We Sent One Of Our Team Members To Iraq – Here’s What Happened…
There aren’t many jobs out there that’ll send you to Iraq just to do a vibe check, but Fencox is one of them!
There have been a lot of whispers flying around here at Fencox HQ about a possible trip to Iraq and Kurdish Iraq on the way, and we knew there would be a lot of questions about it. We wanted honest answers, not second-hand stories, so we did what any travel company worth its salt would do – we packed our team member Nicola off to go and have a nosey.
So, what did she think? Let’s find out.
Safe to say, once Nicola got up there, coming back down wasn’t high on her list.
Okay, be honest – what made you say yes to a trip to Iraq?
Haha, this is a very fair question. To be honest, it wasn’t even on my radar. Like most people, I had zero intentions of travelling to Iraq, and didn’t even realise that it was something people were doing these days! But when Mat (our founder) gave me the opportunity to visit for work, the idea did excite me. Who else can say they’ve travelled to Iraq?!
I did have to think long and hard about it before saying yes, though. I have a young family, and I’m in my late 30s, so all I’ve heard of Iraq for most of my life has been danger, war, trouble, ISIS… not exactly a positive picture. My interest was piqued, though, so I started doing some research and all of the more recent on-the-ground reports I found seemed to agree that nowadays it’s not that dangerous. Luckily, when I got there, it was almost laughable how concerned I was originally! The most dangerous thing you’ll encounter there these days is on the roads – the Iraqis drive like maniacs!
So… what was it actually like? Did it match what you imagined?
It was totally different to what I’d expected – in a good way. I was there for eight days in total, starting in the south in Basrah before zig-zagging my way up between the two rivers with the help of my local guide.
I couldn’t believe how quiet all of the tourist attractions are, and that’s what I think really makes travel to Iraq so appealing. For example, we went to see the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon, a place nearly everybody has heard of, and we were the only ones there! It was like this at every tourist site we went to, and that’s one of the things that really stood out to me.
I’d never even been to an Arab country before, so I was unsure whether or not I’d like it. Luckily, I did, but my research gave me a good idea of what to expect. English is not widely spoken at all there, religion is taken very seriously and it’s definitely a male-dominated society, but I noticed that there was a lot more freedom given to me as a Westerner.
And what about being there as a Western woman?
Yeah, like I said, I noticed that Western women were given a lot more leeway than the local women were. For example, I was totally fine to explore on my own if I wanted to and I sometimes got away from the group. I also didn’t experience any catcalling or street harassment, which was a relief after what I’d heard about travel to other Arab countries like Egypt or Morocco. Walking around Baghdad, I got no attention at all, but I think that’s because locals were fairly used to seeing Westerners here compared to in other parts of the country.
I did experience a little bit of staring when we went to lesser-visited areas, but it was totally innocent, and felt like it was mainly just curiosity. Tourism, maybe unsurprisingly, isn’t much of a ‘thing’ here yet, so locals just aren’t used to seeing us.
Did you have to wear a hijab or any local clothing?
This was another thing I was worried about beforehand, but nope! For the most part, I was fine in modern Western clothing. There were two cities, Najaf and Karbala, which are very special to Shia Muslims and we had to wear chadors (which basically cover everything apart from your face) to visit the shrines there. I can’t sugar coat it, they’re really inconvenient to wear, but it’s not for long and then you can take them off again, so it didn’t impact my trip or anything. The guide also brought all of the specialist clothing with him, so I didn’t have to worry about finding a chador in Australia to pack and take with me.
Did you have any trouble getting a visa or travel insurance for Iraq?
Surprisingly not. I was actually shocked by how easy the process was. I’ve heard rumblings that the visa situation may change in the next few years, but for now you just apply online for a visa on arrival. Within five hours I had received the confirmation in my email inbox. I printed that out, gave it to the immigration officers on arrival, and then they took some biometrics, stuck my visa in my passport and I was good to go.
The travel insurance was also easy. The number of providers was limited, which you might expect, but the offerings were of good quality and I managed to get some top-tier cover for around $150 Aussie dollars.
Aren’t there some travel restrictions for you if you have an Iraqi visa in your passport?
Oh that’s a good question. I’m not 100 percent sure about everywhere, of course, but I do know that it affects you going to the USA on an ESTA, which is their visa-waiver programme. You can still go to the US as far as I’m aware, but I think they just need you to actually apply for a visa, and they may want to interview you to ask why you’ve been to Iraq. No biggie, but something just worth being aware of because it could impact some people’s decision to visit Iraq.
That’s good to know. What was the accommodation, food and toilet situation like there?
Accommodation was totally fine! A bit old-fashioned and run down at times, but totally manageable – I wasn’t expecting it to be modern or luxurious. Toilets were also fine. Western toilets were available at hotels and tourist sites, but to be honest, I actually preferred to use the squat toilets! They were much cleaner and I got used to using them pretty quickly.
I’ll try any food once, so I was ready to really test myself, but I actually didn’t come across anything super adventurous. Most meals consisted of meat, rice and bread. You’ll always get a soup brought to you before your main course and usually some bread with hummus and mezze dips on the side too. One of their specialities here is slow-cooked lamb and it’s insanely good. The national dish is Masgouf, a grilled, splayed fish, and that’s also totally delicious.
Yum! So do you think it’s possible to travel to Iraq as a vegetarian?
Hmm… Yes, I do think it’s possible, but it won’t be super easy. Most of the dishes contain meat or fish here, so you’ll be pretty limited to rice, beans, bulgur wheat, bread, hummus and other dips. You won’t starve, but I’m sure it’ll get a bit samey after a few days.
Did you see signs of the war still around?
Oh yeah, remnants are all around, especially in Mosul, where the types of ruins you’d see on the news back in the day are still all over the place. There’s rubble everywhere, and a lot of buildings that survived the war are slumped to one side from all the impact and collateral damage. We climbed onto the rooftops of a few and looked out over the city, and what really struck me were the doorways. Above each one, someone had marked the word ‘safe,’ meaning the room had been cleared of danger after the war. It was confronting, seeing those reminders up close.
Traffic checkpoints were the remnants of the war I came into contact with the most. I must’ve passed through over 30 during my eight days in Iraq and it felt like you couldn’t travel more than an hour without passing one. Sometimes they’d just wave you through, sometimes they’d check our visas and passports and sometimes there would be sniffer dogs checking for explosives. We were never held up for longer than about 15 minutes, so it didn’t have a huge impact on our travels. I suppose some people would find these checks daunting, but I felt totally fine.
What was your favourite part of the trip?
It’s so hard to pick just one, but probably the people! Our guide was so knowledgeable, and the people of Iraq are so open and happy to answer your questions – they’re clearly super excited to see tourists finally coming to Iraq after decades of trouble. A close second would be the archaeological sites. We could spend an entire day exploring and see maybe six other tourists across that whole time! One night we sat on top of some ruins, chatting as we watched the sun set and it was one of those epic travel moments I’ll never forget!
How do you see tourism changing in Iraq over the next few years?
Since Iraq is such a stable country now, I can only see tourism growing from here. The historical drawcards alone are huge. It doesn’t have the infrastructure for mass tourism just yet, so if you want to experience the sites without the crowds, now’s the time to go.
And finally… If someone were thinking of joining a trip to Iraq, what would you tell them?
Do it. Seriously. Being there and seeing things for myself was eye-opening, especially compared to what the travel advisories say. It really showed me how politically influenced those warnings can be. If you go, you’ll have an incredible time and get to see some truly epic sites without the crowds. I’m so glad I said yes.
Curious to see Iraq for yourself? We don’t blame you! We’re working on our brand-new Fencox Iraq tour at the moment and we’re anticipating record-breaking interest levels! If you want to be the first to know when bookings go live, drop us a line here, and one of our friendly Fencox crew will be in touch as soon as we have the details.
Note: all images featured are provided from Nicola’s personal collection!