black Bear and cheetah also.
These mountains play the most important role in supplying the Qanat Network of Bam as the main feature of Bam and its Cultural Landscape.
To visit these interesting things to do in Bam, we operate a one-day tour crossing the mountains from the northern ranges to the other side, to the village of Dehbakri, the biggest village of the region, between Bam and the city of Jiroft.
8. Memory of the Earthquake
In 2003, a huge devastating earthquake happened in Bam and Baravat, with the deaths up to 30,000 or more, it had a moment magnitude of 6.6 Richter. At that time there were no people in the city who had not lost at least one of the family members or some of his/her relatives.
Arg-e Bam also condoled the people of Bam when has been destroyed to sympathize with Bam. That was a page of Bam’s history Book which has been leafed. After that, Bam started to revive itself with the hopes which remained. Right now there are some places left behind the earthquake in the city to the memory of that happening like some ruins of people’s houses, a government building, and the memorial hills. All that is situated inside the city.
