| The very old village of Ghehi, situated in the Jolgeh | | | | understand and sense the nature of qanat we must |
| district in Isfahan province is no ordinary village. Ancient | | | | visit it at night." We grabbed our lanterns and like a |
| structures like the water storage tank with its 5 | | | | flock of medieval men in search of a missing person at |
| meters high wind catchers still standing intact to this | | | | night, drove in the direction of a Mirab through desert's |
| day. The village's old local bathhouse and a millennium | | | | night and parked our Jeep near the entrance. |
| old Mosque dating back to Ghaznavid period are a | | | | Soon, the crew was confronting a very deep hole |
| must see to anyone who visits this village. | | | | inside the ground. As deep and as dark as one can |
| Ghehi offers extraordinary tours and safaris including a | | | | imagine. Ehsan moved forward and we followed him, |
| birds hunting adventure near a place called Shaakh | | | | each of us holding a flashlight to find our way inside |
| Kennar marsh and the very exciting tour of exploring | | | | the steep hole. |
| inside a half dozen of ancient qanats of central Iran. | | | | We reached the end of the deep shaft and |
| Qanat exploration is particularly exciting. As we | | | | surprisingly it was easier than we first thought. Inside |
| nowadays know, qanats are truly symbols of Iranian | | | | the qanat, the air was cool and real fresh. At first. we |
| architecture and a way of life. These water-carrying | | | | assumed it would be impossible to go down there |
| channels, built almost 30 meters underground could run | | | | because we would be facing dirt or choke to death |
| for hundreds of kilometers across dry deserts. They | | | | due to the lack of oxygen and foul air. We were |
| were built in order to confront the adverse conditions | | | | wrong, the inside of the channel was absolutely clean, |
| of living in the dry deserts, thousands of years ago. | | | | almost sterile, filled with fresh aromatic air. We walked |
| They can be defined as a set of linear wells that are | | | | through the mud water gathered inside the qanat. The |
| somehow interconnected from beneath and usually | | | | mud was quite sticky and it could easily pull our shoes |
| extend deep across deserts carrying fresh water | | | | off our feet, so we took our shoes off and continued |
| from the slopes of mountains to villages and farms. | | | | on our way. |
| Qanats prevent water from being evaporated by the | | | | Later we queued up and began to explore the zigzag |
| heat of the sun. Every qanat has a main entrance | | | | downer tunnel with our leader in the front. It was a lot |
| called Mirab by which it is possible to enter the very | | | | of fun to walk in such a wet and sticky way, where |
| horizontal and dark downer tunnel of the qanat itself. | | | | somehow one simply can't pick up the next pace |
| On one of the occasions, we made a request to visit | | | | without some help from the next partner. That night |
| a qanat in the vicinity of the Ghehi village. Fortunately, | | | | we were lucky enough to come across a few |
| one of the locals was willing to show it us. His name | | | | gorgeous doves that took refuge inside the ancient |
| was Ehsan. "He has vast knowledge and expertise to | | | | structure. |
| serve as a suitable guide." The elders of the village told | | | | Here we are proud to present to you one of the most |
| us. | | | | exciting tours in the desert, which you will surely get to |
| That same evening Ehsan signalled us to get ready to | | | | find out more about it yourself. |
| head to one the ancient qanats. He said "...to really | | | | |