Kurdistan

Thursday	25th	Erbil	Hatra, Mosul
Friday	26th	Rawanduz	Geli Ali Bag Waterfall, Bekhal Waterfalls
Saturday	27th	Sulav	Shanidar Cave, Gali Sherana, Amedi
Sunday	28th	Erbil	Duhok, Lalish
Monday	29th	Baghdad	Sulaymaniyah, Kirkuk, Erbil

My original plan was to rent a car once I arrived in Erbil and to drive around Northern Iraq visiting Duhok, Amedi, Akre, Rawanduz, Gomi Fellaw, Dukan Lake, Suliamaniyah, Kirkuk and back to Erbil before continuing south to Baghdad to fly out to Beirut.

What I wasn’t counting on, was for all the car rental companies being closed on Friday (the Middle East’s answer to the Western World’s Saturday).

I wasn’t able to rent a car. That’s despite calling, texting, WhatsApping and emailing all the rental companies I could find.

This may have been avoided had I been more organised and tried to sort a car earlier in the week, but I was winging it all and didn’t know for sure when I’d be arriving in Erbil.

Thursday July 25

Anyway, I arrived late on Thursday night, having spent the morning exploring Hatra and Mosul in Iraq. It was already about 1900 before I arrived in Erbil.

The shared taxi from Mosul cost 10,000IQD ($15) and took about two hours.

I booked Syros Hotel on Booking.com which cost about $70 and wasn’t worth it at all.

I was tired and couldn’t really be bothered going door-to-door with my bags and so was happy just to throw money at the problem. Also the location was great – right opposite the Erbil Citadel.

I dropped off my stuff before heading out for a look at the city and its bazaar and citadel.

Later in the night I met a friend of one of the guides and we went for a couple of beers. It had been a long day for me and I was pretty exhausted after my quickfire trip around Iraq so I think around 0030 I went back to the hotel to call it a night.

Friday July 26

I got up early to check out Erbil before starting on my mission to find a rental car.

I had a wonder around the main square and wandered up to check out the citadel (which is closed for renovation).

After struggling to find a car or even a car rental company that was open (on Friday) I decided to reach out to one of the guides who I’d been in touch with while I was planning my trip.

I knew he was in Northern Iraq and figured he may be able to help.

I asked for his advice and he said he could organise a car and driver for me. and/or he could join me on the trip. It was already getting late – about 1400 and I wanted to get moving so I asked Twana to sort the car and driver, and to join me if he was available.

I spent a couple of hours more checking out Erbil, and having a bite to eat before Twana arrived.

He dropped everything he was doing and made his way two hours north from his home in Kirkuk to Erbil.

Around 1600 we were on the road, heading north to Rawanduz.

We had a couple of photo stops along the road before arriving at Gei Ali Bag Waterfall around 1800.

It’s a bit overdeveloped which is a shame, but it was cool to see all the same.

We had a quick bite to eat at Obaw restaurant before heading to Bekhal waterfalls for a late night look before bed.

The water was freezing cold and roaring down the side of the mountain – it’s definitely worth a look.

And despite being busy and a bit tacky, the energy was festive. Everyone was happy and excited and that was really cool to see.

Twana had organised a big two bedroom apartment for the night close to where we had dinner. It had amazing views over Rawanduz Canyon, so around 2230 we made it back there for the night.
I was also pretty happy to exploit the apartment’s washing facilities – it’d been a long, hot two weeks!

Saturday July 27

After a bit of a lazy morning we made our way back to Bekhal Waterfalls for breakfast.

Around midday we made it to Shanidar Cave – a world-famous, iconic site since the discovery there of the remains of ten Neanderthal men, women and children back in the 50s.

It was scorching hot and a bit of a climb up to the cave but it’s definitely worth a look if you happen to find yourself in the neighbourhood.

We had a few more quick photo stops before hopping back on the road and heading west to Gali Sherana – a highlight of the trip.

It’s a long canal running along the side of a long canyon near Duhok.

Its stunning landscape and Gatorade blue water makes it the perfect place to find some respite from the searing summer heat.

We spent a good few hours exploring the canyon – swimming, climbing and clambering our way over rocks and up the canal -away from the Iraqi tourists.

After a good few hours we made our way back to the car to continue on our journey west towards Amedi.

It’s a small town perched upon a mountain. Apart from being beautiful, it’s famous for being the supposed birthplace of the Bible’s Three Wise Men.

We had a look at the old city gate (aka The Bahdinan Gate, Sipna Gate, Mosul Gate, Western Gate or just the Old Gate) before heading into town to see the ruins of a synagogue.

We also saw the city’s Great Mosque and its ancient minaret (founded in 1177 during the Abbasid era).

It was already getting late so we continued on to the mountain village of Sulav for dinner.

The restaurant at Dunys Hotel had great views over the canyon below and Amedi.

We ended up staying in the hotel too – which also had great views of a waterfall and Amedi across the way. It was sort of late and we were all fairly tired so pretty soon after dinner we hit the sack.

Sunday July 28

We had a lazy start to the day with a simple breakfast back at the hotel restaurant.

Around 1030 we were back on the road headed west to Duhok.

We stopped off at Enshki Cave for a quick leg-stretch and toilet break. It’s considered to be one of the largest caves in Iraq and has a spring inside.

Once we arrived at Duhok we tried to visit the Zeoastrian temple but unfortunately it’s closed for renovations.

We had a quick look at the Dam before continuing to Khanke on the banks of the Tigris River to see if we could go for a swim.

At first we struggled to get a boat to take us where we wanted to go, but finally we found an obliging fisherman who took us for a ride.

We had a swim and explored some of the submerged caves before heading back to the car to get changed up and find something for lunch.

It was about 1530 before we arrived at Shoresh Restaurant in Duhok, so we had a quick bite before heading on to Lalish.

Around 1730 we arrived at the holiest site of the Yazidis – Lalish.

When we arrived we were told to put on long pants and told to take off our shoes before entering the village.

It’s probably lucky we’d arrived late in the day because wandering round on the boiling hot ground would have been tough.

There are a couple of rules you need to adhere to while visiting the temple, so it’s lucky I had a guide with me or I’d probably have made a fool out of myself.

We had a good look around the temple and learned about some of their rituals before getting to meet the Sheik himself.

After a quick introduction, we packed back into the car for the long trip back to Erbil.

We had a couple of quick toilet/drink and bank stops (to get cash to pay the driver), before arriving in Erbil.

It was 2130 when we arrived at the hotel – a much nicer offering than some of the other places I’d stayed in Iraq.

Even though it was relatively late, Twana offered to show me a cool park that was nearby and so we set off for a little walk in the cool evening air.

We arrived at Sami Abdulrahman Park around 1030 and had a relaxing drink before heading back to the hotel to call it a night.

This would have been where I said goodbye to Twana, but being the legend he is, he helped me organise my trip to Sulaymaniyah.

I was up before the crack of dawn and in a taxi to the garage to find a shared taxi to Sulaymaniyah.

It didn’t take long for the car to fill up and we were on our way – two hours to the city.

Annoyingly the shared taxi throws you out on the outskirts of the city and so I had to find another taxi, probably at great expense, to take me into town.

I arrived at the Amna Suraka (Red Prison) right on 0900.

It’s a museum dedicated to the Kurdish struggle, and despite being heavy on propaganda, it was pretty interesting to learn more about the Kurds and their recent history.

There was also a super interesting section on ISIS in the museum..

I spent about an hour and a half there before walking around town a little and ultimately checking out the Ethnographic Museum.

It’s super small, and perhaps a little overpriced, but it was fairly interesting.

I was also supposed to visit the archaeology museum but ended up deciding instead to head to Kurkik for a quick look around.

It was about 2 hours to Kirkuk – once we passed a couple of checkpoints (Kirkuk is officially in the Federation of Iraq, not Kurdistan).

After suffering a serious bout of withdrawal syndrome, my first port of call was Oscar Cafe, to find Twana.

We had a quick drink and I met one of his friends before he gave me an express tour of his hometown.

We visited the citadel before walking across the stone bridge and checking out some of the battlescars of the city.

In the afternoon we spent an hour or so at Twana’s English school meeting some of the students and teachers there.

By 1630 I was back on the road, heading north to Erbil to collect my bags and continue to the Airport for my flight back to Baghdad.

Around 1940 I boarded my Iraqi Airways flight to Baghdad.

The flight cost me 104,000IQD or about $130 and I booked it on the Sindibad App.

As if he couldn’t stop being helpful, Twana organised a transfer for me from the airport to the hotel which he also organised for me.

It was already pretty late, but despite being in Baghdad three times so far, I hadn’t managed to visit Mutanabbi Street. I hopped into a taxi and made a bee-line to the famed street.