Iraq

[Prawn_86]

Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert. It shares borders with Kuwait and Saudi Arabia to the south, Jordan to the west, Syria to the northwest, Turkey to the north, and Iran to the east. It has a very narrow section of coastline measuring 58 km at Umm Qasr on the Persian Gulf. There are two major flowing rivers: the Tigris and the Euphrates. These provide Iraq with agriculturally capable land and contrast with the desert landscape that covers most of Western Asia.

[Prawn_86]

A MASSIVE bomb tore through a crowd gathered near a bus station in a Shi'ite neighbourhood of Baghdad on Saturday, killing at least 22 people and wounding 54, security officials said.


http://www.news.com.au/story/0,27574,24849513-401,00.html

[EcoTours]

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,27574,24849513-401,00.html

Oddly enough that doesn't make me go there! Find some positive news, once everything settles down over there I would love to visit.

[Prawn_86]

Yeh its one place i would be avoiding at the moment.

Good money in the security business there though if you are willing to put your life at risk...

[sskerrit]

Yeh its one place i would be avoiding at the moment.

Good money in the security business there though if you are willing to put your life at risk...
Hi Prawn_86 (and others),

I'm new on ATF (long term lurker) but I thought I would add my comment.

There is a entire area in the north of Iraq known as the Kurdistan region (or simply Iraqi Kurdistan) that is considered safe for tourism - there are a couple of tourism companies here (including my own) that are operating in this region.

Someone above made the comment about a lack of positive news. While that may be true for the south of the country, there is plenty of (positive) things going on up here.

Cheers mate,
Shannon.

[Prawn_86]

Hi sskerrit,

What sort of precautions/protection would you suggest when travelling in the Kurdistan region? And what are some of the tourists sites there?

[sskerrit]

Hi sskerrit,

What sort of precautions/protection would you suggest when travelling in the Kurdistan region? And what are some of the tourists sites there?

G'day there,

In terms of precautions, it should be noted that Kurdistan is really the only "safe" part of Iraq that is accessible for travellers and tourism in general. To help put things in perspective, since March 2003, not a single coalition soldier has died nor a single foreigner been kidnapped or killed in the areas administered by the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG). The security situation there is very good, which is why tourism is starting to slowly improve. Think of somewhere like Turkey or Iran 20 years ago, and Syria or Jordan 10 years ago.

Some of the top tourist sights include the 8000 year old Citadel in Erbil - one of the longest continually inhabited cities in the world, waterfalls, mountains and valleys (many of which will have snow on them soon - therefore don't think desert and sand, that's only the south of the country) and some of the friendliest and genuinely hospitable people I have ever met.

Hope you find this interesting and don't hesitate to PM me for more information..

Cheers,
Shannon.

[white_crane]

I flew over Iraq on my way to Europe and I must say that I was quite surprised. Areas of cultivation in the south, rivers, mountains - more than just desert anyway. If only people could see the whole country...