A single brick tower, a thousand years old, rises out of a park in the middle of a busy town on the edge of the Turkmen steppe, and it is taller than anything around it. Gonbad-e Qabus was built in 1006 or 1007 for Qabus ibn Voshmgir, a ruler of the Ziyarid dynasty and a poet and scholar of some renown, as his tomb. It stands about fifty metres high on an artificial mound, a ten pointed star in plan, topped by a conical roof, built of fired brick with almost no decoration beyond two bands of Kufic inscription. Legend says Qabus's body was hung in a glass coffin from the roof. It became a World Heritage Site in 2012, and it is considered one of the masterpieces of early Islamic architecture, a model for tomb towers across Iran and Central Asia.
The town of Gonbad-e Kavus, named after the tower, is the centre of a region where Turkmen culture is strong, with markets selling carpets, felts and horses; the Turkmen horse breed is famous, and horse racing is a passion here. The landscape north of town is open steppe, grassy in spring and dry in summer, stretching toward the border with Turkmenistan.
To the east, the Golestan National Park covers the forested slopes of the Alborz mountains, the Hyrcanian forest, a relic of ancient broadleaf woodland that is itself a World Heritage Site. The road through the park, between Golestan and Mashhad, winds through dense forest and is a beautiful ride, though busy with trucks.
The roads around Gonbad are generally good, flat on the steppe and twisting in the mountains. Traffic can be heavy, and driving standards demand constant attention. The climate is humid near the Caspian, drier on the steppe, and hot in summer.
Travel to Iran involves serious political and practical considerations for foreigners, including government advisories, banking restrictions and the need for a carnet for a foreign vehicle, so research carefully. The town of Gonbad-e Kavus can sort out fuel, food and a bed, and Azadshahr, nineteen kilometres away, is another option. Try local dishes such as the Turkmen flatbreads and lamb stews.