Holiday in Iraq

News flash: Iraq is hot. And it's kind of boring. I took a minibus from Hakkari all the way to the border near Silopi, hopped in a taxi at the border and got the driver to do all my paper work for me. Took about two hours total, and in true Turkish fashion (Turkish Kurds are still, in my mind, thoroughly Turkish), rather than staying in their cars and arrive at passport control in an orderly fashion car by car, everyone jumped out of their cars and sprinted to the passport control window. They pushed and shoved and raised their palms in the air to emphasize how angry they were when they yelled at each other.

I arrived in Dohuk and stayed at a crap hotel. After I'd paid for it, I went in and pulled the curtain aside only to find a cement wall staring back at me. Sleeping in what was basically a closet wouldn't be so bad, except this is Iraq, it's hot, and the power in the city gets shut off at night. So, the hotel generator kept dying, which meant I woke up every time the ceiling fan stopped. The place was run by a kid who had to have been a good five years younger than me and at least five inches shorter. The bathrooms reflected his youthful devil don't care attitude in that they were disgusting. Of course, squatters will never be inviting, but these were absolutely repulsive.

Nonetheless Dohuk has a bustle to it that's hard not to like. I came to Erbil today and althogh it's big there is nothing to do here. There is a large citadel but it's closed off save for the main road running through the center of it. I ate two felafel sandwiches today at two different places, mostly to kill time. I also spent a whole hour in a rug museum only because it had AC. Now I'm in an internet cafe and updating my blog because I might otherwise go insane from boredom. Although, I am meeting up with a friend of a friend of a friend tonight, so that might salvage my Iraq experience. Whether it does it not, I'm still out of here tomorrow morning, making a B line straight for Istanbul and then American on Monday!

I will write more on Kurdistan and what Kurds think of this place later.

Travel plans

So about those dogs. My landlady had Annabelle (the big, furry one) shaved. I didn't see her for two days because she was apparently hiding in embarrassment. Ostensibly comfortable enough with her new look to make herself public, she finally came out last night on to my terrace while I was watching a movie with a friend. I heard my landlady laughing and calling to her. I came out and before me was a skinny, hairless, quite pathetic looking dog. I started cracking up and tried to pet her but she ran away from us to the outdoor stairs. The neighbors came out to see what all the hub-bub was about. They took one look at her standing on the stairs and just started laughing hysterically. At that point the poor dog probably thought, "Forget these assholes," and she ran off to the park across the street. I haven't seen her since.

Anyway, I'm traveling to a place I've wanted to go for a while. Tonight I leave for Eastern Turkey. It's the land of Kurds, and most Turks as me why on earth I want to go there. I'm excited to see what this other side of Turkey is like, especially after hearing so many things (good and bad) from so many people for the last two years. My itinerary is as follows:

Istanbul to Trabzon
Trabzon to Erzurum
Erzurum to Van
Van to Ani and Dogubeyazit to Van
Van to Hakkari, Sirnak, Siirt and Mardin
Mardin to Diyarbakir and Mt. Nemrut
Diyarbakir to Istanbul

I'll post some thoughts after the trip, as well as some photos. Herkese gorusuruz!