Zahedan is a city at the far east of Iran in the Sistan and Baluchistan province with a population of half a million . Being the province centre and being just 42 km far from the tripont of the boarders of Iran , Afghanistan and Pakistan it has quite an importance. It is connected to the Pakistani boarder by road and the distance being just an hours drive . Trade between Iran and Pakistan occurs from here by road and also by train .
I managed to visit this city in September of 2011 for a day during which I tried to understand the culture of the city and the Baloch people and also took quite a few pictures which I will be sharing .
Zahedan is connected to the rest of Iran by train . It took me round about 24 hours to reach Zahedan from Tehran ,the train being very comfortable and very cheap , the ticket no more than a mere 20 dollars.
The majority of people in Zahedan are Balochis . Though Iran has some Baloch people (around a million) , the majority of Balochi people reside across the neighboring Pakistan . What most fascintated me about the Baloch people in Zahedan were that they had many similarities with the Pakistani culture . You could frequently see people walking around in shalwar qamees , the national dress of Pakistan .
An old man offering prayers in a park
As I wandered around the city I felt that Zahedan was very different from other Iranian cities , while other Iranian cities like Tabriz and Karaj have a very lively nightlife , people are out in the parks and in the big shopping malls round about the whole nights , here the air seemed quite different , though it is very lively in the evenings ,the city would literally shut off at about nine at night , which to be frank wasn't in accord to my taste . I guess this they have also acquired from across the border .
Rest the city was quite OK , the people surprisingly friendly and ready to help .
I stayed in Gilan Hotel for the night.
Gilan Hotel. Zahedan , Iran.
The city has some big mosques and has a condsiderable population of Sunnis as well as Shias.
A mosque in Zahedan.
The city was quite clean and had some very modern buldings and places .
Esteghlal hotel is the best hotel in Zahedan and most Iranian tourists , officials and international tourists stay here.
Esteghlal Grand Hotel , Zahedan
I had my lunch at Vali-Asr restaurant which was quite good in quality and and the prices were quite cheap for the place.
Other photos that I took in Zahedan
There are massive residential and commercial projects going around just outside the city .
By :Muhammad Saeed
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