Baghdad, Iraq: October 31-November 1, 2025

Fatima (right) and her friend

We made it! This is our second attempted trip to Iraq and this time we made it all the way. Arriving in Baghdad a couple of days early, we took our cameras and explored some of the areas around our hotel. The first evening we walked along a nearby street with electronics stores and some high-end shops. We met Fatima who came out of a shop and asked me to take her photo, then a photo of her and her friend, and then a photo of a couple of male friends sitting nearby. We exchanged WhatsApp info and later that night I sent her the photos.

I admit that although I had been contemplating Iraq travel for more than a year, I had some anxiety about it. That anxiety was completely unwarranted. We were met at the airport and escorted through immigration to the baggage pickup. We were then loaded into a taxi that took us directly to the hotel. The driver pointed out some of the sites along the way. Meeting up with Fatima and her friends that evening further made me feel welcome and my anxiety evaporated.

The next day, still pre-tour, Dan and I and tour mate, Nathan, walked the other direction to the Inner Karada neighborhood. Our noses led us to a bakery. There are several types of Iraqi breads. This bakery turns out a bread called samoon. The workers were very generous allowing us to take photos of them and their process. They begin baking at 5:00 am. The bread is formed into a diamond shape and placed on a wooden tray to rise with a pocket in the middle. One of the bakers said they bake about 1,000 trays of bread each day. It looks like each tray holds 10 loaves. Before we left the bakery, they insisted on giving us a large bag of freshly baked bread to take with us.

Later in the day, Dan and I walked back to Inner Karada for lunch at a kebab restaurant. We shared a tray with two lamb kebabs, two loaves of fresh samoon, and fresh vegetables. The cost was 7,000 IQD (about $5.00 USD).

We chatted with a guy who had turned the bed of his truck into an "aquarium" complete with circulating water to hold the giant fish he had for sale. He has a scale on the tailgate. The fish are carp and when they are split, seasoned, and grilled slowly next to an open fire, they become the Iraqi National dish called Masgouf. We stopped in at another bakery that makes flat breads. A customer stopped to buy. He told us he was a Christian and he gave us a loaf of flatbread. And, we had yet another encounter that ended with a gift as we were heading back toward our hotel. The man with the dark blue shirt (below) was sitting in front of his convenience store. He asked us to take his photo with his friend. We obliged. He then ran into the store grabbed two bottles of soda, opened them, and gave one to each of us.

The few people we had encounters with more than eased my mind about traveling in Iraq. They were generous to curious strangers and made us feel very welcome! Interestingly, not one person asked to see the photos they asked us to take.

We went to Iraq with Wandering Earl Tours led by the well-traveled founder Derek Baron. We selected the Iraq photography tour with photographer extraordinaire Jennifer Spelman.

At the orientation meeting, we met all of our fellow travelers and the wonderful local staff: Mahdi (main guide), Moemel (assistant guide) and Noor (group photographer/assistant).

The welcome dinner was at Adam's Secrets Kitchen & Cafe where we relaxed on the rooftop while the restaurant staff brought us so many delicious Iraqi food specialties.

Let the adventure begin!