Episode Details

The Strait of Hormuz is famous as the world's most critical oil chokepoint, but the island that gives the strait its name is something else entirely. Hormuz Island is a geological freak: a salt dome island with rainbow-colored soil, edible red ochre used in local bread, a 16th-century Portuguese fortress, and a salt cave that glows like a geode. In this episode, we answer a listener's question about whether there's anything actually worth seeing in Hormuz beyond the tankers and warships—and whether you can visit it as a tourist. The answer involves centuries-old culinary traditions, an environmental art scene, and the small complication of an ongoing war zone.