I entered Iraq from Turkey overland. The border crossing was fairly smooth. The border guards struggled to find my name on my passport and understand why I was visiting their country, but otherwise I had no issues. The minivan that I had paid 20 Turkish Lira (11 USD) to take me across the border deposited me in the border town on the Iraq side. Border towns the world over are shitholes. Zakho was no different. I was eager to get out.
Moving on to my planned destination for the night, Duhko, a town about forty minutes drive from the border, would require patience. The mini-van that took me across the border served a similar function to that of a shark cage in the open ocean. On the street I was fresh meat.
After some rapid Arabic and standing my ground amongst a dozen swarthy looking men, they began to grasp I wasn’t willing to hop in the next form of transport they offered me at an exhorborent price.
Eventually I would make it to Duhko, just as the sun was setting. I was pleased.
There were some intense moments that afternoon, but I never felt that my personal safety was in jeopardy – only that I would be out a few more dollars then I needed to be.
Lying in bed that evening, exhausted from my 2:30 AM wake up that morning and a solid day of traveling I thought about the afternoon’s interactions. The situations I encountered certainly pushed my comfort zone. Not because I had never experienced anything similar, but because I hadn’t experienced anything like it recently and rarely were I had been moving around solo.
I dozed off quickly with a smile on my face. In many ways I felt that I had been preparing for that afternoon’s interactions for my entire life. After years of traveling with my family, and exploring destinations with better tourist infrastructure, I had set out on this trip; a challenging one.
I have developed a decent toolkit to help me navigate these situations. I am stoked to apply some tools and expand the box.
Overall, I was very pleased with the start of my time in Iraq and excited to find out what tomorrow will bring.
Moving on to my planned destination for the night, Duhko, a town about forty minutes drive from the border, would require patience. The mini-van that took me across the border served a similar function to that of a shark cage in the open ocean. On the street I was fresh meat.
After some rapid Arabic and standing my ground amongst a dozen swarthy looking men, they began to grasp I wasn’t willing to hop in the next form of transport they offered me at an exhorborent price.
Eventually I would make it to Duhko, just as the sun was setting. I was pleased.
There were some intense moments that afternoon, but I never felt that my personal safety was in jeopardy – only that I would be out a few more dollars then I needed to be.
Lying in bed that evening, exhausted from my 2:30 AM wake up that morning and a solid day of traveling I thought about the afternoon’s interactions. The situations I encountered certainly pushed my comfort zone. Not because I had never experienced anything similar, but because I hadn’t experienced anything like it recently and rarely were I had been moving around solo.
I dozed off quickly with a smile on my face. In many ways I felt that I had been preparing for that afternoon’s interactions for my entire life. After years of traveling with my family, and exploring destinations with better tourist infrastructure, I had set out on this trip; a challenging one.
I have developed a decent toolkit to help me navigate these situations. I am stoked to apply some tools and expand the box.
Overall, I was very pleased with the start of my time in Iraq and excited to find out what tomorrow will bring.