Famous for being the hottest place on Earth and its impressive rock formations, the Lut Desert is a must if you’re visiting the Kerman region.

During my 2 week trip to Iran, I stayed in a camp to enjoy the sunrise over the egg-shaped hills of the Lut Desert and explore its incredible rock formations, known as Kaluts, as well as the salt rivers that emerge from the arid landscape.

I completed my visit exploring the mysterious city of Kerman, an off the beaten track destination where not many foreign visitors stop!

How to visit Bam, Rayen and Mahan from Kerman

I visited the Lut Desert after spending a full day exploring Bam, Rayen and Mahan, including a night sleep in a camp near the desert.

My original plan was to visit Mahan and the Kalut Desert the day after I arrived in Kerman, sleeping in the desert that night. However, when I arrived in the Akhavan Hotel in Kerman, both the receptionist and my driver recommended going to the desert early the second morning, as visiting in the afternoon could be too hot to handle. The Kalut Desert is famous for being one of the hottest places on earth, where temperatures can easily reach 50 degrees Celsius!

We ended up modifying my plans last minute and followed the itinerary below:

• 1st night: arrive in Kerman from Yazd and sleep at the Akhavan Hotel. 

• 2nd day: tour of Bam, Rayen and Mahan. Overnight in the desert.

• 3rd day: sunrise in the Kaluts, drive back to Kerman. Free time in Kerman with overnight at the Akhavan Hotel. 

The total price was €194, including the private driver, two nights at the hotel with breakfast and dinner, and a night in the desert with dinner. Although I was travelling solo, another follow traveller from Argentina joined me for the tour, so we managed to divide the cost between the two of us, which was just perfect!

Lut Desert

We wanted to enjoy the sunrise in the Lut Desert, so our visit started very early in the morning at 5:30am. We still had to drive for almost one hour from our camp to the desert, so we took a quick shower and went straight to our car; we would have some time for breakfast on the way back. 

The Lut Desert, where we’d spend most of the morning exploring the Lut Desert, a place like no other on Earth. With an area of over 51,800 square meters, this salt desert and UNESCO Heritage Site is famous for being the hottest place on earth, with temperatures of over 70 °C measured on its surface!

We were running a little bit late for the sunrise, so our driver decided to stop by the egg-shaped hills to see it from there. These oval pains, formed into the shape of an egg, are located right at the entrance to the desert and are one of the most unique rock formations in the world. 

The day was pretty cloudy so I personally found the sunrise a bit underwhelming. While the egg-shaped hills are interesting, they are definitely not the best part of the Lut Desert. We were actually quite disappointed that we didn’t manage to see the sunrise from the Kaluts, as the views are far more dramatic.

In spite of being a deserted area, you can find saltwater emerging from the arid ground. These springs can be easily spotted due to the white salt on the banks.

There are also egg-shaped forms created in this salty ground, where the salt on the ground creates the shape of an egg that cannot be seen elsewhere. One of the formations in this area even has the shape of a face, some say that it looks like a more eroded version of the Sphinx of Giza in Egypt!

One of the most impressive formations that you will find in the Lut Desert is the huge dunes of clay formed as a result of erosion, known as Kaluts. Most visitors to the Lut Desert are attracted to these particular formations that cannot be found elsewhere. 

Most of the Kaluts can be found in the west of the Central Lut area, some of them reaching 120 meters in high. You will have to drive for almost one hour through the vastness of the desert to reach them. On the way, you can even spot the remains of an old caravanserai in the middle of the desert!  

Since we had a regular car, we weren’t able to go beyond the main road of the desert. The views of the desert from there were already pretty incredible, but I wish I would’ve had a 4x4 car to really venture into the desert and get closer to some of the most impressive constructions that we could only see from the distance. 

You can still get close to some gigantic Kaluts from the main road. Most of them can be easily climbed, so I can’t recommend enough going to the top to enjoy the incredible views of these fascinating formations!

Shafiabad Caravanserai

We spent about 1h30m in the Lut Desert before we started driving back to Kerman. It was only 8am and the temperatures were already getting high, so we didn’t want to stay by the time it reached 50 °C. 

Before stopping at the camp to get our luggage and have breakfast, we paid a quick visit to the Shafiabad Caravanserai. These constructions were used by travellers of the Silk Road to rest and spend the night before continuing their journey. 

Shafiabad Caravanserai is formed by 4 round mud-brick towers in a great state of preservation. You can access the building for free and climb to the roof, where you will have panoramic views of the entire construction. 

As we continued driving to our camp and not too far from the caravanserai, another unusual tourist attraction was a Mahan Air plane parked in the middle of a deserted road. We're not too sure what it was doing there, but it was odd nonetheless!

Kerman

We took advantage of having a car and visited a couple of sites that are located slightly outside of Kerman city centre. One of them is Jabalieh Dome, an octagonal structure made in brick located on the slopes of the Gholleh Dokhtar Mountain. 

The purpose of this construction is not clear, but it is believed that it was the resting place of a Zoroastrian priest. The main characteristic of this construction is that it was built in stone instead of the traditional mud-brick constructions typical of the desert. 

A short drive from there you should also stop by the Zericf Icehouse. Just like the ones near Yazd, these constructions were used to store ice. There’s a couple of them in Kerman, and they are one of the biggest and best preserved that you can find in Iran. 

After checking back into the hotel and having some rest, I still had the entire afternoon to explore Kerman. I went for lunch with the Argentinian girl that had joined me in the desert and ended up having a sandwich just behind the hotel, as that was the only nearby place that we could find.

After lunch, I headed on my own to Kerman town centre The Akhavan Hotel is a good 30 minutes walk to the historical town, but I had run out of phone credit so I had to stop in an Irancell store on the way.

I first arrived in Tohin Square with its modern statue, which gives access to the Ganjali Khan Square Complex located right behind. This construction, built between 1596 and 1621 in the Safavid era, concentrates most of the sites of interest of Kerman, including a square, a caravanserai, a bathhouse, a mosque and the famous Vakil bazaar.

For the first time during my trip to Iran, the Nowruz holidays were over, so Kerman looked like a deserted city compared to crows of tourists that I was used to seeing the previous days. It was actually lovely to have the place all for myself, especially after the terrible experience with crowds and traffic in Mahan!

A five minute walk south of the Ganjali Khan Square Complex will bring you to Malek Mosque, built in the 11th century during the Kerman Seljuk Sultanate.

Decorated with plaster moulding, broken line bricks and glazed tiles, this construction reminds the greatness of Kerman during the Seljuk era. Don’t miss the impressive decoration on the ceiling!

Malek Mosque was the most important mosque in Kerman until the construction of Jameh Mosque. Part of the Mozaffarid historical complex, the mosque was built in 1349 AD by Amir Mobarezeddin Mohammad-e-Mozaffar. 

The mosque was modernised during the reign of Shah Abbas Safavi in the 16th century, and the Qajar dynasty later in the 18th century added the tile-work of the main veranda facing the Qibla. Further reconstructions include the northern Shabistan, the part of the mosque designed for night prayers. 

A unique characteristic of this monument is that it is one of the very few mosques without minarets or even a dome above the main veranda. Another valuable part of Kerman’s James Mosque, installed in the wall beside the entrance from the bazaar, is Sang-e Ayineh, meaning the mirror stone due to the amazing transparency it previously had. 

One of the monuments left in Kerman by the Qajar dynasty is the Moshtaghieh Dome, located outside the old city limits just next to an old cemetery. Also known as the three domes, each of them is actually a tomb.

The first dome with tile decoration belongs to Moshtaq Ali Shah, a Sufi leader. The other dome with thile decoration belongs to Kosar Ali Shah Hamedani, while the brick dome belongs to the Sheikh Ismael Herati. The tiles were actually a recent addition after the original brick domes were damaged with the pass of time.

Just outside the Moshtaghieh Dome you will find Shohada Square, a huge roundabout that includes a park with fountains and an arched construction that surrounds it. I found the park quite dodgy, with very suspicious looking people that didn’t make me feel comfortable for some reason. A guy started staring and following me, so I didn’t stay there for too long. It was the very first time in Iran that I actually felt uncomfortable or insecure, as the country is an extremely safe place otherwise.

Kerman is a far more traditional and conservative city, where tourists are rare compared to Isfahan or Kashan. During my entire trip across Iran, most people confused me with an Iranian due to my Mediterranean look, but in Kerman I felt like a stranger for the first. It was mainly curious stares, but Kerman is certainly very different from other places in the country!

If you want to experience the local culture, head to the Sartasari Bazaar to experience one of the main commercial centres of not only Kerman but the whole of Iran. This open-air bazaar extends for over 1km, connecting Tohid and Shohada Square.

After covering all the main highlights of Kerman, I stopped by the Vakil Teahouse before heading back to my hotel. 

This traditional tea-house was founded in 1863 during the Qajar dynasty. The original construction was a bath which consisted of two different sections, a dressing room and the hot chamber. The interior is beautifully decorated with tile and ceramic work.

The building was transformed into a teahouse in recent years, where you can enjoy the traditional Iranian tea with local sweets while enjoying folkloric music. I personally loved the atmosphere inside, certainly the perfect day to conclude a long day exploring the Lut Desert and Kerman!

I was pretty exhausted after spending the entire day outside and it was already getting late, so I decided to order a Snapp just outside the teahouse and go straight to my hotel.

Next day, I would take a very long 9-hour bus from Kerman to Shiraz to spend two days in the gem of Persia!

Where to sleep in Kerman