Go everywhere, Do everything

I’ve been back from Iraq for several months and I am still processing everything we saw and did, still dreaming about it and still talking about it to everyone and anyone who will listen. I have talked the ear off everyone I have met in the last few months so it’s time to put something on the internet so I can bore a wider audience with tales of Arabian nights, Saddam Hussain and my love for all things Iraq.

Iraq was out of my comfort zone in so many ways; a different language, a different majority religion, a country that I’d only ever seen depicted as worn torn and full of conflict, not to mention I had signed up to go with a group of people I had never met before. But from the moment I arrived it felt like home!

Iraq is the land of history and statues, in fact they have history coming out of their ears. Ancient history, modern history and everything in between and the wonderful thing is that only a small percentage has been uncovered, so there is still so much more to discover. Fans of Agatha Christie will know that she met her husband on an archaeological dig in Iraq and when you visit some of the historic sites you can see why archaeologists flocked to Iraq at the beginning of the 1900s, fortunately Iraq have got wise now and they run their own archaeological sites which stops their precious history ending up in museums overseas!

Unlike the western world where you get to view history from behind a velvet rope or through a pane of glass, Iraq hasn’t reached that level of tourism yet so you are able to experience history up close and personal. If you’ve ever wanted to hold a 4000 year old brick, or climb up a 2000 year old building or even sit in one of Saddam Hussein’s bath tubs then Iraq is the place to do it. They also don’t have very many health and safety rules so if unstable buildings, bomb sites or steep drops are also your thing then they have you covered for that too. Being able to walk through the ancient city of Babylon, watch the sunset over Hatra, explore Saddam Hussein’s palace, climb up to the roof of a bomb damaged building to view the sun setting over Taq Kasra or walk through the recently shelled Old Town of Mosul are all things that will forever stay with me and were far more meaningful than reading about them or seeing them in a museum and you definitely don’t get that close to history at the National Trust!

To give Saddam Hussein his dues a lot of excavation and restoration work was completed under his rule and you can now find his stamp on many historic buildings proclaiming his wonderfulness and making sure that he is not forgotten by future generations. There is still divisive views on Saddam Hussain, some people still talk fondly of him as things were more stable while he was in power and he even helped many people directly. The impression I got was that if you weren’t against him then he was a good guy, stay on his good side and you would be ok.

If you are a fan of statues the you are also in the right place and the Iraqis and Saddam will put up a statue for any occasion. In the middle of the destroyed old town of Mosul there is a statue to the clean up operation that was started by the local people before any aid agencies got there, the statue erected as as a matter of priority amongst the rubble.

Iraq isn’t all about history though, the Iraqi people live like there is no tomorrow and we had the craziest experiences I have ever had in my life in the week we were there. One evening we partied in an Irish bar where the staff were dressed like Peaky Blinders, another evening we ended up on an open top bus driving around Mosul singing with the publicity team of the Spring Flower Show. We were welcomed to breakfast by the Christian family of Saddam Hussain’s former chef and shown round one of his palaces by a former body guard of his. We visited the holy city of Karbala where we wore abayas and visited the shrines of Imam Hussain and Imam Al Abbas, we learned that little Iraqi women have sharp elbows when they are trying to get to the front to touch the shrines. We were given tea and food and invited to visit almost strangers’ homes. Tik Toks that we made whilst in the Iraqi marshes went viral and we were recognised several times during the visit. The Iraqi people are something else when it comes to friendliness and hospitality and we felt not just welcome everywhere we went but like special guests or celebrities. I will add that we were a group of 14 almost all females which meant we attracted a lot more attention than tourists travelling on their own. We also had Janet Newenham with us who runs Janet’s Journeys and is Tik Tok famous in Iraq with a huge following from her previous visits.

Before the trip the question I was asked most frequently was ‘is it safe?’ and while like any country there are areas that are safer than others, I can 100% say that I never felt unsafe at any time. Not while walking around markets on my own or when we walked back to the hotel at night or even when we walked around the ruined old town of Mosul and casually walked past the bomb disposal squad clearing IEDs from the rubble.

The best part of the trip was definitely the people that we met and the connections we made with them and this was all down to our wonderful guides Mahdi, Noor, Mustafa and Ali, all youngsters in their very early twenties but all with great maturity and a wonderful sense of fun. They guided us around this historic sites, they made sure we were fed and watered, they translated when we met people who didn’t speak English, they told us stories and the history of Iraq and they kept us entertained constantly. It is possible to tour Iraq without guides but it is so much easier with someone who can translate and make check points and arranging to get in to closed historic sites or the best places to eat seem easy.

We had the most wonderful 8 days in Iraq, it was surprising in so many ways and hopefully it will be the first of many visits.

I visited in April 2023.