PRIVATE TOUR OF SADDAM’S YACHT

THE IRAQI SERIES, DAY 3 & 4

BASRA

Private tour of Saddam’s yacht. Today we were to venture around the southern reaches of Iraq, a region that has seen a lifetime of conflict.

A CROSSROADS OF CONFLICT & A BIBLE PUSHERS PARADISE

Our first stop was at one of Saddam’s old palaces, which had since been transformed into a museum of many artefacts and pottery – not my thing but still interesting to learn that some items went back as far as 5000 years! Good going considering some of my bowls don’t last a single dishwasher cycle!

This complex was huge, there were several huge gates (almost palaces in their own right!) for access and numerous buildings all with their own purpose, such as the entertainment/party house which I actually thought was the main palace it was so big. This man didn’t skimp.

Private tour of Saddam’s yacht

IRISH PASSPORT 

I always travel with my Irish passport and it’s for good reason. There have been many examples of getting special treatment during my travels and here looks to be no different. My guide has never been able to go through the checkpoint from the party house to the main palace and again it was a no. That was until they asked where I was from and as soon as they heard Ireland, they smiled and waved me through! That’s some Irish privilege right there.

Private tour of Saddam’s yacht

SADDAM’S BOAT 

I had been looking forward to visiting Saddam’s boat since arranging the trip but when we arrived I was gutted to hear it was closed. However…this is not the west and in Iraq things are very different as people are always keen to help. So instead of getting a standard tour (you just walk around on your own) during normal opening hours we were given an access all areas private tour by someone who resembles Charles Sobhra, from the TV series, the Serpent (BBC). The only thing was no videos which was a gutter but photos were ok.

Private tour of Saddam’s yacht

£25 MILLION 

Saddam knew how to spend a dollar and the same goes for this yacht which costs around $25million ($100 million now) in the early nighties and to say the least it didn’t go down well. Not to mention he never got a chance to use it between all the wars he got involved in and then the sanctions.

Private tour of Saddam’s yacht

PRESIDENTIAL SUITE 

However it was exactly as you would imagine, typical high spec middle eastern style. The rooms were large and grand. His own bedroom, the presidential suite was at the front and has a self-stabilising floor, so depending on the chop the floor would counteract the imbalance so you could sleep in peace! It did nothing but make me feel nauseous.

Further through his bedroom was the gloriously coloured bathroom and salon where he could cut his hair as and when he liked. Saddam also seemed to enjoy his tech, each TV was bigger than any TV I had seen before 2005 and of course had to be Sony.

THE BRIDGE 

After checking out the medic room and the staff cabins, we checked out the bridge. Everything was original and hasn’t been touched since it was last used, everything from the clothes & medicines to the maps and cameras found in each of the rooms. Most of which are closed during normal hours.

ENGINE ROOM 

Downstairs was the guest rooms, kitchen and engine room which was fascinating. I am not sure this boat could ever get started again after being out of action for so long. We visited another few rooms but were told to keep it to ourselves.

Finally we were taken to the top deck and to the helipad for a full view of the surrounding area. From here you could catch a glimpse of Saddam’s old boat Al Mansour as it sits at the bottom of the Shatt Al Arab. There are constant reminders of this man wherever you go.

BASRA FISH MARKET 

Going further south we head to the mouth of the Shatt Al Arab, Al Faw and one of the deadliest places during the Iraq / Iran war. Al Faw also has one of Iraq’s biggest fish markets due to its close proximity to the Persian Gulf. Here fishermen come and go after a days work out at sea, whilst sellers come and buy what they can before going to market.

DAY 4, SAFWAN 

The following day we headed to Safwan to check out the border that American and British troops crossed in 2003 before their 8 year war in the Gulf State. It was bizarre to think up to 10s of 1,000s of troops crossed this point along with countless tanks and military supplies. It was the same road that Saddam used to invade Kuwait 15 years earlier.

BASRA INTERNATIONAL SPORTS STADIUM 

With a bit of luck Iraq happen to be playing a competitive match the day before I leave Iraq so I was keen to get a sneak peak at their stadium. Again I think my Irish passport worked wonders as it was initially a no but after that we were waved through and got unrestricted access of the entire venue.

I’ll be honest that I wasn’t expecting much and was blown away by how nice it was. 65,000 seats and half a billion to build, it certainly looked the part and I cannot wait to see the place bouncing in 2 weeks time!

BASRA MARKET 

Like any city in Iraq you must visit the market. Iraq is (to many peoples surprise) famous for it’s food and sweets. Be sure to try the Baklava and znod alsit. If you have a sweet tooth expect to feel like you are in heaven, I have never ate food like it.

GARDEN OF EDEN 

It was time to leave Basra and begin our journey north where we planned to stay in the Middle East’s largest marshlands. But before we get there we had one quick stop to make, The Tree of Knowledge. It’s a little underwhelming in it’s current state but to be in a place of such history and importance (to many religions) it was quite the feeling! Not only are you in the Garden of Eden but you are also slap bang in the middle of two of the world’s most important rivers, The Tigris and The Euphrates. This place would even take an Atheists breath away!

IRAQI MARSHALANDS 

Eventually we made it to the Marshlands and were kipping out at a local reed house for the night. This is easily the coldest place in Iraq but fortunately we had Iraq’s most famous dish to warm us up, Masgouf. After my experience during my last trip in Afghanistan I was in no rush to eat fish again but they put out a hell of a platter so all was good.

MORE ARM WRESTLING IN THE IRAQI MARSHALANDS 

The local Marsh Arab are personalities but no one more so than Abu Haider, the daddy of the marshes who is always keen to interact and joke with the tourists. I tell you for a almost 60 year old man he has great energy and heaps of strength after I found out during my arm wrestle with him! Top man!

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

I might only be in the first few days of my trip but I already know that exploring Saddam’s yacht will be one of the highlights. Iraq is already living up to it’s incredible high expectations!

NEXT UP

A tour around the Iraqi marshlands and a visit to the worlds first city!! Click to read.

SAFE TRAVELS, DS x
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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.