A short stay in Hawler/Arbil
Trip Start
Jan 21, 2007
1
7
Trip End
Mar 07, 2007
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Arbil,
Iraq
Monday, February 26, 2007
The quality of the road varied throughout the journey with a number of fairly rough spots. Of course, the numerous jerry can gas sellers were ubiquitous wherever we came to any type of community. Unfortunately, I ended up with the middle back seat so any photo taking was pretty well eliminated. Once into Arbil, I stayed with the car until it reached the final station at which the driver was very helpful at getting me a cab to the centre of the city (fortunately, I remembered the Kurdish word for "centre".)
The city of Arbil has quite a different atmosphere from sleepy Dohuk and definitely a little more intimidating with the bigger crowds. However, after wandering a bit, I finally found an ok hotel which was still pretty expensive ($50/night) compared to the wonderful place I had been at in Dohuk. However, I figured for a couple nights, I would be fine at this hotel which seemed to be in the heart of all the activity. However, little did I realize how quickly things could change. Expecting to be able to go out for dinner later in the evening, I rested only to wake up and see that the streets were bare and dark. And I mean dark! There were no street lights and it was obvious....no electricity either. Neverthelss I decided to wander around a little and pick up some snacks since I wasn't too hungry. It seemed like the entire center area was shut down except for places like my hotel that had there own generator. But really, there was little to see or do so after picking up a box of pistachio nut pastries, I headed back Fortunately, the few people I saw were not looking to accost anyone as it was truly a perfect setting for muggers!
The next day was just spent wandering the market and really just starting to psychologically prepare myself to the fact that my holiday was winding down. I also spent time checking out the Citadel fort which overlooked the city and was rather interesting. It was there I also chatted with some friendly police who were quite insistent, I have my picture taken with them.
The next morning at around noon, I grabbed a taxi to take me to the "international " airport.. It was not a long trip but interesting. After turning off into the main road to the airport, we hit the first checkpoint without problem. However, a kilometre or so further we came to a more thorough checkpoint which sort of looked like it could be a very small terminal building (it probably was at one time). At this point, my cab dropped me off and I took my bag into the security building where it was x-rayed and I was patted down.
Upon exiting this security hut, I came upon some taxis which was a bit confusing. However, the Filipino drivers explained they could rush me to the terminal or I could hop onto the free bus. The 5 minute bus ride quickly brought me to the fairly small terminal building where again the x-raying and patting down was done.
I had to wait a while before I was finally able to check-in but once that was over, I proceeded through security and customs to the boarding gate area. However, as I was going through security I was told that I could not bring batteries for my camera or discman. This is the first time I have ever had to actually remove batteries from my camera and fortunately the staff were able to have these rechargeables put into my checked baggage. In the boarding area, I had to laugh because playing on the wall-mounted TV was the movie of Farley Mowatt's Never Cry Wolf....who would have thought!
Almost on schedule, the Iraqi Air plane was ready to board for Amman and I was also surprised that it was open seating. This was most annoying for one particlar passenger who ended up giving the airport staff and stewardesses a very hard time.....
06. Old buildings within the fortress
I felt sorry for them. However, the flight to Jordan went quite smoothly and before I knew it we were landing in Amman and my first visit to Kurdistan Iraq was officially over. 
