Flying to IRAQ! (Kurdistan)

We are starting today's video by saying something that I never thought we would say.

Today we are traveling to Iraq.

As Americans, I feel like growing up, the only things we ever heard about the Middle east were things like war, violence, corruption. But the more that we've traveled this part of the world, the more we realize that the people in the Middle east are the kindest and most hospitable, hospitable people in the world.

Even though we have a completely different view of the Middle east than before we started traveling, Iraq is still a place that I never thought we would visit. Just listen to what the US Government says about traveling to Iraq. It is listed as a level 4 do not travel zone. And if you decide to go to Iraq, the government suggests drafting a will and designating an appropriate insurance beneficiary and then discussing a plan with your loved ones regarding care and custody of children's pets, property belonging, liquid assets, and funeral issues.

So the US Government website makes it sound like you should plan on dying if you go to Iraq, which is why we have never had it on our bucket list until a couple weeks ago. We were traveling around Jordan with our friend Nano, and she suggested that we travel to northern Iraq, which really piqued our interest.

We couldn't leave without one last kunapa. We were literally jumping in the taxi to the airport, and I was like, one more.

This is the bakery that was closed the first time we came here. Nate is so happy we're getting to experience it. I think it's going to be the best kunafa yet.

It's just swimming in syrup. Whoa. I need, like, a fork so I can twirl the cheese around.

This was a good decision.

Up until this point, I had wrongly categorized the entire country of Iraq as a dangerous war zone. But it turns out there is a region in the north known as Kurdistan. It's an autonomous region that's governed by the Kurds.

So I ended up doing a ton of research on the region, and from everything I've read, I've learned that it's a relatively safe region to travel to. They even have their own visa policy. So if we wanted to travel to Iraq as Americans, we'd have to go through this long, drawn out process of organizing a visa ahead of time. However, because it's governed by the Kurds, we're going to show up at the airport and they're going to give us a stamp that's going to allow us to travel around the country for the next 30 days.

So it's relatively safe. It's a free visa. It's Iraq, so. So we figured, why not?

But first, we're going to the lounge.

This is the lounge. It feels like the entire airport.

As if this lounge wasn't big and beautiful enough. They have ancient historic artifacts like the 5th century mosaic. Believe it or not, this is a priority pass lounge. You don't even have to have status.

To get in here.

First things first.

Chocolate chip cookies.

Coffee is good and strong. It's special. This lounge is perfect.

So we just had to pass through a second security check. And as the guy handed us our passport back, he said, good luck. Which is just kind of a weird thing to say.

I'm hoping it was just bad translation.

Maybe you go to reveal. Good luck. But good luck is just a weird thing to say when somebody is getting on a plane that's too far.

It's been a great week in Lebanon. I'm very sad that we're leaving. I'm so excited about where we're going.

Sam.

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Admin.

The local time is quarter to 5pm.

And the outside temperature is 60 degrees Celsius.

Okay, we've officially touched down in our 89th country of Iraq. Hopefully what I read online about the 30 day free visa was right.

I still kind of can't believe we're here.

I'm so excited.

Just like seeing the Iraqi Airways planes outside as we were coming in just felt crazy.

We made it through immigration no problem. And now we just have to figure out how to get to our hotel and get some money.

Whoa, cool. Money.

Okay, we made it through immigration no problem. We got some money. Now all we have to do is figure out how to get to our hotel. I think we jump on this bus.

So they don't let taxis off the street, just drive up to the airport, I assume for safety reasons. So you jump on this free shuttle bus, come outside the airport property, and then you can catch a taxi into town. Hello, my friend. How are you? Hello. Good, good. Yes, you're welcome. Where do you want to go? Our bill, Courts hotel is a 25. Yeah, that sounds expensive, my friend. Four kilometer if you are walking. Yeah, my friends is. My supervisor says 20. Okay, no problem. Okay, $20, the last price. Okay, thank you very much.

All right, we're getting a taxi. Here we go. I can't wait to see more of your bill.

Seems like the official airport taxi is the only option because nobody else is allowed to like come in into the airport. And normally I'd walk outside of the airport and try to Figure something out, but figured I'd just pay for it this time. But I will say everyone was very nice and they even gave me a little bit of discount because we stood there long enough.

Basically, we told them that we weren't here for business and we weren't going to be able to just give our receipt for reimbursement.

They're going to say, we'll give you a receipt, we'll give you a receipt. I don't think they're used to just like tourists traveling here.

Very fancy.

Well, not bad. Three beds.

Yeah, this is huge. Bathroom's super nice. There's a selfie light in there.

All right, we're officially out and about in Erville, and first things first, we're going to find some dinner.

Our hotel is really nice and it's only $60 a night and it includes breakfast. Honestly, this whole city is much nicer than I thought it was going to be.

Yeah.

If I didn't know where we were, I'd just feel like we were in any other big, nice city anywhere else in the world.

But it's way more exciting because it's a real.

We asked the guy at our hotel where we should eat tonight and he suggested this restaurant and it was just right around the corner. The mini was huge and overwhelming. So I ordered a chicken shop form a plate, cuz that seemed like a safe bet. And I just got a plate with this massive loaf of bread, with this other massive piece of flat bread and an entire plate of meat and french fries. This is just for me. Nath has a whole mountain of rice chicken. I think I'm gonna love it here.

I feel terrible. It looks like I barely made a dentist. I think we big time ordered like Americans. I think we probably should have ordered like one main dish to split and then like a few small mezzes to go along with it. But instead we got two massive meals.

We didn't know. I didn't know I was getting this huge thing.

So this little girl next to us got this drink and it looked really fun and so I told our waiter that we wanted one. I'm about to put dry eyes into the skin.

This is so hot.

Whoa.

Surely you can drink it. Surely they don't just serve you a drink to look at. Can I drink this?

Yeah.

No, no drink. Really?

I don't think you drink it. And he brought us another one.

I'm so confused. He said no, and then he brought another one. This looks purple. So what should we do? Do you drink this or no, no. Drink you don't drink it. I was so fun. Dangerous. Okay.

I'm so close.

There's a chance that that's the equivalent to, like, a toy and a happy Meal. Like, maybe this is what they bring kids after the meal. Just as, like, a treat. No wonder they thought it was so funny. When we ordered it.

They brought us the second one.

Wow. The Americans enjoyed it so much better. Bring them another one.

So we asked for the bill, and instead of bringing us a check, they brought us a huge plate of grapes for dessert. And we obviously looked very shocked. And the man said, it's supposed to be a surprise. It's dessert. I love it here. And it's chocolate.

It's so good. Oh, good.

Thank you. Hey, Normal.

Just what we needed. More bread.

What a funny night.

Before we move any further into this Iraq series and in this video, we just wanted to clarify one thing, and that's that we didn't come here, like, seeking to push what's safe with travel. If anything, this should be a testimony to how much we've learned about the world over the past three years and how much travel has opened our minds. Because tonight, we're in a place that we never thought we'd be.

There are so many places that I either didn't want to go to or I was too scared to go to that we've ended up traveling to these last three years. And every single time, as soon as we get there, my eyes are just open to this whole new world, and my perspective has totally changed, and it's such a great feeling.

So that's really what we're here hoping to do. We're hoping to expand our view of the world and learn something about a country and a culture that we really didn't know anything about until, like, a week ago.

But first, we're going to the lounge.

Wasn't me that time.

So we just.

Had to pass through a second.

Don't put that in the video. Don't put that in the video.

Oh, yeah. And if we're being honest, we see this as a little bit of a test. We still don't know exactly what we're gonna do at the end of the year when we hit 100 countries. But one of the things that we've probably been throwing around the most is.

Not making any promises, just, like, kind of keep me updated.