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Iraq 2019

Private tour of Iraqi Kurdistan. Stay in Erbil, also a day tour to Sulaymaniyah

Divan Hotel, Erbil. Luxury? Yes. Recommended? No. Why? Well... Here's the thing... If you're looking into traveling here, you probably look at the security of this place and think, "easy choice". Boom, done. Well, the reason they have the security they have is because inside of Divan is the Saudi Arabian Embassy. So, when the elevator doors open on the unmarked floor... umm... don't mess with that shit. The security of that place is just not necessary for a common visitor. It is over the top and it makes you look like a paranoid asshole. Just go stay at any hotel in downtown Erbil. Seriously.

Jalil Khayat Mosque, Erbil, Iraqi Kurdistan

While not an historic mosque, enough money was dumped into this place that it was quite impressive.

Erbil Citadel. If you're visiting here, this is the place to pick up an inexpensive carpet to take home. They had some cool stuff that integrated Yazidi Motifs, which was very unique.

View from Erbil Citadel

Money changers in Erbil.... I thought I would impress a guy here and trade a crisp US $2 bill for some old Iraqi money. The guy didn't even blink. He had a stack of his own $2 bills. Nothing special. They have every currency imaginable here.

Alqosh village... Ethnic Assyrian village north of Mosul. This is a Christian town near the historic Rabban Hormizd Monastery that is about 45 km north of Mosul, which was only recently occupied by ISIS.

Alqosh village

Alqosh village... apparently just a really eccentric local house. I wouldn't want to take refuge in this house if ISIS strolled into town.

Alqosh village... The local police fly the flag of Kurdistan, while there are also Iraqi military that fly the Iraqi flag. The dual security forces are very apparent in this area.

Mosul is part of the non-Kurdistan Iraq and you need a different visa to travel there. Reports I heard were that Mosul was in very bad condition after ISIS was ejected.

Rabban Hormizd Monastery

Underneath the church.... a network of caves. If you can leave a coin in the wall and it stays, your wish/prayer/whatever is granted. No word on how long it takes for the granting, so we'll see.

Rabban Hormizd Monastery

After hiking down from the monastery, we met this guy and his son. He is an OG Peshmerga fighter from way back and was happy to have some tea with us. (He also made a valiant effort to properly tie a keffiyeh for my American blockhead)

Mar Mattai Monastery... Only 20 km from Mosul, from this mountaintop monastery, you can view the frontline trenches where quite recent fighting took place between Kurdish Peshmerga fighters and ISIS militants. The road below is the final checkpoint between "Kurdistan" and "Iraq".

Mar Mattai Monastery

Lalish: Holiest site of the Yazidis

Lalish: Baptism pool. There is a single woman that does this task. I say "Baptism" and while it seems a similar concept here, it is clearly not the same in terms of symbolism. All Yazidis undergo this ritual.

Lalish: I felt like the Yazidi traditions pulled from many different Eastern and Western religions and cultures. One little detail I found interesting was that they were absolutely rabid about not stepping on the threshold of doorways in the Lalish temple. This was no small issue, considering that the thresholds here were of a quite significant size. We were reminded of this at every doorway, just to make sure no locals were angered. I know that this this is a point of etiquette in Mongolia and in some South Asian traditions, and I found it interesting to be noted so prominently here.

These are prayer cloths at the entrance to the temple. One ties a knot along with a request to the gods. For your request to be granted, your knot needs to be untied by someone. Thus, as you make your request, you untie a knot elsewhere.

Lalish: offerings of oil

Lalish: dried flowers & eggs symbolize spring & birth (above doorways)

After giving an offering, pilgrims leave a handprint in oil

Lalish: Holiest site of the Yazidis. Visiting Lalish and learning about Yazidi culture was the absolute highlight of my visit to Iraqi Kurdistan. Completely unique place and people amongst all of my travels.

Iraqi Kurdistan

Geli Ali Beg Waterfall (depicted on Iraqi bill)

Geli Ali Beg Waterfall

Old Hamilton Road, Iraqi Kurdistan

Old Hamilton Road, excavated with basic tools from 1928 to 1932. You can see the "new" Hamilton road in the distance to the left. Imagine how precarious getting two cars through when this was the only road. Now it's used for picnics and just foot traffic.

Old Hamilton Road, Iraqi Kurdistan

There were lots of beautiful vistas like this... this was just a random side of the road stop.

Bekhal Waterfalls... This was a November visit, clearly "off-season", but the spot was definitely a tourist destination. Even during this time it had a moderate number of local visitors coming and going.

Amna Suraka "Torture Museum" in Sulaymaniyah, Kurdistan. Located in the former headquarters of the Mukhabarat, Saddam Hussein’s intelligence agency. This place is primarily a museum with exhibits related to Sadaam Husseins murder & torture of the Kurdish people although it also now includes exhibits related to the recent fight against ISIS.

"Chemical Ali's" office

Broken mirrors signifying the 180,000 Kurds during Al-Anfal campaign by Sadaam.

Part of the Peshmerga fighters exhibit against ISIS

Mortar round to the shoulder? Just rub some dirt on it. Kurdish Peshmerga fighter.

Stamps used at "border crossings" by ISIS militants

Peshmerga fighter exhibit in museum. Women fighters are held in especially high regard. This is an exhibit specific to that. On the frontline, it looks like women fighters are often snipers and artillery experts.

Peshmerga fighters that died fighting to expel ISIS.

"Family Mall" in Erbil

This is a "salad" at Divan. One thing I found in Iraq is you definitely won't be going hungry.

An order of "bread". Nbd.

Masgouf, seasoned grilled carp, the national dish of Iraq. My host took me to the famous Abu Shahab restaurant in Erbil. Anthony Bourdain ate here when he visited Iraqi Kurdistan.

Great way to close the day. Masgouf at Abu Shahab and then they made a big scene with this. It was very nice. I came to Iraq because I wanted to spend the occasion somewhere memorable and unique, and I definitely got that.