I sat inside of a crowded minivan of sorts, filled with local Iraqi men. The mission: backpacking through Iraq, Kurdistan.

We had just driven along the border of Turkey and Syria for the last hour. Extremely derelict communities lay along the busted down road the left. To our right we watched an endless field of barbed wire, dirt mounds, and high towers with armed guards.

Just a few days before, a friend who I would soon backpack Iraq with and myself were trapped in Mardin, no busses were leaving because of riots and fighting with ISIS just a few miles away.

We were both very apprehensive of the journey we were about to take part in, you see we had a side mission in mind. We had set out to accomplish something I never thought I would be a part of, far beyond just a simple backpacking Iraq trip (If you are a regular reader of my blog then you know what that was, if not you will soon find out).

Should I Travel to Iraq?

“Are we actually going to Iraq?”

We asked each other this question probably 100+ times.

I will say that I was slightly more up for it then my new friend Paul, who I met on the Lonely Planet Thorn Tree Forum while searching for anyone crazy enough to come with me.

Many thoughts went through our minds while we sat in that stone courtyard in Eastern Turkey…

Is backpacking in Iraq safe?

We googled “safety of travel in Iraq” or some such thing. That was a mistake.

All we read were many, many opinions of people who strongly suggested not going.

This was not the vote of confidence we were looking for, but at the same time wasn’t really that off-putting. I can’t explain the feeling, but it was like they were all wrong, and we would be fine.

How much does it even cost to backpack through Iraq?

There are no hostels, no ATM’s, very little information on guesthouses of any kind, and not much written about the subject of backpacking Iraq in general.

We pulled out a stack of cash from the ATM in Mardin, and crammed it in our money belts hoping it wouldn’t be stolen away.

If you plan to backpack Iraq make sure to bring enough cash with you. I would suggest to budget $50 a day if sharing rooms.

Are we going to have our heads chopped off?

Looking back this seems ridiculous because of how things played out, but we were actually worried. We joked about it, but there was seriousness in those jokes. I didn’t sleep much the night before we took off.

In the end none of this mattered. We were going. We would just find out for ourselves what lay ahead in a country that many would never dream of travelling to.

Day 1 as a Backpacker in Zahko, Iraq

After crossing overland on the bus from Turkey to Iraq, and a short cab ride from the border to town, we were standing in the city center of Zahko, Iraq.

Zahko was a shock. Not a shock in the sense of craziness, but rather in the sense of calmness and regularity. People were just going about their business. No one seemed to care we were there.

The city was in fine condition, there were no bullet holes in the walls like we imagined, no half blown up buildings, it didn’t feel sketchy at all.

We stayed in a hotel right across the fountain in the city center. We walked around eating ice cream bars as they melted down our hands in the middle eastern heat, we ate in a random local place where we had 2 plates of food, 2 cokes, 2 bottles of water with a total cost of less the $2. We wandered through back alleys and back streets, and no one cared.

What the hell? Why don’t these people care we are here!

We were for sure the only tourists, but the citizens of Zakho, Iraq didn’t react as they do in other parts of the world. They weren’t shocked to see us. I would be lying if I didn’t say I was a bit let down.

I wanted congratulations from locals for my bravery. I had gone were no backpacker had gone before. I was truly off the beaten path, and not even a wave from a child! Why were we invisible?

Getting on with the Mission

We needed to get over the lack of local excitement, for we were on a mission.

You see, when I had met Paul he had suggested that we buy children’s toys in Turkey, bring them across the border into Iraq, find a refugee camp that we didn’t even know existed, and hand out the toys.

This is an entirely different post all together you can read about it here if you like. Today though, I won’t go into that as we are talking about the backpacking Iraq experience as whole.

We stood on the roof of the hotel and gazed around the city planning what our next step was.

Just Being a Regular Traveller in Iraq

We first had plans of coming across the border, handing out the toys, spending a couple of days, and getting the hell out. That quickly changed.

We spent three days total in Zahko and could have stayed longer.

We spent an afternoon walking around the city, we happened upon a street food truck of sorts, and had a very strange encounter with the men inside.

A taste of the nightlife in Iraq

We ended up meeting an English teacher from the U.S and going to some secret beer garden for drinks in a city that doesn’t even sell alcohol. When we arrived at the “bar” and got out of the cab the driver was angry, he said he wouldn’t have let us in his car if he knew we were going to drink that poison.

We sat on plastic lawn chairs at a plastic table in the middle of a large grassy field. It was myself, Paul, the English teacher, and his local friend. We drank tall cans of beer and talked about nothing.

Before backpacking Iraq we had come up with rules, no drinking, no being out after dark, no talking to strangers. We were now getting drunk in a field, with a weirdo English teacher and his Iraqi buddy, at midnight on a Monday.

I have never been that good at following rules, I guess not even my own.

We took a cab back to the city center in the early hours of the morning. We got and out walked around, looked for food just like we would in any city at night after a few beers. No one bothered us, we didn’t get robbed or beheaded, we were starting to realize the worry and apprehension had been for nothing.

Iraq was safe, question answered we thought.

The taxi ride from Zakho to Erbil, Iraq

We were getting more comfortable and decided that it was only fitting that we press on further into the country, we arranged a taxi from Zakho to the capital city of Erbil, we would fly out from there. This is the only way to get between the 2 cities and cost around $60 for the 2 of us for the 4 hour drive.

At this point we were officially backpackers in Iraqi Kurdistan. We were crossing the desert in no-mans land, through countless armed checkpoints manned by officers who held large guns, but didn’t mind we were there.

Our taxi driver, whos name I now forget, wore an unforgettable denim attire. His button up denim shirt was tucked into his faded denim blue jeans; it was fall and the weather was a bit chilled in the morning so of course he kept warm with a vintage 1983 denim jacket. Let’s not forget his mullet. The first Iraqi hipster perhaps?

We rolled into Erbil and immediately noticed a difference. Zakho was kind of old, a bit scummy, and not much was happening. Erbil was large, full of people buzzing around, slightly more modern with shiny, new buildings and nice cars.

After some confusion about where the hell we were, we made it to the Lord City Hotel, our base in Erbil while our Iraq backpacking trip continued. We stayed in a twin room for $25, probably the cheapest you will find.

Having our minds blown in Iraq (in a good way)

Erbil is the capital city. It’s supposedly home to many expats (who we never found), and has an actual nightlife scene (which we never bothered to look for).

We took it in a different way. We spent our days wandering around, trying to get haircuts, buying fake Adidas track pants, and eating incredibly cheap amazing street food, just as one would do while backpacking Iraq.

What made it incredible though, were the random people, the humans of Erbil Iraq. Let’s talk about a few.

One of the kindest people we met was a local Iraqi businessman with a heart of gold. Read about him in the list of things to do in Erbil that I wrote while there. We hung out with him and had lunches that he payed for every time and he refused to take penny from us. He imported gold from Dubai and had a nice little store we sat around in and looked at his Facebook photos on his iPhone while he smoked cigarettes behind his desk.

Another interesting character we saw on a daily basis was the man who walked around with the AK-47 around his back. He was always wandering around in the evening, just having tea and kebabs with everyone else. I thought it was best not to take his picture.

The money changers, these guys walk around the streets with STACKS of American bills. They handled currency conversions through the windows of passing cars literally holding thousands of dollars with no concern of robbery.

Men, who own the stalls selling clothing, knock off phones or watches, and whatever else you could think of. These trusting souls don’t pack up at night. When they are closing up they just put a tarp over their goods and leave. Someone could just walk up and clean them out, but no one does. They do not overcharge and do not bargain. They don’t try to hustle at all. It’s an extremely honest place.

The arms dealer we happened across who let us hold and mess around with his guns, while posing for pictures with a knife to my neck. He might have been the highlight.

Final Thoughts on Backpacking Iraq

We never felt threatened while we were there. No one ripped us off or tried to scam us. The food was great and cheap, we had Wi-Fi in the hotel, and it just straight up felt badass to be backpacking Iraq.

Everyone we told our plans to thought we were insane. Everyone assumed we would be killed. Why is that the first thing that comes to our mind?

We see stories on the news of bad people doing bad things and assume that everyone in that country is bad. I didn’t meet a single bad person the entire trip, that I know of. I could have had tea with an ISIS dude for all I know, but I guess he didn’t feel like kidnapping me, maybe his day off.

I am sure something bad could have happened, but that can happen anywhere in the world. Truth is, I felt safer here then in many places I’ve been, even in Europe. There was just a safe and calm vibe in the air.

I wish I had time to stay longer and I was apprehensive about leaving. If I didn’t have to get to a travel conference in Greece, I would have stayed and continued to explore.

I get asked all the time if I would recommend backpacking in Iraq, the answer is yes, I would like to go again myself and explore more. Maybe I will, would anyone care to join?

Have you been travelling or backpacking Iraq Before? Is there anything I missed you would like to add? Do you have any more questions about it? Let me know or ask away in the comments below and I promise to answer!

Would you like some more information on backpacking Iraq? Check out these 7 reasons why you must travel to Iraq.