消逝的天堂：哈勒哈勒—阿塞倫路上的風光

On a recent day in Loomavesht， a village up the Khalkal-Asalem road in north Iran’s Gilan province， the men sheer sheep and the women clean the wool. A cool mist fills the air， and soon the cold weather will drive most of the villagers and their livestock down the Alborz mountains to live out the winter. During yehlagh， the old Persian name for the warm season， shepherds live here in small huts set into the rolling slopes like mushrooms， but 3）newfangled vacation villas tell of an approaching development boom. Up the hill， the foundations of a concrete compound commissioned by an Isfahan businessman jut out of the ground at right angles.

“Show your films Miss， show them what our village was like before the people of Tehran and Isfahan took over，” a young man tells a filmmaker who has made a series of movies here in the past decade. “Those films are proof of what this place used to look like.”

Miles from the 4）Caspian Sea， Loomavesht is sometimes called “heaven on earth” for its 5）bucolic charm. Filmmakers like Ali Mohammad Ghassemi， Mehrdad Oskooie and Mohammad Ali Talebi have worked in the area for the past two decades， and it’s from their work that many heard， for the first time， of the traditional dress worn by the women of Talesh， of the scenic landscapes of the Khalkhal-Asalem trail. But as improved connections to the capital lure visitors to the area， Loomavesht locals are forced to make space for modernity.

In Kharjegil， another small village on the Khalkhal-Asalem Road， Amou Nezam’s cabin is famous for Aash Doogh： soup with garlic， doogh， herbs and chickpeas. As a side business， Amou Nezam arranges property purchases for out-oftown visitors. “I had a customer from Tehran ask me about buying property here，” says Amou. “I helped him get a 600 square meter piece of land. Shame on me， I made a big mistake.”

The seaside and mountain villages of north Iran have long been a popular vacation destination for city dwellers escaping the traffic and pollution. The province of Mazandaran， closer to Tehran， has 6）morphed into a land of holiday homes. “We were the primary rice producers of the country，” says a shopkeeper from Sari， the capital of Mazandaran. “Then we sold all the rice fields， built villas on top of them. Now， we need to import our rice.”

As we head farther up the road， we reach Loomavesht， then Esbahooni. There were only a few wooden huts here ten years ago， dispersed across the hills. Now， you can see dozens of concrete houses here， displaying Chinese-style red roofs， the contemporary aesthetic of homes across the country.

Tourists come to Esbahooni for its kateh（sticky rice） kabob—7）mushy northern rice with lamb kabob and fresh butter. Villagers sell their mutton and dairy to the shopkeepers， who cook the kabob and rice. A decade ago， the village consumed what it produced with little connection to the outside world. Villagers drained their 8）sewage into 9）cesspits and burned or 10）composted their trash. At the restaurants， they used reusable dishes. The arrival of tourists has brought the accompanying culture of consumer goods， but there is no trash collection system in place to respond to it.

In Esbahooni， the hillsides are littered with plastic bags， empty soda bottles and junk food wrappers. Locals and homeowners toss them out and burn whatever they collect in big heaps. On those days， the stink of burning plastic overtakes the cool air.

As we drive further northwest to Astara， Ardabil and through the Arasbaran forest where old villages stand in clusters， we find the same symptoms of urbanization. The region is rich with forest wood， and villagers traditionally built wooden huts with the materials around them. These days， the lumber is shipped to Tehran， often illegally， and the houses are rebuilt with aluminum and concrete. “I miss the old house，” says an auto mechanic in Kharjegil. “It was 11）cozy， it was easy to warm...we were told this method is healthier， more modern. Relatives kept telling us to change that old dehati （villager） house.”

Astara， farther northwest of Asalem， was once known for seaside houses with wooden windows and 12）ceramic roofs. During the 13）Ahmadinejad era， the state gave rural residents 8-million-toman loans to refurbish their homes. The villagers tore down their homes， but couldn’t afford a complete reconstruction. As they built their new homes， they sold off chunks of their land to make way for vacation homes. The village homes are now made of aluminum and concrete slabs with no adorning facade， and sit next to luxurious vacation homes with elaborate exteriors.

I speak to a married couple， who were villa owners and both doctors from Tehran with children in college. “We love this place，” the wife says. “We get away from the smoke， the pollution， the traffic.” When I ask her if she thinks their very presence is ruining the things she cherishes， she shrugs： “If we didn’t buy this land， someone else would.”

With development comes culture clash： villagers accustomed to hauling lumber with donkeys encounter Porsches in their backyard.“The man and woman showed up and I assumed they were a couple， but now he brings a different woman every week， God forgive，” a Kharjegil farmer complains. He is selling off another parcel of his land to afford the reconstruction of his home.

“People from the village sell their property to rent a small apartment in the city. They work in construction， sometimes as laborers on the very lands they sold，” says a Lisar villager who refuses to sell the 14）lot he inherited from his father， despite pressure from his family. He tells me of a young man who sold some property， married and moved to Tehran two years ago to work in construction. “They rented a small basement in the south of Tehran. Their bodies were found in the winter. They died of gas poisoning.”

前不久的一天，在洛瑪夫什—位于伊朗北部吉蘭省的哈勒哈勒—阿塞倫路上的一個村莊，男人們驅趕著羊群，女人們清潔著羊毛。寒霧彌漫在空中，不久，嚴寒的天氣就會把村民們和他們的家畜驅趕下阿爾伯茲山脈，以度過這個冬天。在“耶拉弗”期間—古波斯人們這樣稱呼暖季，牧羊人住在臨時搭建在斜坡上的小棚屋，起起伏伏看起來就像是蘑菇一般，但是新奇的度假別墅預示著另一種繁榮發展的景象即將來臨。就在山上，受一位伊斯法罕商人所托而建造起來的混凝土建筑地基正和地面呈直角狀崛起。

“展示一下你的影片，女士，讓他們看看我們村子在德黑蘭人和伊斯法罕人到來之前是什么樣子的，”一個年輕人向一位電影制作人說道，這位電影制作人在過去的十年里拍了一系列影片。“那些影片能證明這個地方以前是什么樣子的。”

里海幾英里之外，洛瑪夫什因其美麗的田園風光有時會被稱為“天上人間”。諸如阿里·穆罕默德·卡西米、邁赫達德·奧斯庫伊和穆罕默德·阿里·塔勒比等電影制作人在這個地方工作了二十年，也正是從他們的作品里，很多人第一次聽說了塔利什女人所穿的傳統裙飾，聽說了哈勒哈勒—阿塞倫路上的優美風景。但由于要修繕連接首都的道路以吸引游客，洛瑪夫什當地人被迫為現代化騰挪空間。

在哈爾杰吉爾，哈勒哈勒—阿塞倫路上的另一個小村莊，阿穆納扎姆的小木屋因其咸酸奶飲料而聞名—一種加有大蒜、酸奶、香草和鷹嘴豆的飲品。……