Great trip report, Tarzan!
I've been to the "Republic of Iraq - Kurdistan Region" (so says the passport stamp) in 2008 and contrary to some armchair travelers in this thread, I can confirm it's a very interesting and relatively safe destination.
The most dangerous part for me was in Turkey from Van via Hakkari and Cizre to the Turkish/Iraqi border at Silopi. That Turkish road was like a warzone with fighter jets, combat helicopters, many heavily fortified military checkpoints and VERY nervous Turkish draft soldiers.
This came as a surprise to me, since there are no accurate reports in the mainstream media and even most of my Turkish friends themselves do not know the full truth about that corner of their country.
Of course they don't know, because the average Turk would never put his foot into the "hot" Kurdish areas - and just reiterate the official propaganda (as visible on this thread).
A sidenote: I had two aggressive moments with young Kurds, based on religious arguments. They were a lot more islamic fundamentalist than I expected. The usual portrait is that they are secular compared to the other groups in the area - not true IMHO.
Last edited by Travelbug; 4 Jan 2012 at 10:28.
|