MATINABAD DESERT CAMP

Eco-tourism has recently been a concept that is highly fashionable among professionals in both the field of tourism and environmental studies. A group of scholarly experts in natural sciences and tourism founded an eco-tourist resort called Matinabad Desert Camp in 2008 in order to promote viable and accountable tourism in Iran. Surprisingly, this eco-friendly environment is also an organic farm. The motivation behind its existence has been to sustain, encourage, and support sustainable tourism, whose major concerns range from maintenance and culture to commerce and community. Close to the sandy hills and the dry grassland, the eco camp is situated with up-to-date facilities. This camp is close to one of the top tourist spots in Iran, which is Kashan city. Those who visit Matinabad Desert Camp can enjoy walking under the moonlit sky of the desert that is covered with shiny stars. They can also have the pleasing adventure of camel riding or biking through the sand waves.

Matinabad Eco Camp offers a memorable stay for tourists in its traditional-style accommodation with rooms that look like caravanserai belonging to the past of Iran. Although the architecture is antique in style, the rooms are highly modern, with facilities like a TV, refrigerator, air conditioner, and Western-style bathrooms. In addition to the beds, if visitors would like to have extra mattresses, they could get soft and delicate ones. The brick construction of the caravanserai entrance would take the tourists back to the ancient civilization of Iran with the cozy desert homes. Ideally, there are special rooms with elegant decorations and extra facilities called kingly rooms or Shah Neshin.

Unbelievably, this room offers a panoramic perspective of the lovely farm and the camp. Still more to offer in this camp is another traditional-style room in the model of Safavid architecture. This room is called the earrings room, or “Gooshvareh” which is on both sides of the kingly room. It actually aims to provide service to the guests of those who stay at Shah Neshin so that they can enjoy being together. On the grand floor of the camp, there are standard rooms for the guests that are called “Corner rooms,” all equipped with necessary facilities and extra sponge mattresses if needed. Eight other small rooms look like the rooms of past farmers who wanted to protect their farm or hunt. They are built with brick and mud, with a dome-like ceiling that makes the room cold enough in summertime and warm enough during the winter. They are called “Hut Room,” which means “Koomeh” in Persian.

They are often highly traditional in style and do not have any beds. Other types of hut rooms assimilate modern facilities and thus offer beds as well. As the camp is essentially natural, it appropriately offers nomad tents in two sizes, big and small. These tents do have enough facilities like electricity, air conditioning, and traditional heaters called Korsi. In order to offer perfect privacy for the guests, the tents are at an acceptable distance from one another. “Sepanj” is another style of room at Matinabad Eco Camp that mixes traditional and modern fashion in order to offer a comfortable rest. The architectural materials are traditional, made of straw and wood.

For entertainment, Matinabad Eco Camp offers 18 calm camels with lovely names, Goli, Grey, Snowy, and so on. Because of the camels’ humps, it offers a high-seat ride that would give a special feeling of looking straight at the stars above. Exploring the sand waves is possible through specific carriages called “ Delijaan”. They can host 15 people and create a fun experience for them.

Attractive hill sites of Karshahi Castle, Abuzeydabad, and Salt Lake can be visited through safari plans. Offering a telescope for stargazing is another adventurous entertainment that is possible in Matinabad desert camp. The local masters who are knowledgeable in star positioning and related information can give the tourists enough guidance in this regard. Campfire spots, gaming rooms, children’s playground, sand volleyball, archery, and walking trails are recreation services all available in Matinabad eco camp.

Nature and pleasure are two major concepts of Matinabad eco camp. As a result, the local culture of Kashan and the general spirit of Iranian civilization are reflected in the restaurant of this eco-friendly spot. The organic dishes, mainly provided by the purely natural products of the farm, are the major gift of the camp’s restaurant. Rural, local women serve traditional drinks like Persian yogurt drink, Persian side herbs, and unbelievably enticing local bread. Close to the entertainment area, a traditional teahouse and a cafe are located that serve a variety of Persian drinks, including black tea and other local herb juices, together with traditional, classic sweets. There are lovely stores in the area that sell both local and national artistic handicrafts like beautiful glassware and pottery.  It is a great opportunity for visitors to buy organic products from these shops, like herbal medicine, pickles, and specific local herbs.

Last but not least is the organic farm, which is the beating heart of Matinabad eco camp, where modern technology, together with the appropriate climate conditions, has created an ideal organic cultivation spot that grows chemical-free plants irrigated by drip irrigation methods. In addition to the internal use of its products, the surplus is sold to visitors or the city market. Raising sheep, camels, horses, goats, and ostriches is another special offer of the camp through a mixed mode of production: modern and traditional.

Overall, the multidimensional quest to the wonderland of nature with a tinge of modernity, comfort, and pleasure is only possible in one spot where knowledge, technology, tradition, history, health, entertainment, and industry have been encapsulated in Matinabad Eco Camp. Enjoy this unique experience.