I just completed a 5 day tour in Iraq; yes, that Iraq where Saddam Hussein ruled with an iron fist for 20 years, the USA invaded in 2003 and ISIS/Al Quaeda/ ISIL and other Islamic fundamentalist groups have wrecked havoc for a decade.
But it's also a country with a fabulous past – Uruk is considered the first city, Babylon with its famed Hanging Gardens and Samarra, the capital of the Abbasid Empire, whose golden age of Islam between 750 and 1200 is responsible for advances in mathematics, medicine and astronomy which grounds much of Western science today.
Facing the Warnings
Both the USA and Canada warn against travel to Iraq, with it garnering the highest Level 4 "Do Not Travel" rating due to risk of terrorism, protests and kidnapping. However, I had done my homework. No terrorist attacks have occurred since 2022, terrorism was not geared towards tourists/foreigners and I wasn't planning to go near the borders with Iran or Syria. Besides, I reasoned, homegrown terrorists had recently killed worshippers at a church in Michigan, a synagogue in Manchester and football fans in Tennessee. Iraq didn't seem much more dangerous.
But I wasn't completely ignoring the warnings. I arranged for a private guide to pick me up at the airport, take me only to "safe" places, tell me all the rules to follow (no photos in a lot of places, no painted long nails, cover my shoulders and knees at all times) and basically, to hold my hand for the duration.
Obviously, as I'm writing this, everything worked out fine. Now let me take you through my journey.
Arrival and First Impressions
I needed an e-visa, which can be acquired on-line apparently but a finicky website to navigate made it impossible for me, so I sent my tour guide a photo of me and my passport page and he got it within the hour. On arrival, I went to the passport line, which sent me to the visa line to get a photo (even though there was one on the visa), back to the passport line, a few stamps and I was in. It took only about half an hour, despite the to-ing and fro-ing.
My tour guide, Twana Burhan from Wander Iraq, met me at the airport and, as we drove into Baghdad, I encountered the first of what would seem to be hundreds of checkpoints. The security guard asked the guide for my passport, he checked that I had a visa and away we went. There are checkpoints before every city and major shrines. As my guide explained, the checkpoints were to ensure that ISIS types would not be able to enter cities to cause destruction. While I viewed the checkpoints, sometimes up to 10 a day, as a nuisance, they were also reassuring that the government was trying to stop undesirables from entering major urban areas.
Baghdad - The Historic Capital
Our first stop was to see the Freedom Monument, commemorating Iraq's independence and the overthrow of the king in 1958.
Baghdad was founded in the 750s, by the Abbasid empire, the second great Islamic Empire - the Umayyad empire being the first. Presumably, at one time, Baghdad was a city filled with glorious mosques and buildings, but successive invaders, particularly the Mongols in the 11th century, destroyed the city, and few vestiges of its glorious past remain.
One building which does remain is the Al-Mustansiriya University, begun in 1227 and serving as a learning centre for philosophy, mathematics, astrology, and medicine. Although largely reconstructed, one can get the sense of how it looked in its heyday.
Baghdad rose again after the Mongol invasion, but was ruled by the Ottoman Turks for centuries, then became a British mandate until 1932. A monarchy was established, but was overthrown in 1958, when the republic began.
Saddam Hussein, Iraq's notorious dictator, came to power with his Ba'ath party in 1973 and ruled with an iron fist until his overthrow when the USA invaded in 2003. He was executed in 2006.
But he left his legacy in numerous ways, aside from using tear gas on the Kurds, sending millions to their death in the Iran-Iraq wars, and the futile invasion of Kuwait, his suppression of all opponents and the complete lack of freedom permitted to Iraqi citizens. He had a penchant for monuments, including the Victory Monument, a pair of hands, each holding swords, commemorating the Iran-Iraq war.
In Baghdad, Twana and I visited the Shabandar Cafe, a popular place serving lemon tea. In 2007, a car bomb destroyed the place, killing over 100 people, including the owner's sons. He vowed to reopen the cafe as a testament to resilience.
The Ancient City of Babylon
Just two hours from Baghdad is the site of the ancient city of Babylon. As Twana drove, I experienced Iraqi roads for the first time. Drivers, nearly all men, generally had a cigarette in one hand and their cell phone in the other. Red lights, lanes and one-way signs were routinely ignored. Roads were continuously under construction. Google Maps didn't work properly; it would indicate a particular drive should take three hours, but was unaware of road closures, detours and traffic slow downs, so the real driving time was five hours.
As noted, security checkpoints were ubiquitous, located on most streets entering a city and streets entering a shrine or mosque. Soldiers, carrying AK-47s, always would stop our car with the foreigner in it. But after handing over my passport, and concluding that my visa was in order, most of the soldiers welcomed me to Iraq as they handed back my passport. On one 3 hour drive I counted 10 check stops.
The old Babylonian empire ruled Mesopotamia from the 19th to 16th century BC, but it is the new Babylon which ruled much of the Middle East in the 6th and 7th century BC that is known to most of us through the Bible. The tower of Babel was apparently located here, as was one of the seven wonders of the ancient world – the hanging gardens of Babylon. The old Babylonian code of Hammurabi is considered the first law code and Nebuchadnezzar's capture of Jerusalem and his destruction of the temple there made him notorious in Jewish history. Once housing over 200,000 people, Babylon declined and was eventually abandoned by the 2nd century BC, after the nearby Euphrates river changed course.
Today, the ruins are in the middle of the desert. At its entrance is a replica of the Ishtar Gate, which once stood proudly near the palace. The real Ishtar Gate was disassembled by German archeologists after World War I and reassembled in the Pergamon museum in Berlin where it stands today. Although I have visited the actual gate in Berlin, the replica in Babylon provides a sense of its grandeur.
Saddam's Reconstruction Program
Saddam Hussein, in addition to his war mongering and use of tear gas, liked to reconstruct ancient monuments. I'm of two minds about this program. Although some of the reconstruction definitely provides structural support to crumbling buildings, it takes away from my sense of awe I usually get when looking at ancient ruins. Much of Babylon was reconstructed by Saddam, including its walls and palaces.
We saw neither the hanging gardens of Babylon nor the tower of Babel, which isn't surprising as many historians and archeologists do not believe either ever existed.
Saddam Hussein's building program did not end with reconstructing ancient sites. He built himself numerous lavish palaces all over the country, including one on a manmade hill overlooking Babylon. Following his overthrow, this palace was stormed by the people and stripped bare. Today, only a shell of the building remains.
Saddam had quite the ego and fancied himself to be the equivalent of the ancient rulers of Babylon. His face adorns a bas-relief above one of the doors at the palace.
The Holy City of Karbala
From Babylon, we made our way to the holy city of Karbala, for a visit to the shrine of Imam Hussein, grandson of Muhammad, who died in battle in 680 fighting against oppression. His shrine, inside a mosque, is considered one of the holiest places in Islam. Women are required to wear an abaya. Twana rented one for me and put it on.
I had to pass through three or four checkpoints, separate ones for women and men, where I was searched for weapons and my attire inspected. Some helpful ladies helped me tie my scarf back properly so no hair would show, laughing at my incompetence at wearing the abaya.
Inside, the shrine was beautiful. Again, the sexes were segregated. Although I had understood that Muslim women do not like to have their pictures taken, this seems to have gone by the wayside as many women were taking selfies.
Ancient Sumerian Cities - Ur and Uruk
From Karbala, we made our way to the ancient Sumerian city of Ur. One of the first cities, founded about 3800 BC, it was most famous for its Ziggurat, a giant temple built of bricks and held together by bitumen. Though only the lower level is visible today, it didn't escape Saddam's reconstruction program.
Just an hour away are the ruins of the city of Uruk, another ancient Sumer city, considered the first place where writing was discovered. Bricks with cuneiform wedges are visible along with millions of pieces of pottery shards.
Uruk had escaped Saddam's reconstruction efforts, so it felt much more real to me.
Nearby, is the place generally accepted to be the birthplace of the prophet Abraham. A brick located there contains the words "House of Abraham". Like many of the archeological sites in Iraq, it is officially closed and can only be viewed after a guard unlocks the gate. Unfortunately, on the day I was there, the guard had a family emergency, and, therefore, we were unable to see the site. In the same vein, the Iraqi museum in Baghdad was also closed, but entering it was near impossible without much higher pull than my guide had.
Najaf - The Largest Cemetery in the World
We made our way to Najaf, famous for having the largest cemetery in the world, with more than an estimated 10 million burials there.
Also in Najaf is the shrine to Imam Ali. Constructed starting in the eighth century, it is considered to be one of the largest and most expensive mosques in the world. I again donned an Abaya and entered the women's section of the mosque (after duly being inspected for clothing infractions). While the mosque and shrine are beautiful, my overwhelming memory is of being pushed into a sea of black abayas, herded like a sheep and stuck there with no way out for nearly 45 minutes, as the crowd of women made their way towards the shrine.
Samarra Palace
Far less crowded was the former palace of the Abbasid king at Samarra. Built in the ninth century (and reconstructed by Saddam), its most impressive feature is the giant circular pool in the centre of the building. The entire structure is built below ground, so when the pool was filled with water, the hotter air rose and the palace cooled.
Iraqi Cuisine
I also partook of Iraqi food, similar to most Arab and Mediterranean countries. Hummus, baba ghanoush, tomato and cucumber salads, pita bread, kebabs, and grilled meat were all fresh and tasty. In Baghdad, I did see one of the countries two KFC's and a Pizza Hut, but for the most part, there are no western chain restaurants. No McDonald's can be found in Iraq.
My favourite meal was at Baghdadi's, a restaurant famous for its fish, carp caught in the Tigris River and cooked by standing it near the fire.
Overall, the food was excellent. Bottled water was available everywhere; alcohol, although legal, was not offered at any of the restaurants I went to, and most of the bars served only coffee and soft drinks.
Final Impressions
So, what are my overall impressions of Iraq? It has plenty of ancient archeological sites to satisfy this history lover. Evidence of successive empires, from Sumer to Babylonian, to Greek, to Persian to Abbasid, Ottoman and the 20th century exists and, to me, are fascinating but the widespread reconstructions causes me concern, as did the lack of seeing any ongoing archeological excavations.
The food was excellent, the hotels were adequate (AC, hot water, WiFi, bottled water and no bugs), but those advertised as four stars were optimistic. Most of the rooms were a little rough around the edges and in need of renovation.
The poor state of the roads was disappointing, as was the closure of many ancient sites and museums. On the plus side, there were no crowds at any of the tourist sites.
We visited a few more sites, but I had seen enough shrines, mosques, monuments, and reconstructed ruins. On my fourth day in Iraq, I finally saw another tour group, about 12 people from Czechia.
At the end of the day, I'm not sure what to make of my time in Iraq. I certainly enjoyed visiting the ancient Mesopotamian cities, seeing the Islamic shrines and learning about its more recent history. People everywhere were polite, and I encountered no difficulties in that regard.
But my final impression of Iraq was when trying to depart from the Baghdad airport. Getting to my gate was a prolonged affair that involved two different sets of dogs sniffing the car and my luggage, five different scans of me and my luggage, taking my shoes off two times and being patted down twice by lady guards. I suppose all of these security measures are intended to reassure me that everything is safe, but for me, it was just a reminder that this country is not far removed from its violent past, and in some ways, is still at war.