Sistan and Baluchestan Voyage Tips and guide

Contents

Sistan and Baluchestan is the southeasternmost province of Iran, along the country's border with Pakistan.

Map of Sistan and Baluchestan

• 29.49638960.8627781 Zahedan – the provincial capital of Baluchestan
• 31.03055661.4952 Zabol
• 27.37083362.3341673 Saravan
• 28.22111161.2158334 Khash
• 27.202560.6847225 Iranshahr
• 26.22583360.2141676 Nikshahr
• 25.29194460.6430567 Chabahar
• 27.19444460.4558338 Bampoor

• 25.979361.52911 Bahookalat Protected Area — Nature reserve home to several endangered species.
• 30.26388959.2411112 Dasht-e Lut — Large salt desert partly located in Sistan and Baluchestan, one of the world's driest and hottest places

The native language of the region, Baluchi, related to ancient Persian (Avestan), is spoken in western, southern, and eastern parts of the region. As in the rest of Iran, Persian is also useful.

There are three airports within the region, most flights are domestic with a very limited number of international flights from major hubs such as Dubai.

• Chabahar Konarak Airport (ZBR  ^IATA)
• Iranshahr Airport (IHR  ^IATA)
• Zahedan Airport (ZAH ^IATA)

The railway network is quite limited within the province. Zahedan in the northern part of the region was for a long time the only city connected to the rail network. Work is however under way to extend the railway southwards, the first extension to Khash was opened in 2022. The rest of the extension towards Chabahar at the Persian Gulf won't be finished until the mid or late 2020s.

There are direct overnight trains from Tehran to both Zahedan and Khash several times per week, with journey times of about 24 hours. Zahedan is also the terminus for international trains from Quetta, in Pakistan. These international trains are supposed to run twice per month, but cancellations are very common due to hostile weather and general insecurity of the border area. When the train do run it's a 40 hour journey with very basic accommodation, so make sure you are well prepared.

• Shahr-I Sokhta — the ruins of a city abandoned around 1800 BC, this archaeological site was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2014.
• Guel Afshan — a well that spews mud to the air
• Lut Desert — partially located in Sistan and Baluchestan, the rest in Kerman is a salt desert that is listed as a World Heritage Site.

Baluchis are famous for carpets, especially prayer rugs.