As a kid living in Texas, I always saw Iraq on the news for all the wrong reasons. Lets forget what you see on the news or what troubles the country has been through in their history, and lets focus on how beautiful it is and how the people are some of the most friendly and hospitable. I would advise you to unlearn what you have learned about Iraq and focus on a country that is up and coming with tourism. The first place we should start to look is the northern Kurdistan region.
A great guide to use for this trip is Kerwan Wahed. This friend of mine goes far beyond any guides I have had in the Middle East. He has grown up in Kurdistan, so he is quite familiar with any area you want to go. His prices are reasonable as he will let the guest decide which hotels to book based on your preference as he only charges for transportation. You can find him at the following sites:
Mr. Karwan Wahed
He controls all his social media platforms and emails independently, and if you look at his reviews, they speak for the kind of guide he is. Feel free to contact me and I can easily get you in touch with him if you are thinking of traveling to this region which is very people friendly.
The Kurds are some of the most friendly and resilient people that I have ever come across. Their territory spreads across the Middle East in Iraq, Iran, Syria, and Turkey, and part of Armenia. They have been trying to get their independence for years with their first step coming as an autonomous region in Iraq. Their courage fighting Isis and other groups in the middle east speaks volumes about them and their desire to make a state.
The scenery reminds me of my hometown of El Paso in West Texas with rolling desert hills along with patches of fertile land.
Besides the land, the people were accommodating and friendly. They had no problems usually having their photos taken. They are also quite happy to tell their stories about their encounters during the different wars and some of their stories were moving. Even the Peshmerga who are the Kurdish Military Forces were quite happy to have a chat and most of them spoke pretty good English.
As civilization as we know it probably popped up around this area, I have always had a fascination with the minority religions and ethnic groups and have studied them quite extensively. The Yazidis are one of the groups I have always been fascinated with. They predominately reside in Iraqi Kurdistan and have been persecuted for many years because of their beliefs. While their beliefs are not so different from other monotheistic religions of the area, they do have some stark differences (which I will not go into). I had the opportunity to visit one of the most holy sites in Lalish in the Nineveh Governate in Northern Iraq. The people were so friendly and kind as I walked around the caves and saw a well of their most holy water. I also got to meet some pilgrims who have traveled from Germany as a lot of them settled there some years ago. Absolutely fantastic place!!!!
I took a few trips around the Souk/Medina/Bazaar area in the capital of Erbil as it was exciting to walk around. It has been in the same area for years and just like any market, you can pretty much find anything you need, including a few kilos of nuts and dried fruit. I am glad I have two hands to carry all the stuff I bought.
Sulaymaniyah was another brilliant city in Kurdistan which rests very close to the border with Iran. It is an extremely modern city with a small town feel to it and still very traditional in the market area, which is where I stayed. The street food was to die for. I ate triple of what I usually eat as everything was so good. The chickpea soup was a nice dish, I’ve tried to replicate it but it will never be as good.
Along with all of the good times, there are always those certain places to go that make you break down and cry and these places were the Genocide memorial and the prison where Saddam Hussein kept a lot of the Kurds. Walking through both of them brought me back to the concentration camps in Europe, the memorials in Cambodia, and the genocide museum in Rwanda. It is hard to realize that this did not happen that long ago, but the prison now turned into a museum, gives a real outlook on what happened so we may not make these mistakes as humans again.
To finish the trip off I got a treat that a lot of people do not get to see, I was told by one of the guys at the mosque that there had not been a foreigner there in years because of Covid. Sufism can be called a mystical branch of Islam that has beautiful music and men with extremely long hair. As the city of Akre is beautiful, I would like to spend some time up there. Walking the streets and being offered lunch at the mosque while watching the Sufi’s dance was an extreme highlight!!!
So as you can see this was a beautiful trip and it only lasted five days. I would definitely go back here as their tourism industry is really booming and it is still relatively cheap. Next time I go I will probably combine the Federal Republic of Iraq with Kurdistan to get the whole show as the country is the cradle of civilization!!!
2 responses to “Iraqi Kurdistan”
Danny, Thank you for sharing travels through your eyes! This was a neat “trip” with lots of culture and facts. Hope that you are doing well.
Janet Winstead – El Pasoan in Germany
Thank you Janet. I guess you are still at DOD schools? I am at an international school in Pakistan right now, but I am taking next year off to travel for about 14 months then I will come back here back to work as I really like it here. If memory serves some years ago you were in Japan?