The Road To Erbil, Capital of the Kurds - 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.
The Road to Erbil, Iraq - Capital of the Kurds
posted February 27, 200
Before I left Dahuk, I stopped for a lamb, potato, and bread breakfast at a sandwich shop around the corner from the transportation street. I got some money exchanged around the next corner in the exchange basement. I could not find the guy that served me coffee there. That is not unusual. I exchanged some Dollars at yet another Assyrian's stall. They always seem to mention they are Assyrian and Christian. The ride east to Erbil cost 20,000 Dinars - about 16 Bucks. Not bad considering it will probably take a couple hours.
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- The Citadel peaks out from the banal streets of Erbil - the capital of the Kurds,
photo by Bob Keith, February 2008 -
The car had three other passengers as well. As usual, the driver stayed around 70 miles per hour. For our enjoyment he put in an Arabic music cassette. The roads are hilly and bad - the taxis are poorly maintained. There must always be a cracked windshield to top off the presentation. At this point, you just have to resign yourself that this may be the day you die. Not at the hands of bad guys, but in a car accident. Seatbelts? ...what ever. Everybody have a smoke.
As he did last year, the driver veered south toward the Mosul sign. But I knew at about 24 kilometers north of that city he would turn east again. Mosul is not American or Kurd friendly. We trekked down some rural roads in the "middle world" between the Kurdish and Iraq-proper region. There were some middle-world check points - the Kurdish flag disappeared. The unmarked soldiers at these stops seemed indifferent to what they were suppose to be doing - watching for bad guys. Perhaps it is just a different checkpoint style.
.JPG)
- The desire to be so "normal," yet it is a war zone, Erbil, Iraq,
photo by Bob Keith, February 2008 -
Soon the Kurdish flag appeared again on buildings and compounds. The ride into Erbil changed from last year. The city is being built up like gang busters. Commercial airliners drift across the skyline. Erbil, or Hewler as the Kurds call it, is the capital city of the Republic of Iraq's Kurdistan Regional Government. It is their flagship bureaucratic city. Yet, the old city still seems for me, foreboding to enter. There is an odious castle (Citadel) on the hill in the center of town. Many of the streets are utilitarian with masses of electrical wires hanging nearly to the side walk. The store fronts in the old city beneath the castle have seen better days. The roofs are often sheets of tin. The generators roar. I am told however, they are building a monstrosity of a shopping mall near here as we speak.
.JPG)
- Generator Man; the real source of power at my hotel in Erbil, Iraq.
Photo by Bob Keith, February 2008 -
And of course, the people at the little hotel I used last year outside the wall to the castle could not seem to figure out how to log me in. I retreated to a bigger hotel I also used last year which I deemed too expensive at 30 Dollars a night.
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- Internet cafe in Erbil, Iraq, photo of Bob by an Internet customer, February 2008 -
There is heat in the room, a seated toilet, and an actual chair and desk. But as fate would have it, it is warm in this part of Iraq now anyway. Go figure. Be that as it may, Heide will be glad I moved to the nicer hotel.
The Road to Erbil, Iraq - Capital of the Kurds
posted February 27, 200
Before I left Dahuk, I stopped for a lamb, potato, and bread breakfast at a sandwich shop around the corner from the transportation street. I got some money exchanged around the next corner in the exchange basement. I could not find the guy that served me coffee there. That is not unusual. I exchanged some Dollars at yet another Assyrian's stall. They always seem to mention they are Assyrian and Christian. The ride east to Erbil cost 20,000 Dinars - about 16 Bucks. Not bad considering it will probably take a couple hours.
- The Citadel peaks out from the banal streets of Erbil - the capital of the Kurds,
photo by Bob Keith, February 2008 -
The car had three other passengers as well. As usual, the driver stayed around 70 miles per hour. For our enjoyment he put in an Arabic music cassette. The roads are hilly and bad - the taxis are poorly maintained. There must always be a cracked windshield to top off the presentation. At this point, you just have to resign yourself that this may be the day you die. Not at the hands of bad guys, but in a car accident. Seatbelts? ...what ever. Everybody have a smoke.
As he did last year, the driver veered south toward the Mosul sign. But I knew at about 24 kilometers north of that city he would turn east again. Mosul is not American or Kurd friendly. We trekked down some rural roads in the "middle world" between the Kurdish and Iraq-proper region. There were some middle-world check points - the Kurdish flag disappeared. The unmarked soldiers at these stops seemed indifferent to what they were suppose to be doing - watching for bad guys. Perhaps it is just a different checkpoint style.
- The desire to be so "normal," yet it is a war zone, Erbil, Iraq,
photo by Bob Keith, February 2008 -
Soon the Kurdish flag appeared again on buildings and compounds. The ride into Erbil changed from last year. The city is being built up like gang busters. Commercial airliners drift across the skyline. Erbil, or Hewler as the Kurds call it, is the capital city of the Republic of Iraq's Kurdistan Regional Government. It is their flagship bureaucratic city. Yet, the old city still seems for me, foreboding to enter. There is an odious castle (Citadel) on the hill in the center of town. Many of the streets are utilitarian with masses of electrical wires hanging nearly to the side walk. The store fronts in the old city beneath the castle have seen better days. The roofs are often sheets of tin. The generators roar. I am told however, they are building a monstrosity of a shopping mall near here as we speak.
- Generator Man; the real source of power at my hotel in Erbil, Iraq.
Photo by Bob Keith, February 2008 -
And of course, the people at the little hotel I used last year outside the wall to the castle could not seem to figure out how to log me in. I retreated to a bigger hotel I also used last year which I deemed too expensive at 30 Dollars a night.
- Internet cafe in Erbil, Iraq, photo of Bob by an Internet customer, February 2008 -
There is heat in the room, a seated toilet, and an actual chair and desk. But as fate would have it, it is warm in this part of Iraq now anyway. Go figure. Be that as it may, Heide will be glad I moved to the nicer hotel.
Bob Keith
Erbil, Iraq
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