Near the border of Iraq - Iraq Project II
This is a reposting of my Iraq Project II. I will post a dispatch-entry Monday thru Friday until the original project is recreated. The real-time journey was posted by The Janesville Gazette in February and March, 2008.
Near the border of Iraq
posted February 24, 2008
I left a bag with the hotel in Midyat and hopped a mini-van toward Silopi, Turkey - the last town before entering Iraq. As with last time, I was bounced into three different vans during the 50 mile rural trek to the border. The van stops a numerous side roads to load and off load riders. The landscape to Iraq is foreboding. I am reminded of phrases like moonscape and zero scape. Mount Ararat is up the way somewhere. Snow covered rock peaks monopolize the horizon. In Wisconsin, we would definitely call these mountains. The occasional goat grazes along the road.
In dusty Silopi there is a gaggle of drivers waiting to ferry travelers across the border. A young man sitting in the van next to me insists he knows the best man for the job. He introduces me to a tall skinny Kurd. I suspect they have never met before. The Kurd is the "fixer," the man who will take me the five miles past the hundreds of waiting supply trucks, down the pothole filled road to the border. He will negotiate our way through numerous checkpoints and bureaucratic red tape. I know at any point I could be turned back or detained. The driver not only has me to worry about, he may pick up stragglers along the way. Walking across the border is forbidden. He must also present papers to allow himself and his car to enter Iraq. I shake his hand - the deal is done. There is no time for driver-shopping. For 60 Dollars he promises he can get me across. The price has gone up 20 Dollars from last trip. I know from experience more fees will be tacked on along the way.
No one at the taxi area seems concerned the Turks have just invaded Iraq. The driver takes my passport to show his taxi boss. I hope he comes back. While I wait for him to appease his boss, I write down these observations. If I am lucky today, in an hour, I will be in Zakho, Iraq.
Bob Keith
Silopi, Turkey
Near the border of Iraq
posted February 24, 2008
I left a bag with the hotel in Midyat and hopped a mini-van toward Silopi, Turkey - the last town before entering Iraq. As with last time, I was bounced into three different vans during the 50 mile rural trek to the border. The van stops a numerous side roads to load and off load riders. The landscape to Iraq is foreboding. I am reminded of phrases like moonscape and zero scape. Mount Ararat is up the way somewhere. Snow covered rock peaks monopolize the horizon. In Wisconsin, we would definitely call these mountains. The occasional goat grazes along the road.
In dusty Silopi there is a gaggle of drivers waiting to ferry travelers across the border. A young man sitting in the van next to me insists he knows the best man for the job. He introduces me to a tall skinny Kurd. I suspect they have never met before. The Kurd is the "fixer," the man who will take me the five miles past the hundreds of waiting supply trucks, down the pothole filled road to the border. He will negotiate our way through numerous checkpoints and bureaucratic red tape. I know at any point I could be turned back or detained. The driver not only has me to worry about, he may pick up stragglers along the way. Walking across the border is forbidden. He must also present papers to allow himself and his car to enter Iraq. I shake his hand - the deal is done. There is no time for driver-shopping. For 60 Dollars he promises he can get me across. The price has gone up 20 Dollars from last trip. I know from experience more fees will be tacked on along the way.
No one at the taxi area seems concerned the Turks have just invaded Iraq. The driver takes my passport to show his taxi boss. I hope he comes back. While I wait for him to appease his boss, I write down these observations. If I am lucky today, in an hour, I will be in Zakho, Iraq.
Bob Keith
Silopi, Turkey
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