THE IRAQI SERIES, DAY 10 & 11
BAGHDAD
A tour around Baghdad & the Al Anbar. This morning we do as the Iraqi’s do…eat food!
NOT SURE IF I AM MORE IMPRESSED BY THE RESILIENCE OF THESE PEOPLE OR THE AMOUNT OF CALORIES THEY CONSUME
After a quick stop at Firdos Square, the site of the famous statue of Saddam we headed to Al-Hadi Street for some much needed scran!
WHERE IS BAGHDAD?
Baghdad
GEYMAR & KAHI
There is no denying the calories on the streets of Baghdad and no better example than Iraq’s national breakfast of Geymar and Khai; beautiful buttery pastry served with a creamy dollop of Geymar. And if that wasn’t enough then the huge dose of honey and syrup poured on top would be sure to send you over the edge! And if that doesn’t send you into a coma then the milky tea with a wheelbarrow of sugar would!
I’ll be honest, I had my reservations but it was great stuff, even though my body was confused at the amount of sugar I was throwing down my gullet at 9am I couldn’t get enough…am I slowly becoming Iraqi?
A tour around Baghdad & the Al Anbar
DAILY INFO….
- HOTEL – Shanashel Palace £80/night
- ATTRACTIONS –
Martyrs monument
Kahi-Geymar
Local market
Green zone
Al-Kadhimya
Abu Ghraib
Freedom Square
Palestine Hotel/Bar
LOCAL MARKETS
There are local markets and then there are markets for locals. I knew this was the latter when I was told not to record and to keep my belongings safe…my type of place! The first thing we noticed were a crowd of people playing three card-monte. I have been around the world enough to know this isn’t an innocent group of men but likely 8 of them teaming up to earn a few quid from some unexpected locals.
A tour around Baghdad & the Al Anbar
NO SUCH THING AS A FREE LUNCH
The name of the game is to guess where the only face card is, two are blank one isn’t. What they do is for the first few runs is make it very obvious as to where the card is and often a few big bets would come in and win – always by people who are in on it and always big money to encourage others to bet big! Then once a passer by has been enticed enough he will put his money down and well what do you know, the card is elsewhere, done by an incredible slight of hand.
RELATED READ: DRIVING INTO SYRIA
U.S. EMBASSY
After getting a few footballs and an Iraqi football shirt we were on our way through the green zone and passed the victory arches. The green zone is a safe area within Baghdad but an area you cannot stop within as it houses most of the city’s embassy’s. Speaking of which, we all know embassies to be non-modest buildings in the most exclusive of areas but the U.S. embassy here in Baghdad is a different level. This place I would say is bigger than any hotel in the world. Not only does it have several apartment blocks but also has its own shops and airport, like nothing you will ever see.
A tour around Baghdad & the Al Anbar
MINISTRY OF OIL
Now if you like conspiracies listen up; here is something that will shock you yet not surprise you. During the brutal air raid on the 20th March 2003, the first day of the US invasion, a lot of buildings in Baghdad were destroyed & looted; museums, hospitals, schools, government buildings etc. But…there was one particular building that the Americans made sure to protect…Yes you guess it, the headquarters of the Ministry of Oil. You cannot write it.
A tour around Baghdad & the Al Anbar
AL-KADHIMYA MOSQUE
After a quick visit to the Baghdad Mall (lost my airpods ffs!) and the save Iraqi culture monument it was off to Kadhimya, the most conservative area in all of Baghdad and an area I don’t think any tourist had been. But there was a reason why I wanted to visit this place, this was the town that Saddam took his final few breaths during his execution, in the basement of a government building.
DAY 11 – ABU GHRAIB
Today we headed west, to the most dangerous part of Iraq, a desolute area and the birthplace of ISIS; the Al Anbar region. But before we venture on we stopped near the Abu Ghraib prison, an infamous place of torture & abuse ever since the good old days of Saddam and then again by the Americans in 2003. It was here the Americans used it as a detention centre to torture & abuse many of the inmates, 80% of which, were normal people who just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.
You will all remember the images that made their way onto the front pages of the newspapers of inmates chained as dogs and beaten and abused. There were many incidents that engulfed the US during the Iraqi war but none more so than the torture and abuse scandal of Abu Ghraib.
Credit – The Independant & War Poetry Website
CHECKPOINT
It didn’t take us long before we were told to turn around and if I’m honest it didn’t surprise me. This region is unsafe at the best of times but ever since the conflict in Palestine escalated it has been a no go for foreigners. Such a shame.
Instead we drove around Baghdad checking many of the cities sites including the Arabian Nights monument and again the Martyr Monument for a closer look.
LOCALS AT FREEDOM SQUARE
If someone were to ask what is the best experience when travelling, its always about the locals…every time! And in Baghdad there is no better place to meet locals than Freedom Square. As a tourist you don’t even need to do anything, park yourself in the middle and enjoy the locals come up and chat to you, we even got chatting to a local drunk who claimed to be from New York, his accent was pretty spot on so I could believe it!
NIGHT OUT
When you are looking a beer in Baghdad there is only one place to go and that’s the 12th floor of the Palestine Hotel. Actually, that’s not true, the only place to go is the D Lounge as the P Hotel has some of the nosiest music (I’m getting old) and strongest shisha I have ever had! There were times I thought I would have to get carried out.
Coming into the grounds of the hotel is like visiting a different world, everyone comes in expensive cars, are glammed up and obviously very keen to spend most of their night smoking and drinking. It’s a part of Baghdad that’s worth seeing!
TODAY’S YOUTUBE VIDEOS
If you want to see today from a different perspective, and catch a few different stories from the front row, then check out today’s YouTube videos below.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Although disappointing not to get to the Al Anbar region, I realise that visiting places like this comes with it’s own challenges and uncertainties but for sure gives me a reason to return.
NEXT UP
To Saddam’s hometown and then the infamous Mosul!! Click to read.
SAFE TRAVELS, DS x
160/229
This post is part of The Iraqi Series, for the entire series click here or for episode 1, click here.
To watch the video of my trip, head to my highlights on my Instagram.
