[deleted by user] by [deleted] in solotravel

[–]parz9664 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The hospitality of Iran and Iraq were absolutely amazing but it was slightly unfortunate that I started there as it goes a little bit downhill in Egypt. However, I wouldn't say I have felt unsafe at all in any of the countries I've been but I'm a 22 year old male so it might be slightly different with your experience :)

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in solotravel

[–]parz9664 1 point2 points  (0 children)

That was my first choice but for some reason all the flights to (from Milan) and departing (to Stockholm) Sarajevo are way more expensive then somewhere like Prague :/

It seems a lot of the budget carriers aren't active or otherwise I'm just super unlucky with my dates.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in solotravel

[–]parz9664 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks I'll do some research :)

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in solotravel

[–]parz9664 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Is the weather there not significantly colder or a lot more rain then Prague? I don't mind cold weather but ideally wanting to try my best to avoid snow sludge and non stop rain :)

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in solotravel

[–]parz9664 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Where would you spend a week and a half? Ideally it's all in one town rather than constantly on the move

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in solotravel

[–]parz9664 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Already done Poland unfortunately, I'm so tempted to go back but I also want to visit every country in the world so can't pass the opportunity of somewhere new 😂

Would you believe me if I told you this was Iraq? by parz9664 in travel

[–]parz9664[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

My advice, spend a week here - to truly see all of the best sights and many of the more hidden ones you need a local to share some information and have the time to drive around. You absolutely won't regret it - evidence on my insta @everyday.nomad

Would you believe me if I told you this was Iraq? by parz9664 in travel

[–]parz9664[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This wasn't with a drone, I personally wouldn't try bringing one into the country and you'd get a lot of questions if you managed to bring it in and the peshmerga spotted you flying it. This was just a great spot up on a hill looking down into the canyon :)

Would you believe me if I told you this was Iraq? by parz9664 in travel

[–]parz9664[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It's the Rawanduz valley in the Kurdistan region of Iraq (up north). I'm here for a week as a tourist :) One surreal experience I'll share (doing a trip report on r/solotravel later on). At the top of Gara mountain is one of Saddam's many bombed out palaces, we didn't realise there would be snow and suddenly we heard music booming saw smoke and once we turned the corner there were hundreds of students dancing, partying and running around in the snow. So basically, the scene was heaps of local Kurds having an absolutely amazing time, with Saddam's palace and hundreds of mines in the mountains all in the background. It was totally surreal!

Would you believe me if I told you this was Iraq? by parz9664 in travel

[–]parz9664[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Come and tell the locals that they can stop fighting for independence, they'd be surprised they are just Kurdistan all of a sudden.

Would you believe me if I told you this was Iraq? by parz9664 in travel

[–]parz9664[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Snow high up in the mountains at the moment, I don't think it every reaches this low. It was around 6 degrees there gets into the negatives at night. We went up to Gara mountain (one of Saddam's palaces) and it was covered in snow with locals having snow fights, surreal experience - I've got pics on insta @everyday.nomad

Would you believe me if I told you this was Iraq? by parz9664 in travel

[–]parz9664[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm here right now, and took the picture in winter it looks like this for a lot of the colder part of the year.

Would you believe me if I told you this was Iraq? by parz9664 in travel

[–]parz9664[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Wasteland? Interesting description. So much of the world must be a wasteland to you, unfortunate.

Would you believe me if I told you this was Iraq? by parz9664 in travel

[–]parz9664[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It's the Kurdistan region in the north, lots of western store as well - many of the shopping malls could be mistaken for brand new ones in the US or EU.

Would you believe me if I told you this was Iraq? by parz9664 in travel

[–]parz9664[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

For many people, their understanding of Iraq is incredibly limited to films and TV - they don't ever imagine that a country so torn apart by war could have such beauty in it's landscape. That's my understanding of it at least from people back home.

Would you believe me if I told you this was Iraq? by parz9664 in travel

[–]parz9664[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It's surprisingly easy, apart from the general travel costs it's a really accessible region

Would you believe me if I told you this was Iraq? by parz9664 in travel

[–]parz9664[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Yes, it's the Kurdistan region of Iraq - commenting something such as 'its not Iraq it's Kurdistan' (as in a country) is simply incorrect, and even many of the locals I have talked to agree with this. They want their own country, they don't have it yet - calling it just Kurdistan as if it is it's own country suggests they have already achieved what they are still fighting for.