The morning after touring the ruined cave city of Hasankeyf I took the bus towards the border and after changing buses 3 times I got close enough to start getting offers of taxi rides to the border. There is no bus that crosses the border because there are very few tourists so the only way into Iraq is by taxi. The guide book claimed that it would cost $40 just to approach the border by taxi but I got an offer of $15 so I took it. I got some questions from the customs agents and I'm pretty sure that they just wanted to make sure that I didn't intend to go to the South of the country. It's not safe there.The northern part of Iraq is called the Iraqi Kurdistan Region and as the name implies it's mostly populated by Kurdish people. They really dislike the Arab majority of the country and are close allies of the United States in our recent war. Because of all this, Westerners and Americans in particular are very highly regarded here and US service men often come here for vacation because it's so safe and friendly. It's cheap too, but the transportation gets expensive because oil is expensive here and it's not safe to take the bus between cities because most of them dip into Arab Iraq to let people off. My visa isn't valid outside of Kurdistan so I could be arrested on the spot... and that's one of the better outcomes of visiting Arab Iraq.
I met a backpacker in Syria who told me that their friend took a public bus between the cities of Zakho and Dohuk. The bus made a stop in Mosul which is kind of out of the way but is a major transportation hub. He was arrested in the bus station and put in jail for a week. He contacted the US embassy but they could not help him. A judge told him that he could be put in prison for 20 years for violating his visa restrictions but eventually he was informed that if he paid $500 they could just put him on a bus back to Turkey. It was an expensive adventure and not one that I want to try my hand at. So, when going between cities in Kurdistan it's nescissary to take rather expensive taxis.
After crossing the border into Kurdistan, the other men in the car let out a little cheer and blew kisses to the Kurdistan flag. They're pretty proud of the place. Shortly after I had to take a taxi for the 10km into the town of Zakho and the taxi drivers shook me down for $5. I was able to get it down from $6 but they had me trapped. Near the taxi stand there was a small American base and I saw some unusual military transports parked out back. I don't who what they were but I took a picture. Some kind of APCs I guess.
I found Zakho to be a very depressing little border town (they always are) so I paid $35 for the taxi ride to Dohuk, 40km away. The driver had no idea where he was going and stopped for directions at least 10 times because he could not figure out where I wanted to go and was very unreceptive to looking at my map that I was pointing at. In a lot of poor places, nobody uses maps and instead guide themselves soley by landmarks so I think that he's maybe never even seen a map of his local area. After we finally got kind of near my hotel he tried to demand more money for his time but I ignored him and walked away. I felt that I paid too much already.
Dohuk is an energetic town and is the third largest city in Kurdistan. Many of the older men wear a tradition outfit that's made of a baggy beige jumpsuit with a sash around the waist and another around the head. I tried to get pictures but I hate taking pictures directly of people without asking. Of course asking is no answer either because most adults will say no. It's not really fair because anyone with a camera phone has no problem taking a picture of me. The women here don't usually wear anything over their hair.The food scene is the same as elsewhere... shawarma shops, fruit juices, and roasted chickens are the standard. Watermelons are a local specialty though they are not cheap. Diyarbakir is also famous for its watermelons and you see references to that in all the tourist junk for sale there. I think that the shawarma here is the best I've had yet because it comes in a small and very fresh roll, the pickled veggies inside are of better quality, the meat comes in a choice of lamb OR chicken (or a mix), and the tables have good sauces to add. Best of all, you get a big sandwich, soup, and tea for about $0.75.
While I was pricing out a few hotels I met a young local guy, Muhammad, who spoke some English and he seemed interested in helping me. This always makes me suspicious but I try not to let that get in the way. I ended up choosing the first place that I looked at and the one the guide book recommends because it was barely more expensive than the others but WAY more clean and comfortable. Also it had satellite television and that night I watched TV news for the first time in ages. Depressing mostly. After finding some food and walking a bit, Muhammad invited me to come see his home where he lives with his 2 brothers, 2 sisters, and their aunt. He said that his parents were killed by Saddam but I didn't ask for many details.
We took the bus to his home and I sat on a pillow in their living room and met one brother Araz, and his 2 sisters who simplified their names for me to SheShu, and JuJu. Araz has a car and wants to take me on a day trip to the nearby town of Amadiya for $30 which was on my list of things to do and is a very good price (compared to taxis) so I agreed. I might also visit the town of Lilash the day after but we haven't talked about that yet. Muhammad showed me pictures of his family and of some US service men who have been his friends over the years and I showed pictures of my own. I was of great interest of the family and they invited me to come back the next day for lunch and in the evening we would visit Dream City, the local amusement park.After that I went back to the hotel and used the internet for a while. I also met another backpacker who was leaving Iraq the next morning and he said that I was the first foreigner he'd seen in the week that he had been in the country. He's loved his time there but needs to move on and is meeting someone in Damascus in a few days. We shared some info about our respective trails and I left to go use the internet before bed.
The next morning I got ready for my trip to Muhammad's place by buying the largest watermelon that I could find and getting cleaned up. Some days I travel hard all day and some days I just don't have access to hot water so I often don't shower every day. It was hard at first, but you get used to it and I find that other travelers have fallen in the same trap... or worse. The cap helps to cover up bed head but today I put some product in and ditched the cap for once.
I met Muhammad and we took a bus over to his cousin's place where the family was gathering for the day. Their home was pretty large... at least 4 bedrooms and several very large but mostly empty living rooms. They told me that the gaudy 3 story home across the street covered in mismatched marble and decorated with cement statues of cupids and such cost $200k and that their own 3 story building goes for $100k , though they just had one floor of it. I didn't even ask, they just told me this. I presented the melon and they were pleased (its one of the more expensive fruits at $7) but I was dismayed to learn that the Kurdish word for it is 'Shity'. There were about 15 people there and they had a good time trying to learn all they could about me and to teach me all they could about themselves and Kurdish culture and language. I was able to soak up some of it.
I played them some songs on my ukulele and they showed me videos of their latest Nemruz festival held at Amadiya. Nemruz is the Kurdish spring festival held in late March and until a couple years ago it was banned in Turkey by the government. It's held outdoors and it seems to consist of feasting, music, dancing and lots of it, and making 15 minute cellphone videos. 
They made it all a little more real by inviting me to dance around the living room with them and I heartily accepted. It's simple... you form a large circle, lock pinky fingers with you neighbors, and do a little 6 step dance with a couple foot kicks that moves the circle clockwise. Ive got a video but I haven't mastered the YouTube yet... maybe in a couple weeks. The guys all fought over my ukulele and tried for hours to play it but not one of them could figure out how to hold a chord when I'd show them. Oh well, they danced well enough.
I also showed them loads of pictures on my camera. Well, it wasn't as much showing as surrendering my camera for a mass inspection. I got some pointed questions about the gory Halloween decorations that were on there. Muhammad was my translator but he wasn't very good at it... I'd say something and he'd ignore it and pretty much make up stuff about me or my opinions. Still, I got most of what they were getting at. They wanted me to rate Kurdistan against other countries (I said Kurdistan rocked of course), they wanted to hear about my family and about Samantha (they like her a lot), and they want to tell me how bad the rest of Iraq and its departed leader is.
They also made an effort to teach me a lot of Kurdish words and now (the next morning) I've forgotten most of it. I remember that you say someone is beautiful with 'te jana'. They also quizzed me endlessly on their own names and I got pretty good at it actually. It's not my strength. I forgot to mention that they also fed me a LOT and eventually Muhammad took my and his brother Araz out of the house for a walk.
We went to the zoo which was about 10 minutes away across some fields and it was a pretty sorry site. The cages were typically small and the variety of animals understandably limited. It wasn't as bad as the zoo in Siberia at least. They had bears, lions, jackals, lots of birds, some snakes, and many different monkeys. They guys got a kick out of teasing the monkeys and giving them lit cigarettes but I tried to set a good example. 
My favorite part was a large cage that just had dogs in it. They had a pomeranian, a chow, and a bichon frise all behind bars and I laughed very hard. It's true that you very seldom see pet dogs here and all the cats seem to be feral. I have twice seen dogs on leashes (both in Syria) and just a couple times sitting near nomad tents. They also had some swing sets and I had fun on those.
Later that night the three of us went to a sheesha bar to watch some football game between Barcelona and Milan which was a pretty big deal I guess because later that night the cars in the street were all blazing their horns from 11 pm to 1 am. We had a good time that night and I agreed to do a couple tours with Muhammad's cousin. Today (Thursday) I'm going to ride with Amadiya with Muhammad and wander about all day. The next day I'm going to take them with me to Lalish which is some kind of sacred site for the Yazidi faith. I'll cover them in another post. I got better price for the whole thing than any of the other travelers that I'd met have gotten ($50 for 2 days) but after those tours I think I'm gonna leave Kurdistan. I don't want to be in a big rush when I head out to meet my sister on the 7th, and the place is basicaly 2.5 fulls days of bus rides away.
No comments:
Post a Comment