Back in 2023, I submitted a piece to Anthology's Travel Writing Competition, in which I never heard back although I eventually found out that I never won, unsurprisingly. As such, the file has sat on my computer ever since, unpublished anywhere. And after yesterday's reflection on pitching articles to magazines, I remembered the competition and decided I will enter again this year.
After re-reading my submission, it is clear why I never had a chance of winning in the first place, or even getting shortlisted. My piece was more of a very broad essay on Iraq and why it's a great place to visit as opposed to a singular piece on a moment in travel. I've learnt a lot since then and, I think, am a slightly better writer. However, for today's post I will share with you that submission so, at the very least, that piece has a place somewhere other than just my desktop folder on my laptop.
It's not the best and is full of boring stats and tropes and doesn't evoke any emotion, if anything it reads more like a Wikipedia article. I'm still guilty of writing like this even today at times, but I hope it's interesting to learn from in the first instance on what not to do.
Most Governments Are Wrong About Visiting Iraq
Twenty years ago, on the 19th of March 2003, the US-led invasion of Iraq begun. Within three months, Saddam Hussein was captured. Within three years, he was dead and a brutal civil war had broken out. In 2013, the Islamic State occupied around 40% of Iraq and taken its second-largest city, Mosul, and had come within eight miles of taking Iraq’s main international airport in Baghdad.
Twenty years later, in 2023, Iraq is back on the path to normality. Tensions remain between Shia and Sunni Muslims as well as with the government.
Kurdistan, which is effectively its own country with its own borders, army, language, culture, food, and even visa policy, has come out of the last twenty years significantly better off than the rest of the country. Its western-backed Peshmerga (Kurdish Army) successfully fought off attempted ISIS infiltration.
The Kurdish capital, Erbil, is a thriving city based around the citadel, a site thought to have been settled in over 6,000 years ago. Walking amongst the bazaar below, it is impossible not to feel a sense of excitement as street vendors sold anything and everything you could think of - be it kunafa, the traditional Middle Eastern dessert; second hand clothes; money exchanges; electronics. Anything you needed, you could get.
Evidence of the region’s brutal past isn’t hard to come by. At a coffee shop in a local park, the worker comes from Mosul - he escaped in 2013 as ISIS militants took hold of the city. He is settled in Erbil now and speaks Kurdish, Arabic, and English.
Before long, it is time to head out of the Kurdish capital. The road to Kurdistan’s second largest city, Sulaymaniyah (pronounced Slemani by most locals), lies deep in the heart of the Zagros mountain range, that spans across parts of south-eastern Turkey, Iraqi Kurdistan, and Iran. These mountains are known to be the hiding spots of some of Kurdistan’s more extremist separatist militants such as the Kurdistan Workers Party and the Kurdistan Free Life Party. Perhaps it is no surprise that the roads in these remote parts of Kurdistan are littered with Peshmerga checkpoints.
Hospitality comes second nature to the locals here, being invited to a man’s house from the bus was unexpected, but an honour nonetheless. Dining on local mutton, biriani, and bread was the perfect meal and set me up for the rest of the day. They even offered a place to stay for the night, but the bright lights of Slemani were not far away, so the journey continued.
Ranya, on the way to Slemani, is truly a beautiful place, surrounded on all sides by the snow-topped Zagros Mountains. It was hard to believe that this really was Iraq - it could easily have been mistaken for a small village in Switzerland.
Slemani is a busy market town near the Iranian border. Today, the newer part of the city serves as an important business hub with high rise hotels littering the skyline. Perhaps Slemani’s most unique feature is its nightly food market. Every evening, Salim Street lights up with hundreds of food vendors selling shawarma’s, roasted nuts, crepes worthy of high end cafes in Paris, freshly squeezed juice, and more - it’s all found on Salim Street.
It was this part of Kurdistan that perhaps suffered more than any other under the reprisals of Saddam Hussein. It was in the town of Halabja, 80km away from Slemani and on the Iranian border, where Saddam Hussein dropped mustard gas in 1988, killing between 3,200-5000 people and leaving many with permanent, life-altering injuries. Even today, this part of Kurdistan and Iraq has higher rates of birth deformities than anywhere else.
Many tourists will go to Kurdistan as a safer alternative to Iraq, thinking that because, on most western maps it lies within Iraqi borders, it is the same or it counts as ‘visiting Iraq.’ But this way of thinking is not conducive with the just how different the two entities are. It doesn’t take long after arriving in Baghdad to notice the differences.
While military presence is noticeable in Kurdistan, in Baghdad and Federal Iraq the level of military presence is overwhelming. In some areas, such as the airport or Baghdad centre, soldier filled Humvees line the street, all with the most advanced gear and weaponry. These guys have been trained and supplied by the Americans, and you can really see it. But it is not the military that defines Baghdad, it is a huge, diverse city which caters to all. Moutanabi Street is lined with vendors selling everything from books to barber chairs. In the mood for a professional photoshoot? Head down to Tahrir Square and look out for some budding photographers with their fancy cameras.
But it is Kerbala, 80km away from Baghdad, that is the next destination. Visited by millions of pilgrims each year, Kerbala is home to the shrine of Imam Hussein, one of the Prophet Muhammad’s grandsons who was supposedly martyred at the Battle of Kerbala. While it is possible to visit the shrine, it is always busy - but that shouldn’t stop you from admiring its beauty from the outside, shiny green tiles, each one built and laid to perfection.
Anyone interested in ancient history should visit the nearby town of Hillah too. It was here Saddam Hussein built one of his grand palaces overlooking the ancient ruins of Babylon. While parts of the ancient city were defaced by Saddam Hussein’s ego, marking stones and relics, the beauty of this place is undeniable. The history is remarkable, one of the first modern cities - civilisation began here.
It is the people of Kurdistan and Iraq, however, that define it, not its past. While the history is fascinating, the people are some of the most welcoming you can meet despite the western invasion and interference that has plagued the last three decades.
Most governments advise against all travel to Iraq, most governments are wrong.
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