December 2010
6 posts
Northern Iraq Part 6: Gali Ali Beg, the Amidiya...
The final leg of my journey begins with a trip to Gali Ali Beg: A place which is highlighted in Lonely Planet as being the highlight of Kurdistan…
We were more than slightly disappointed.
We woke up at 9ish and got ready for Ahmar to pick us up at 10, this involved showering and grabbing a quick bite to eat. Then we all hopped in his car and went on our way, with Adam and Will complaining...
Northern Iraq Part 5: Erbil
The next morning we had a slight lie-in until 11 due to the small party the night before, then we freshened ourselves up and headed off to the Erbil garage to catch a taxi. This time we decided to brave it and go via Kirkuk as the road didn’t actually go inside Kirkuk it just passed the outskirts of it. The landscape was pretty boring though we saw a few oil refineries and three different...
Northern Iraq Part 4: Halabja and Ahmadawa
Our next trip was to Halabja, the scene of one of the worst atrocities to be committed by humans. Halabja is one of the sites in Kurdistan that really imprints itself onto the memory of those who visit it. On March 16th, 1988, over 5,000 people were killed and 10,000 people horrifically injured by chemical bomb attacks conducted by Saddam Hussein’s regime after orders were given by...
Northern Iraq Part 3: Sad times in Sulemani
The next day we left the hotel as soon as possible. Adam claims he heard gunfire during the night which was probably fireworks. I decided to… borrow one of their blankets which was really nice and comfortable, Adam, albeit accidentally, stole the room key and Will stole part of the curtain rail which fell off in the morning. The girls left at the same time as us as they didn’t want any...
Northern Iraq Part 2: Lalish (and a bit of Erbil)
By far the biggest highlight of my stay in Kurdistan was our visit to the small town of Lalish, which is the holy place for the Yazidi faith. The Yazidis have the reputation to be devil worshipers as they believe that God created the world and left seven angels in charge of it, the most important being Melek Taus, the peacock angel, whose other name is Shaytan, which is the name the Koran has...
Northern Iraq Part 1: A Long and Cold Journey to...
My next holiday came round quickly, and this one I had been waiting for. This was the holiday where I’d be venturing where many tourists would fear to go… Iraq.
Now whenever Iraq is mentioned people instantly think of Saddam Hussein, war and the quest for the “WMD”s. The fact is that Iraq is a gradually changing country, and as the birthplace of civilisation due to...