We heard our first gunshots a week into our trip. We were resting after a long drive in our Baghdad hotel when shots crackled through the night. Anyone who was sleeping immediately got up. Nothing wakes you up quicker than gunshots in Iraq.
Insurgency? Sectarian ...Click on a label to read posts from that part of the world.
Iraq
Iraq Road Trip: Who Takes The Ultimate Adventure Vacation And What's It Like?
We heard our first gunshots a week into our trip. We were resting after a long drive in our Baghdad hotel when shots crackled through the night. Anyone who was sleeping immediately got up. Nothing wakes you up quicker than gunshots in Iraq.
Insurgency? Sectarian ...A Run-In With The Iraqi Police
All I wanted was to buy an Iraq National Football Team uniform for my son, a perfectly normal thing for a father to do on his first day in Baghdad. The problem is, doing something normal in Baghdad can land you in serious trouble.
We were in one of the city's many ...Going On Vacation In Iraq
Who the hell would want to spend their vacation in Iraq?
Lots of people, if they knew the reality behind the media image.
Iraq is the cradle of civilization, with famous sites such as Babylon, Ur, and Uruk. It's also home to stunning Islamic architecture, lively ...Dust Storms Descend On The Middle East
A spate of dust storms caused massive disruptions and several fatalities in the Middle East this week. In Pakistan, winds reaching up to 68mph struck the twin cities of Rawalpindi and Islamabad, destroying roofs, uprooting trees, upending billboards, and reducing ...Iraq Tries To Get Babylon Onto UNESCO World Heritage List (Again)
Babylon in Iraq is one of the most famous archaeological sites in the world. A Mesopotamian capital that flourished for centuries, it was home to Hammurabi (1792-1750 B.C.) who introduced the world's first known set of laws, and Nebuchadnezzar (604-562 B.C.) who built the ...Lost temple discovered at Ur, Iraq
A team of Iraqi and Italian archaeologists have discovered a temple at the ancient city of Ur in Iraq.
This is the first foreign team to excavate in Iraq for 20 years and they hit pay dirt in the form of a 4,500 year-old temple and associated graveyard. Little ...Biblical city of Nineveh under threat in Iraq
One of the greatest cities of the ancient world may soon be lost.
Three thousand years ago, the city of Nineveh in Iraq had a population of 100,000 and was the capital of the Neo-Assyrian Empire. It was home to magnificent palaces and temples and is mentioned in the Old ...Is Iraq really safe to visit?
If you ever visit Iraq, it's probably best to tell your parents about the trip after you return. That's what my friend Jennifer Martin did, and she says it saved her parents from lots of (mostly) needless worry.
Jennifer has just returned from a week-long tour of ...Ten most corrupt countries of the world
You spend every holiday weekend annoyed that you can't talk your way out of a speeding ticket. If only there were some way out of that predicament ... aside from taking your lead foot off the gas, right? You may be out of luck on the New Jersey Turnpike, but there are ...12 historic sites in danger of disappearing
The Global Heritage Fund has released a new report that lists 200 World Heritage Sites around the globe that are in danger from a variety of threats, turning the spotlight on 12 in particular that could disappear altogether due to a lack of funds, neglect, and mismanagement. ...New Baghdad route for French airline
Where are you going for Christmas? Forget New England charm or warm islands where you can skip the traditional holiday and sun yourself without regret. Now, you can take the sort of vacation that will be the envy of all your friends: Baghdad. Your options were once limited, ...638 Iraqi relics found in closet
The Iraqi National Museum found 638 artifacts that had been missing for two years. Once returned by the U.S. government, the relics were turned over to the office of the prime minster in Iraq, which is where they were found, according to an announcement over the weekend. ...Iraqi Airways shuts down after dispute with Kuwait over aircraft theft
State owned Iraqi airlines has been forced to declare bankruptcy. The airline had been around for decades, and when they tried to restart operations with regular Baghdad-London operations, they ran into a nasty reminder of their past.
Upon landing at London's Gatwick ...Iraqi Airways begins, ends service from Baghdad to London
One of the biggest milestones for a developing country is to have regular commercial traffic in and out of its main airports. It's even better if part of that traffic is on the nation's flagship, state-owned carrier -- a matter of pride, so to speak. So there's little doubt ...The top 8 tourist destinations of tomorrow
The rapidly changing landscape of today's globalized economy means that countries are developing at breakneck pace. Yesterday's war zones are turning into tomorrow's tourist destinations at the blink of an eye, while today's utopias (see: Dubai) are disintegrating just as ...Coming attractions: Iraq
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Could Iraq be the next big adventure travel destination? One hardy tour company and their clients are saying, "Why not?"
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There's no shortage of things to see. ...Anthropologists told to get out of the wars
When anthropologists travel to foreign lands, it's generally for an academic endeavor, intended to enrich the world as a whole. There's a group in this community, however, with a much different mission ... and they're about to be out of work. Army anthropologists tasked to ...Google to immortalize Iraqi museum
Google is taking Iraq's national museum global. Company CEO, Eric Schmidt, said Tuesday that Google is going to document what's in the museum and will share photographs of the war-torn countries museum holdings with the world. The museum, which reopened this year, was torn ...Gadlinks for Friday 8.7.09
This has been quite a week! I don't know about you guys, but I'm eager for the weekend to begin. Here are some green-themed Gadlinks (to honor our green travel theme this month).
I always have a hard time choosing the best travel shoes. This article helps to sort out ...Locked Up Abroad returns tonight with new episodes
Everyone's favorite extreme travel TV series, Locked Up Abroad, is kicking off another round of new episodes starting tonight at 10pm. The new episodes start off with Locked Up Abroad: Iraq, which follows the story of two foreign journalists kidnapped by Iraqi insurgents in ...
