ITCHY FEET TRAVELS

Erbil, Kurdistan

June 16, 2023

The distance from Baghdad may not be all that much but this feels like a different country. There are broad streets with multiple lanes of fast traffic. Tall buildings line the roads, slick and modern with its glass and chrome.  Glitzy shops and malls crowd the pavements. Erbil is new, shiny and growing by the minute.

At its core is a citadel with a claim that none can beat. It is believed to be the oldest continuously inhabited place on earth, starting some 6000 years ago, by some accounts even more. Recent satellite imagery re-inforces this claim. 6000 years! History lies in layers here. Until as recently as 2006, there were still 600 houses within its walls but now, it lies empty with renovations underway in collaboration with UNESCO. The intent is for it to be a museum.

I set out to explore the area. It is early in the day and the area is just opening up for business. There are plenty of men wearing the traditional baggy Kurdish trousers with scarves wound into a turban. I have greetings returned with smiles. I look for a stall selling phone chargers. And promptly fall victim to local hospitality.

Casim and Sardar are from Erbil and have been friends for decades. Casim now lives in Finland but visits often. Instead of butchering Arabic with Kurdish for numbers – my personal hash – we speak in English. They shepherded me to a shop to buy the charger and I was overruled when it came to paying. “It is our culture” said Sardar and “you are our guest”. Nor did it stop there. I was given a whirlwind tour of the huge Qyesariya bazaar.

We stopped at a quaint coffee shop in the bazaar with walls decorated with bags of Kurdish design. I was in for a real treat. The coffee was served in what looked Like a a Sultan’s turban, straight out of the Arabian Nights. Lift the lid and presto, there is the cup, with its own smaller lid. A feast for the eyes and the tastebuds!

Below the walls, in front of the bazaar lay the Shar Garden square complete with fountains and the clock tower modeled after Big Ben. At the foot of the citadel, built into it is Machko teahouse one of the oldest chaykhanas in Erbil, run by the same family for 75 years. There are photos, sketches and paintings of famous men on the walls. There is a photograph of Erbil in yesteryears. Despite the violence and war in the recent past, it is slowly coming back to normal. The clack of dominoes and click of backgammon dice are the usual sounds in this traditional haunt of men. This area apparently gets mobbed come evening but now it is quiet.

We walk up the ramp into the citadel.There used to be an entire city within these walls. The narrow lanes wind at random like in any old city. I would have delighted in exploring but my companions haven’t the patience. I am guided to the carpet and kilim museum. My ticket is bought for me before I can get to the window and yet again I lose the argument.

“What will people say” says Casim “If they see me with a guest and I don’t pay? Where is my honor?”

“What about mine?” I retort.

He just grins in reply.

Arguing with them is exhausting! It was the same among the  Pathans in Pakistan.

The museum has a plethora of kilims and carpets, in brilliant colors. Some of the designs seem very similar to Bedouin designs seen all along the Maghreb. There are also a few caps and some odds and ends of traditional Kurdish tools. Sardar poses in a mock-up of a Bedouin tent.

Casim follows suit at a shop for musical instruments. Seeing my interest in bazaars, they decide I need to see Langa bazaar and we off go in Sardar’s car. This is a busier place with foods, clothes, electronics, toys, leather goods and just about everything one could possibly need. We have whiled away most of the morning when we say goodbye.

They have work to do and errands to run and I want to explore Erbil at my snail’s pace. They flag down a taxi and it is only after I arrive that I realize they have already paid the driver.