TEHRAN – Croatian musician and percussionist Hrvoje Rupcic and his wife, whose travelogue on Iran has been recently published in homeland, say they have been fascinated by the Iranian deserts. 

“I am in love with the deserts, which constitute a large part of Iran. I was captivated by the beauty of the cities on the margin of the Iranian deserts such as Yazd, which is mentioned by the Venetian merchant and explorer Marco Polo as an important and beautiful city on the Silk Road,” he told the Vecernji List, the Croatian daily newspaper published in Zagreb on Sunday. 

Rupcic, who is also a photographer and cinematographer, said that the central city of Isfahan is one of the most beautiful cities in the world in his eyes. 

He noted that many questioned his motives for choosing such a place, which they considered dangerous, insecure, and unsafe. 

“As far as I understood Iran is one of the safest countries in the world, I have never seen a feeling of calm and welcome anywhere in Europe and America, where I also traveled,” he answers. 

The entire first edition of “In the Land of Noble People”, which describes Rupcic’s great motorcycle journey through the vastness of the ancient land of Iran, in which he questions the personal and collective values of the global world and calls it a spiritual journey, has sold out. 

The traveler mentioned that he [and his wife] traveled freely by his motorcycle from west to east and from north to south of Iran, and also climbed the highest peak in Iran Mount Damavand.
 
“What excites you most in Iran is its people. The most hospitable, noble, kind, and educated people I have ever met on my travels around the world,” he said. 

“It seems that the West’s behaviors and reactions against Iran are simply childish acts.”

His book has been published by the V.B.Z. d.o.o., a Croatian publishing company including bookstores and online sales, and is available online.

Although the book is written in Croatian, there are some requests for the book from Australia, Canada, South Korea, and Japan, he said.

He expressed his hope that the documentary he is working on about his travel and adventures in Iran, will be broadcast in the near future. 

Last year, the deputy tourism minister, Vali Teymouri, announced that "foreign travelers with motorcycles above 250cc are allowed to enter and ride in Iran".

Many international travelers to the country say that traversing Iran equals an endless charm, as it embraces so many diverse cultures and landscapes.

Iran has numerous tourist spots to offer foreign tourists such as bazaars, museums, mosques, bridges, bathhouses, madrasas, mausoleums, churches, towers, and mansions, of which 24 being inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage list including Lut desert.

The Lut Desert, widely referred to as Dasht-e Lut (“Emptiness Plain”), is a large salt desert encircled by the provinces of Kerman and Sistan- Baluchestan, and South Khorasan. It is the world’s 27th-largest desert and was inscribed on UNESCO’s World Heritage List on July 17, 2016.

Seven years of satellite temperature data analyzed by NASA show that the Lut Desert is the hottest spot on Earth. Based on the research, it was hottest during 5 of the 7 years and had the highest temperature overall: 70.7°C in 2005.

The desert is also considered as one of the top areas in the world for finding meteorites, thanks to its unique parameters. In recent years, significant finds have been made, with the efforts of national and international teams of researchers.

ABU/AFM