We are reluctant to leave the “City of Towers – Yazd” after 5 days. But we are driven by the desire for warmth.
So we take the direct route towards Kerman.

On the way we want to fill up with diesel, but have to queue for almost an hour for the first time and then only get 50 liters. From then on, we see long to very long lines of trucks standing in front of filling stations waiting for diesel. Other filling stations are closed and have no fuel at all.

Kerman

In Kerman, we pay a small fee to park in the parking lot of the Hotel Akhavan. This has three advantages for us. 1. we have a safe place to stand for the night, 2. we can finally change money here again without any complications and perhaps the most important thing, 3. uncomplicated filling of our water tanks. The hotel owner is very open to Overlanders and is happy to receive postcards from all over the world.

Once again, we are allowed to fill up at the petrol station of the municipal bus transport company without any complications. After returning from the Lut Desert, we go there again – but nothing works. The city buses are not receiving any fuel either. Bus drivers explain to us that someone has hacked the refueling system and that the software has to be reloaded first.

On the way out of the city, we replenish our supplies at the “Hyper-Family” supermarket. However, fruit and vegetables are of better quality at the street vendor. As soon as we enter the store, the greengrocer wants us to take his photo. Of course we are happy to do that. This makes shopping even more fun.

Trip to the “Lut” desert

Kerman lies at an altitude of around 1800m. To reach the Lut Desert, we have to cross a foothill of the Zagros Mountains. The road leads steeply up to about 2690m and through the crest tunnel it also leads steeply down again on the desert side into the desert plain of the Lut Desert, which lies at an altitude of about 400m.

The Lut desert is located in the Iranian highlands. Due to its location on the Tropic of Cancer, it is a so-called Tropic of Cancer desert. This means that circulating trade winds mostly create a high-pressure situation that disperses any clouds, so that precipitation is rare. The drought is exacerbated by the Zagros Mountains to the southwest. To the north is the second large Iranian desert, the Dasht-e Kavir. As a result of these conditions, the annual rainfall is less than 50 mm. The Lut Desert is one of the hottest places on earth. A ground measurement by satellite in the summer of 2005 showed 70.7 °C. One scientific expedition was even able to measure a temperature of 78.2 °C. (Oh dear).

An erosion relief has formed in the southwest of the desert – the Kaluts. And that is exactly where we want to go.

In the Kaluts of the Lut desert

Towards evening we reach the Kaluts, where we are met by a French couple. We met Gille and Muriel on the way to Kerman. Together we drive up a dune in the Kaluts. While the two of them set off on another desert tour the next day, we enjoy four days of silence in the desert and the changing weather, which also brings us an unpleasant dust and sand storm. Nevertheless, the temperatures during the day are at least around 21° to 24°.

Monument Valley of Iran

The towers of dried mud and sand were probably created by erosion, by being carried away by water, wind and heat. It is possible that today’s low plateau (52 m to 420 m above sea level) was once the bottom of a lake that gradually dried up and its bed eroded in the area of the Luts.

Either way, it’s wonderful here and we spend 4 days in the Kaluts. Taking short breaks from time to time is good for you and helps you process all the impressions.

Video impressions

The two-minute video conveys the impressive landscape on the eastern edge of the Lut desert in a different way. Please turn on the sound, put on your headphones and enjoy. I hope you like the music.

After 4 quiet days we travel back to Kerman and continue south.