Sohail Forouzan-sepehr's Website: My Trip to Qeshm Island (Page 2)

98. A native old woman with traditional clothes in Lāft (photo courtesy, taken by Mahtab Rezvani)

99. A wind-tower in Lāft (photo courtesy, taken by Mahtab Rezvani). Wind-towers are the main feature of central & southern Iranian architecture used as air ventilators or coolers in the buildings.

100. A street in Lāft

101. Traditional buildings in Lāft

102 & 103. Near Lāft harbour

104. An evening view of a traditional wooden boat (photo courtesy, taken by Mahtab Rezvani)

105. A very beautiful evening view near Lāft(photo courtesy, taken by Mahtab Rezvani)

106. A traditional wooden boat near the Lāft harbour (photo courtesy, taken by Mahtab Rezvani). These kind of vessels are called "Lanch" in the native language .A lanch takes about one year to be built. Lanches play a particular role in transporting goods & passengers in the Persian Gulf. In other parts of Iran it is called "Lenj" [Ref: here].

107. The tourists in our group boarding on a traditional wooden boat (lanch) to cruise around, very nice interesting traditional night party, traditional music & ...

108. Again that lanch (photo courtesy, taken by Mahtab Rezvani)

109. The captain of the lanch

110. Me on the deck of the lanch

111. Mahtab (a very nice lady with good talent in photography) & I on the deck, photo taken by her husband, Alireza.

112. From left to right, Alireza, Mahtab and I on the deck

113. From left to right, Mr Zereshki (our tour leader), Alireza & I on the deck

114. Another lanch passing by our vessel

115. Boat of Ghosts!!!

116. A night shot of the city from our lanch

117. Me playing ‘ud! The "‘ud" is an ancient instrument of Arabic culture. It is an ancestor of similar stringed instruments, like the lute and guitar. Honestly, I can't play any kind of musical instruments though I wish to. That ‘ud belongs to the traditional musicians in the lanch who are very warm & kind. They wanted to present their ‘ud & even invited me to their home when I applauded their music.

118 to 120. Night shots of the Lāft harbour in returning from our cruise

121 to 123. The Lāft harbour

124. Our host lanch after finishing the cruise

125. A small maybe model boat in our way in Lāft

126 to 129. "Emam-Gholi Khan" Square in the Qeshm city. Emam-Gholi Khan Undiladze, who defeated the Portuguese army in the Persian Gulf was a famous Iranian Georgian serving the Safavid empire. He followed his father Allahverdi Khan Undiladze, as the Iranian chancellor and the governor of Fars. It should be mentioned that the Portuguese had captured the island since 1507 AD for more than one century till Emam-Gholi Khan defeated them away in 1622 AD.

130. My Mom in Emam-Gholi Khan square

131. Me in Emam-Gholi Khan square

132. Very beautiful Azaleas planted in the island

133 to 135. "Berke-ye Bibi" or Bibi water-reservoir (="ābānbar" in Persian). the first water reservoir in Qeshm was constructed in 18th AD century by the spouse of Sheikh Abdollah (contemporary local governor). Its ceiling has been repaired several times.

136 to 138. Bibi water-reservoir Park

139. Three beautiful butterflies in the "Berke-ye-Bibi" Park

140. Another water-reservoir near Bibi water-reservoir Park

141. Inside that reservoir

142 to 145. Somewhere on my way back to the hotel from Bibi water-reservoir Park

146. Somewhere on my way back to the hotel from Bibi water-reservoir Park

147. A Portuguese Castle, built in 17th AD century in the north-east of the island under the decree of the contemporary Spanish monarch. The castle has two ramparts & towers in the four corners. Within the castle I saw 2 extremely ancient & rusty cannons still remained.