Navigation in Domola Geopark, from Qari Qashlaq waterfall to Glin Balaghi(Germi, East Angot village, Ardabil province)

I had not heard the name of this heavenly area in Ardabil province until April 1401, and after years of traveling and researching Iran's travel and natural attractions, Dumouli Geopark(Dumula) I was a complete stranger. So I didn't lose time and together with my usual travel companions, a good survey was organized in the middle of Jundar 1401..

Preparing a trip to Dumula Geopark (At Maps of country divisions It is written Dumoli, but the villagers pronounced it Dumula)It was a four-day trip, of which we spent 24 hours in this area.
First of all, I would like to say that Domola is a village in the region and there are other villages around it, but perhaps because the village of Domola is located in the middle part of this region, this name has become more common..

Where is Domola Geopark?

Dumula Geopark is almost in the north of Ardabil province, between the cities of Lahrud in the south, Angut in the east, Ahar in the west and Parsabad in the north.. The closest city to there is Angut.
To reach Dumula, you should go from Ardabil to Lahrud and continue on the main road at the Parsabad T-road to the north and Parsabad.. 20 km after Muradlo, on the left side, there is a side road to the west towards Dehestani, and after that, it leads to the villages of Glin Balaghi, Qara Qeshlaq and Domoulast..

Definition of geopark

In the definition provided by UNESCO, a geopark is an area that has a special natural landscape that is protected by sustainable tourism.. Dumula is not a geopark in the strict sense and criteria, but it definitely has the potential to attract tourists and will have the ability to become an area with sustainable tourism development.. Defining walking routes, setting up ecotourism residences with ecotourism criteria can bring economic prosperity for natives..

The first part of the survey: From Qari Qeshlaq waterfall to Domola waterfall(Two waterfalls and a beautiful valley)

In the middle of June 1401, we pitched a tent on a cement roof of the mosque, which had been exposed to the sun all day, on a relatively warm night in the village of Qari Qashlaq.. We woke up at 5 in the morning and started to gather our things to start moving at 6 o'clock. The area was heating up and the sooner we moved, the better. The starting point of the program to see the Qari Qeshlaq waterfall(“trickster” I have also heard) were. The waterfall was at the bottom of a valley under our feet and had an interesting view, its distance from the road was about 50 meters. We didn't intend to go down and it gave a good view from there, I just wanted to find the speed of movement. Like all the programs, this route was unfamiliar to me, and only with the help of reading and the GPS file, I felt sick. Despite this backpacking, Sahand and other loads did not allow any stopping. We planned to travel until 8 o'clock for breakfast.

After we got rid of the waterfall, we were at the beginning of Domola Valley. At first, we went the wrong way for a few meters in the uphill dirt, which I quickly understood, and we continued moving along the shallow river of the valley.. The road cut off the water many times, but the water path was wide and there was no need to get wet. There was always faint stomping. The weather was still cool and we were going non-stop and the path was clean through the grass and trees. The mulberry tree in the middle of the road made everyone happy and then we had a stop for breakfast at the crossroads. Until then, the overall view of eroded rocks was interesting.

The continuation of the path was the crossroads on the right and the valley became narrower. We reached the place that warned not to enter the gardens. But was there another way?! Here it was a bit difficult to find the path because we continued and hit the back waterfall and the valley was a dead end, the GPS file did not show accurately either.. We returned about 200 meters and took a steep road from the left side (Left in the direction of water movement )We looked up and left the valley and were in the sun. It wasn't particularly difficult, but we went straight and went until we could guess the location of Domola from a distance, and a little later we hit the main dirt road.. The movement at noon in Khaki made us tired, but we went to ten and came back refreshed from chatting with the old and the young.. With Alik's greetings, we landed in the yard of the Pourhasan family and drank water, rested, chatted and took souvenir photos. They also gave us fresh homemade bread, which was the order before lunch. There we found out that the name of this ten is Ba Safa Dumoula, not Dumouli. We got the address of the waterfall and one of the servants of the house took us first to the spring and then to the waterfall at the bottom of the valley.. Wow, it was a waterfall in the heat, it was a miracle. We went under it one by one and died. Almost an hour passed. The interesting point was about 5 meters above the valley floor of the cold spring, which the grandfather of Pourhasan gave me his address..

The second part of the survey: From Domola waterfall to Glin Balaghi village(Atrak next to the fountain of life)

The route had reached half, but it was noon and the sun was not kidding. Despite all of Pourhasan's instructions for the Glin Balaghi route, I turned the wrong way early. That is, from the waterfall, we had to continue along the water path, and at a point on the right side, Pakub separated us from the valley and took us to the mountain range.. I turned early and an hour's punishment caught us in the steep gardens and we were lucky to get safely out of the danger zone and came back to the bottom of the valley.. We sat down for a while to regain our composure, and this time the family who came to the Domola Valley and Waterfall for a picnic surprised us with a plate full of dumplings, and I said to myself, "Wow, we have great people."…
In short, the way out of the valley was on the right side, and we found it by accident and started to climb in the sunny chest.. The water supply was over. Wonderful views of eroding rocks and silence and pristine area… We passed the pass and descended. I had no hope for water. I said to myself that we will eventually find a stream and boil the water. It had been more than an hour since the previous break. When we finished the descent, we entered a wide valley . There was no one on the way until there, we came across two places by chance, and the expert gave them a miraculous spring on the path nearby.. Wow, it was a spring. It was right on the way. Warm and cold, it comes out of a stone. We re-soaked the whole body and ate and removed it, and we had a long night in the vicinity until 18:00..

As the sun slept a little, we continued the valley. It was the beginning of the forest there, and we had to climb the path on the left side of the chest for Glin Balaghi and not go into the forest.. There were snakes that were running around and the children saw about 5 of them, but apparently they were non-poisonous. The route was uphill and full of sweat and backpacking. We reached the top by the end of the evening and now the whole area was under our feet. Description of the scene of the sunset and the coolness and the wide view.. But there was one last step left for Glin Balaghi. Deh was clearly visible from a distance, but we had to go to the bottom of the valley for about 3 kilometers and climb up. It was a wonderful lawn and Sahand Sarkiv came to watch it himself. The rock scenery and special shapes were very beautiful in the last minutes of the day. It was 21:00 and it was dark when we entered the small village of Glin Balaghi and reached the van of Mr. Parviz who was waiting for us next to the mosque.. We met and chatted with Behzad, one of the children there and a mountaineer in the area, and he gave good information about how to navigate the area and the best times.. He said that most of the groups travel from Glin Balaghi to Dumula due to the slope of the land.

The survey of the area was over and we had spent a long day, and nothing beats a dinner, resting and chatting.. After a lot of thinking, finally towards Muradlo(On the way back to Lahrud) We went for Mani's night and the memory of Domola was engraved in my mind forever.

One of the features of this trip for our group was the company of two children aged around two and five years old, who traveled the whole way with children's backpacks with great patience and patience, and we enjoyed their company immensely..

Some tips for planning and traveling to Dumula Geopark:

⁃ If you are planning to see the natural beauty of this area, the spring season will undoubtedly show you the most beautiful effect of this area. In late spring, the area becomes warm and the vegetation gradually turns yellow.. And navigating in the heat will be exhausting.
⁃ Seeing the beauty of Domola Geopark is accompanied by walking and hiking deep into the park, so prepare yourself for hours of walking and enjoying..
⁃ The villages in the area are small and do not have shops, so you must bring your own necessities. Although the residents of the area are so generous and generous that they did not spare us any help.
⁃ The lightest mode of navigation according to the slope of the ground, start navigation from the village “Glin Balaghi” It is towards Domola village and you can go from Domola through the valley to Qara Qeshlaq. We did the opposite route and although we were satisfied with the route, the pressure of the heat and the slope in the afternoon eroded the plan a little..
⁃ Near Glin Balaghi, there are very beautiful erosion forms, and if you don't have the possibility to travel long, you can go directly to Glin Balaghi and watch the beautiful rocks in the south of the village, and then drive to Dumula and visit its waterfall.. But walking and touching is another thing.
⁃ Mr. Behzad Aziz, a resident of Glin Balaghi, explained the following about the Persian translation of the village name "Glin Balaghi".: Rhetorical glin has two meanings, glin in Azeri language means Bride Or come And rhetoric also means FountainSo, the meaning of Glin Balaghi is either "come to the spring" or "bride of the spring", the first one is more likely..

These days, unfortunately, Glin Balaghi is suffering from lack of water, and if you intend to spend the night in this beautiful village, be aware of this issue and have the necessary forecast..
⁃ Qari Qashlaq village mosque and its roof, of course, with the permission of the village residents, is a good place for camping and overnight stays, there is also a sink and a toilet..

⁃ The entire route from Qari Qashlaq waterfall to Glin Balaghi village was 17.5 km with a positive elevation change of 525 meters.. The net route is 13.5 km, which we recorded as 17.5 km due to some errors in navigation and deviation from the route..
⁃ like “Magic” In Muradlo, it is a very good and professional place with facilities and good price to stay along the way. The motel and restaurant services and round-the-clock bread and pastry making there delighted the team and we spent a good night there..
⁃ To familiarize yourself with the traveled route, most of which was clear, but in some places finding the route was accompanied by many challenges, the GPS file in Donate Placed.

In the end, many thanks to Maryam and Mohammad Aziz, our patient and good-natured fellow travelers, whose beautiful photos embellished this travel report..