Greetings
The year 2020 has been unlike any other year. Holiday plans, visiting family and friends overseas and spending the festive season traveling, have all become foreign concepts. We may still be a while away from being able to travel, however our imaginations won’t stop expanding and evolving. Here at NZ Travel and Tour, our commitment is to keep our subscribers up to date on the wonderful destination of the East and the ancient land of Persian, Iran. Every Newsletter is carefully curated to give you a taste of the ancient Silk Road and destinations along this route. The articles referred to in each newsletter are written by local authors and/or local tour guides. Feel free to click on the links provided to read full articles.
This edition of NZ travel and Tour newsletter is about top ten villages in Iran. Some of these undiscovered villages are hidden gems within the vast land of Persia, Iran. Once again, we are delighted to share another article by Matin, who is very well travelled and knowledgeable.
Keep on reading to discover some of the top wonderful Persian villages worth knowing of in Iran. We can not wait until we can travel internationally and immerse ourselves in the culture and history of the East.

Kandovan
Kandovan, as one of the few cliff villages in the world, is the Cappadocia of Iran. This attractive village is located on the foothills of Mount Sahand in the northwest of Iran.
One of the reasons for the nomenclature of this village is the resemblance between its rocky structures and beehives. Kandovan is the plural form of Kandoo, which means beehive in Persian. Honey is also one of the main souvenirs of Kandovan.
Abyaneh
Abyaneh is a staircase-like village. It is located on the foothills of Karkas Mountain in central Iran, in Esfahan province. It is believed that Abyaneh is one of the oldest residences in the central desert of Iran.
Chabahar Darak Village
In the most southeast province of Iran, in the outskirts of Chabahar, a breathtaking village of Darak is located. In this area the desert meets the Oman Sea and results in a wonderful landscape. The confluence of desert and sea is a rare happening and there are only a few places on earth that you can witness this beautiful merge.

Meymand
Meymand is an ancient rocky village in Kerman. The dwellings of Meymand are dug and carved inside the mountains. Unlike other cliff villages in the world, Meymand is still the home of the natives. Visiting Meymand and witnessing the daily chores of the locals around this village is a one of a kind experience. How locals live their lives inside these dwellings, the use of underground water reservoirs for watering crops or creating handicrafts out of wood or wool tickles the curiosity of most travellers and visitors to this village.
Palangan
Palangan is another stair-like village in Iran. This village is located in western parts of Iran, in Kurdistan province. Palangan has a great history as it was built around one thousand years ago and it had been the capital of Ardalan Kurdish monarchy for about four hundred years.
Aside from the natural and architectural attractions,
you can enjoy many historical and traditional ceremonies that take place in Palangan. Nowrouz (Persian New Year), is
celebrated wildly in the village, with traditional Kurdish songs and costumes.
To gain access to the full list of hidden villages in Iran, click on Matin’s Article here.