Taxi to Erbil (Wednesday, Oct 25)

If you ever have the chance to read the film by the same title, please comment here! My connection at home is such that I can't download anything and I often lose connection partway.

Anyway, so I am home safely. We started on our way at about 7:30am from our hotel in Diyarbakir. To be honest, I was a little eager to be back... as much as I had been enjoying the high living in our 4 star hotel. Our driver for the first part of the journey was the same driver (white minivan pictured) who took us to Hasankeyfe - someone arranged for us by Ahmed when he visited the mayor of Diyarbakir. This was one of the great parts of traveling as a group; the trip to the border is about 3-4 hours and $140 US. I think this would be the same cost as traveling alone by yellow cab. This time we took a different route that the way in- a route that seemed longer, but more picturesque including cotton and corn fields and the Syrian border. It was much like the North/South Korean border with two barbed fences with a no-man's-land protected by mines and military patrol in between. Syrian Kurdistan from this vantage point looked much the same as the Turkish side.

It was already about midday when we finally we reached the border and of course the customs officers were having lunch. As on the way in, we have to transfer to taxis with special permits for border crossing (you can't walk through). The taxis are $40 US to travel a very short distance, but they do all the paperwork for you, including photocopies of passports. So the taxi drivers all gather around the cusoms window jostling and fighting with each other... and when the officials do show up, the fight and jostle some more to be the first to slap the official on the back with one hand, shake the other and kiss on both cheeks. Many hands reach through the window and the processing starts. We pass through this and have our passports checked a few more times (although less than exiting Iraq) and continue on, stopping briefly at a point a little ways in for our own lunch.

We pass that area with the Iraqi flags flying and realize that it is essentially the point of the road closest to Mosul (maybe you'ver heard of it?). A sign indicates that it is only 20km in the another direction. We continue on. Who could have thought I would be so happy to see New CIty Motel. Home Sweet Home!