OnTheRoad

The Howraman Valley stretches from Biya Kara, near to Miravan, down south to Paveh, near Kermanshah, more or less. It has incredible scenery, with massive, steep mountains, deep valleys, terraced gardens and stepped villages nestled away.

Getting here is not such a simple matter, as much of the road through is passable only by 4WD vehicles (or a particularly insane taxi driver with an old Paykan, which can go pretty much anywhere, sanity being the only limit). We caught a savari from Sanandaj to Biya Kara (ask for one to Marivan, you'll have to pay full fare - 30,000IR) and attempted to negotiate a ride from there. We were fortunate enough to meet Naser, a local English teacher (apparently they know to run and grab him if English speakers turn up), who took us home, hooked us up lunch and tea, then arranged a trip through with his uncle. The price was 250,000IR, and given that he also arranged for us to stay with his sister and her family in Ravansar, incredible value. The excellent company and knowledge of Naser really added to the experience as well.