TEHRAN – Foreign tourists made hundreds of overnight stays in Shahdad, part of the UNESCO-registered Lut desert, during the first nine months of the current Iranian calendar year (March 21-December 21), a local tourism official has said.

“A total of 1,255 foreign travelers made overnight stays in nine months in eco-lodge units and other authorized accommodation centers in Shahdad,” Hojjat Ebrahimizadeh explained on Monday.

Autumn and winter are the best time for tourists to visit the desert and its attractions, he noted.

There are over 40 eco-lodge units, a hotel and a tourist camp in the region, he added.

Situated in southeastern Kerman province, Shahdad is home to shifting sands, salt plains, meteorite fields, and rocky terrain, which offers visitors breathtaking vistas and unparalleled serenity of the intact nature and wilderness.

It has long been a destination for adventurers, nature lovers, off-readers, and trekkers.

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 the hottest during five of the seven years and had the highest temperature overall: 70.7°C in 2005.

The desert is also considered 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/AM