Morning in Erbil started by drinking coffee in a mall, so we can escape big heat on the empty streets. Malls became popular in last few years, and many local people adopted pro-American lifestyle. We met Ali, friend of Mohammad, who drove us to the end of the city and wrote a sign "Sulaymaniah" on Arabic language, so we can continue our road. Few months later, one Polish guy that I met in Iran ended up hitchhiking with the same sign to Sulaymaniah, and the sign ended up in Ali's hands again. But, that's another story...
Most of the Kurdish people live in East Turkey and North Iraq. They have their own language, which originates from Iran, and is part of Indo-European languages. However, they use Arabic as their second national language as percentage of Kurds in Iraq is around 20%. Many locals are still wearing their traditional clothes, which never went out of fashion.
As we went further from the regional capital, most of Kurdish men were dressed the same way. They were all very kind, generous and extremely hospitable to foreigners, so hitchhiking was quite easy. We changed few cars, and eventually hitched a car of a soldier who was driving to Baghdad. Nature of the north was stunning, as after "yellow" Erbil, I didn't expect to see green hills, rivers and lakes on the road. Eventually, we reached 5th largest city in Iraq, and went to the international hospital to wait for our host, whose name is Ahmed Mohammed (combination of two most common names). While waiting in the hospital, we talked to the stuff, and they asked us if we have European friends who would be interested to work as nurses for a good salary. Not many people from Europe have a clear idea about safety in the North Iraq, so finding a stuff is a difficult task.
Anyhow, Ahmed Mohammed came with a friend, they gave us short introduction of Suleymaniah, and we realized that this city might be the most liberal city in Iraq. Rest of the evening we spent on a hill which overlooks the whole city. Ahmed threw a carpet, prepared shisha and we enjoyed watching sunset over the city of one million people.
Most of the Kurdish people live in East Turkey and North Iraq. They have their own language, which originates from Iran, and is part of Indo-European languages. However, they use Arabic as their second national language as percentage of Kurds in Iraq is around 20%. Many locals are still wearing their traditional clothes, which never went out of fashion.
As we went further from the regional capital, most of Kurdish men were dressed the same way. They were all very kind, generous and extremely hospitable to foreigners, so hitchhiking was quite easy. We changed few cars, and eventually hitched a car of a soldier who was driving to Baghdad. Nature of the north was stunning, as after "yellow" Erbil, I didn't expect to see green hills, rivers and lakes on the road. Eventually, we reached 5th largest city in Iraq, and went to the international hospital to wait for our host, whose name is Ahmed Mohammed (combination of two most common names). While waiting in the hospital, we talked to the stuff, and they asked us if we have European friends who would be interested to work as nurses for a good salary. Not many people from Europe have a clear idea about safety in the North Iraq, so finding a stuff is a difficult task.
Anyhow, Ahmed Mohammed came with a friend, they gave us short introduction of Suleymaniah, and we realized that this city might be the most liberal city in Iraq. Rest of the evening we spent on a hill which overlooks the whole city. Ahmed threw a carpet, prepared shisha and we enjoyed watching sunset over the city of one million people.
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