Visit the Land of Desert’s Gold

Visit the Land of Desert’s Gold With Keshmoon’s Saffron Tour:

In 2017 Keshmoon held its first 3-day tour to Qaen during which people could visit the saffron fields and farmers. Ever since the startup has held similar tours every year.

This valuable spice is dubbed the Desert’s Gold, a reference to the climate that suits planting saffron.

Many of Keshmoon costumers had been impatiently waiting for the saffron harvest season so that they would be able to go watch the process of harvesting and drying of gorgeous saffron flowers by the farmers. Due to popular demand, we decided to reopen the tour to Qaenat villages.

Since many of the villages which Keshmoon works in overlap with this foundation’s supported area, the tour would be a joint endeavor.

Travelers will need to have an ID card, personal medicine, warm clothes, walking shoes, sunscreen cream, caps, and sunglasses.

The tour program consists of heading towards the saffron fields and handpicking saffron, picking the flowers alongside the farmers, residing in village homes, eating local foods, visiting Tadjan, Baraz, and Koroh, three of the local villages, and listening to local folklore music.

As saffron is believed to have some medicinal properties, including bringing joy and laughter, a trip to the land of saffron could be a pleasurable unforgettable experience.

More than 100 thousand families make their living by work related to planting, harvesting and selling saffron in the South Khorasan province.

Every year these hardworking people make excellent hosts for visitors in their village homes and its historical architecture.

There are several hotels and hostels in central cities, not far from the villages.

Tourists from around the world visit the natural attractions of Qaenat in October and other months close to saffron and barberry’s harvest time.

Other attractions of Qaenat include a historical castle in Darmian, the Tomb of Bozargmehr, the anthropology museum, and local windmill.

To make the visit even more memorable, travelers will be served with freshly brewed saffron tea to feel refreshed and relish the stunning aroma of the crimson gold.

More than 54 tons of saffron was harvested from 15,000 hectares of fields in South Khorasan province last year.

In Qaenat more than 4,492 hectares land is under cultivation, and it is estimated to yield about 17.5 tons of premium quality saffron.

***Breathtaking Picturesque Scenes

When the cold season is near, and no other plants are flourishing, the saffron plants bloom, turning the saffron fields into one of the most picturesque scenes in the world.

The labor-intensive harvesting process starts before the sunrise until 9 in the morning.

A farmer needs to work 40 hours to pick 150,000 saffron flowers. Flower picking goes on 15 to 25 days at a time.

Historically speaking, saffron has been planted in Qaenat since 700 years ago.