Baghdad - part two

The international airport in Baghdad was modest and mostly empty of planes and people. Our 'fixer' met us at the gate and handled the visa on arrival. Within 15 minutes we were grabbing luggage and off to the cars.

My initial feeling is that this is not what I expected and seems similar to many other Middle Eastern cities that I have visited. We passed a few check points where we just slowed down and popped the trunk for a quick inspection and then on our way. The roads were busy even at 1030 at night. The city is mainly low-rise with a few notable exceptions.

The Hotel Uruk is not much from the outside, with a security gate at the entrance and from reading TripAdvisor a low blast wall surrounding the rooms. After some introductions and few instructions we were all off to our rooms and some well deserved sleep.

(Apparently all the international football/soccer teams stay here)

The rooms are actually quite nice. Large, clean, modern bath with walk-in shower. Two twin beds. And I am above the blast wall with a view of the street below. The electricity goes off frequently and is backed up by generator - no idea which is which -but it doesn't seem to be a problem - so far!

Breakfast was a buffet and included much of what I expected - soup, different types of potatoes, some eggs, salad, meats and cheeses and breads. Instant coffee. Hopefully this will improve as we move along.

After a leisurely breakfast, we regrouped around noon, and most of us did a little walk around to exchange money and stretch our legs. There is a lot of residential construction. And everyone we came upon was friendly. As you might expect, the streets are not clean but I have seen worse.

We had a nice lunch break at a cafe that could easily be found on Newbury Street in Boston. Filled with young, hipster Iraqis as Friday is the first day of the Muslim weekend. The first picture on this post is from the wall of the cafe and highlights most of the major sites in Iraq. I believe we will visit all but two or three.

Then it was time for a quick nap before group orientation and our first group dinner.

Orientation was quick and covered the basics. This is the first time we were all together and I suspect we will get along well.

We had a marvelous dinner on the roof of a large mall not too far from the hotel. While this was far from the Sri Lankan fast food incident, I think I would have been disappointed had it not been such a wonderful representation of how far off our perception is versus the reality. A beautiful restaurant filled with all different types of people, children's birthdays and just folks out on a Friday night.

Derek ordered a large selection of very traditional foods for the table to share. Hummus and roasted eggplant sauce, stuffed grape leaves, lamb and rice and of course baskets of flat bread.

No alcohol, of course. But the mocktails were nice. (Mango mojito)

In addition to Derek. He is training a girl named Luna to be a guide for him. She is from Spain. I haven't asked yet but I believe she and I applied for the same job last spring. (I won't hold it against her!) He is also working with a local operator to help with the logistics
As you can imagine, with no tourism in the country the infrastructure is severely lacking. After meeting Ali, Jaafar and Noor, I feel like we are in good hands.

On the ride back, the streets are jammed with everyone outside every imaginable market, restaurant and street food market. And of course plenty of shisha. And yes, just as I heard there are lots of shops to buy alcohol to consume at home or apparently under the bridges along the Tigris.

Tomorrow we begin in earnest with a walking tour of old Baghdad. We will cover the monuments and the Green Zone on Sunday. We head south on Monday.

Thanks for the kind words and for following along.