Iraq

Iraq

Why you should go to Iraq

Even if we all heard from our school studies about the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, the biblical Eden, The Tower of Babel, the Code of Hammurabi, the earliest flourishing civilizations in the world in Mesopotamia between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, we forget that almost all that is connected to today’s Iraq. This country made countless undisputable contributions to the world. It gave writing to the world, invented the wheel, planted the first cereal crops, introduced zero to mathematics, and even the tales of the Thousand and One Night were first told here.

There are tens of thousands of archeological sites in Iraq, most of them still waiting to be excavated. I was deeply touched by the ruins of the 5000-year-old ancient Sumerian city, Uruk, in a deserted, remote area, imagining this was where writing started. I watched the Tigris and Euphrates joining in Qurna, never expecting to get the chance to see that.

The country is full of sad stories, no matter which side they took during and after Saddam. Iraq suffered from one of the most severe economic sanctions ever imposed on a country. Mothers worried if their children returned from school or their husbands from work. There was an extreme shortage of medicine and nutrition, safety became an unknown concept, and dead bodies in the street were a common sight.

Iraqi had to go through the Gulf wars of 1991 and 2003, the Iraq-Iran war (1980-1988) followed by the civil war of 2006-2007, and finally, the destruction of ISIS until 2017.

All that means years simply lost for the Iraqi people.

They are now desperate to enjoy peace, life, and most importantly food….they are eager to show the world their country’s treasure and refute the image depicted by the media. Iraq is safe now for tourists, although the massive protests of 2019, and the disputes about oil tell inner tensions are still present.

Traveling to Iraq is highly educative and gives a unique chance to see something with your own eyes, not through the biased lens of the media. Iraq is not a one-time thing. It goes under your skin and makes you plan to return even before leaving the country largely because of the Iraqi people.

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Languages: Arabic is the primary language, and English is rarely spoken.

Flight: Use Google Flights or Skyscanner to get the best flight offers to Iraq

Insurance: Safetywing is a cheap travel and medical insurance that covers COVID-related issues as well.

Visa: Getting a visa to Iraq has become a lot easier than before since Pope Francis’ visit to Iraq in 2021. Since then, the Iraqi government has offered Visa on Arrival for several countries. Check here if you are eligible for that.

You can only get a single-entry visa valid for two months and cost 77 USD.

Important: if you arrive in Kurdistan, you get a visa from the Kurdish autonomous region that does not permit you to cross over to Iraq. Therefore, if you want to visit federal Iraq, you should arrive in Baghdad via plane. Otherwise, with a prearranged visa, you can also cross the land borders of Iran, Turkey, and Jordan.

If you are interested in reading about other countries in the Middle East:

All articles about Jordan

All articles about Iran

All articles about Lebanon

Read all posts about Iraq

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