Ilam airport being quite small, I am often asked to go and pick up new expatriate staff in Keremanshah, about 4 hours drive from Mehran. So for once I took a bit of time to visit.
Kermanshah, capital of the Iranian Kurd region, is a reasonably populated city but is amazingly stretched, there is not much to say about the city itself, although is an ancient city there is not much left of it, and it is a rather dull place.
Have to say there are still a few good points on Kermanshah,
· The people are really friendly and it is difficult to be unseen in Kermanshah, it was difficult to go anywhere without having people approaching and asking questions, most of the people do not speak a word of English but the rare people that do will rush towards you to speak.
· The sweets, Kermanshah has a lot of different sweet specialties that are really worth buying
· The parks and more important the surrounding nature: mountains every where, opportunities for those who want to hike and climb
· The TAKH E BOSTAN: three shrines of Ancient Persian kings, the site is not very big and you will probably not need more than 20 minutes to visit all of it but is you go close to Kermanshah it is worth seeing the complex carved in the rock is divided in 3 parts, the first group of carving done under the reign of Shapur II (310-379) showing his coronation and his victory over the roman emperor Julian, Shapur is receiving the ring of power from Ahura Mazda, on his left is represented Mithra
The second group of carving called the small Iwan represents Shapur III with His Father Sahpur II.
The 3rd part called the big Iwan, the most spectacular, one of the master piece of the Sassanid period shows probably Khosro II (591-628) on his horse, surrounded by Ahura Mazda and the goddess Anahita, the top is completed by two victory angel and the sides are covered by beautiful scene of hunting…
PS sorry for the bad pic and for winter travelers: Kermanshah is in the mountains and can be really cold during winter. That’s for the weather information….
Oh and by the way do not expect a good choice of touristic facilities, the prices are the same but the service and quality is quite disappointing