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The 17 of September, En route for Irak,
Van, it is 7:30, slowly waking up at the terrasse of the Hotel Alsan with Vincent, a German dude, that is visiting Turkey, We met two days ago in Van, talked about stories and itineraries, he decided to join for Irak, let’s roll…
The light is gold, like early and late time here in the far East Turkey.. heading for Silopi, the dormush is late but there, we pass along the lake and then get deeper in Kurdistan, the landscape slowly changes from the dry lands of up north, it become greener, there is a few canyons with tiny rivers, some plantations, and small gardens, Siirt, we change buses, and go along, we pass through some remote villages where few kids play around with tires and home made toys, the womens are hard at work. It is getting high, a good thing to be able to see further, see the mountains slowly ending far away, imagining what is ahead of us, looking far, and thinking, “is this Irak, there ?”, there is soldiers, caserns often and a few controls, the PKK is not friendly those days, neither is Turkish authorities with them, and then comes Sirnak, some weddings in the street, it is saturday. Seven or eight hours of ride already. It is exciting.
Cirze, the city is foggy, the light low, the atmosphere is interesting, when suddenly, some gun shots, some tear gas, a kurdish demonstration in the next street… You can’t help it but this tear gas makes everybody cry, the dormush is not going to Silopi, but to Zakhu, right after the border, in Irak. Everything is going faster. Staying focused. The feeling is good.
Go ! Go ! Go ! Yell the driver… price dealing, picking up the bags, jumping in, riots cops and soldiers are around, youngsters and people also, checking out what’s up, wanting to mess up, the adrenalyn, the excitement. This contrast of the calm and fine landscape of few minutes ago to the energy of the people, releasing, protesting. It is great. It has such beauty..
We are En route for Irak.
The guys in the van are 15 years old, maybe a little more, we are laughing about Cirze, they are cool, rarely in the travels, people i meet are that open, everywhere here they offer you tea, taxi rides, food, home stay, etc… They are proud of the region they live in, they want us to discover it, showing that it is safe, that the war that everybody thinks about, is not. The last bomb in Irak Kurdistan exploded in 1994…
Silopi, and this endless queue of Trucks, waiting and waiting for a passage. Truck drivers are chilling with some tea, some small fire, gathering and talking, the only lights are from the cars passing by, with the dust, and the guys walking around in the darkness the landscape if filled with silhouettes.
We pass them, and arrive at the border, everything is taking time but is going smooth, no money asked, no questions asked, just some smiles, some hand shakes, it is stamped. Two guys of the dormush help us for a cheap hotel, not really cheap in the end but anyway, here we are in the Zakhu, Kurdistan, Irak.
People is great, and the city landscape as already changed. Tomorrow. Dohuk.
