This is the next guest post in a series by Kevin Post. Check back each Wednesday to follow his adventures in Iraq. If you want to guest post on Go Backpacking, please read more here.
I ran out of money and hadn’t eaten regularly the past few days, and when I did eat, it was very little in 24 hour intervals. Due to the excitement of traveling to a very foreign destination, I didn’t feel hungry, but I did feel that my body lacked proteins, sugars, carbohydrates, and electrolytes, and it goes without saying that I didn’t have a lot of energy or relief from occasional headaches.
Sometimes when I get excited I completely forget about the ” what ifs.”? In Southeastern Turkey I was having such a phenomenal experience and spent very little money; therefore it didn’t occur to me that I should have withdrew money before crossing the boarder into Iraq.
I was in the house alone with a Turkish engineer while I used the computer to send some e-mails to my friends back in Turkey. According to the Turkish engineer, it was too dangerous for me to leave the house, and as a result I spent the entire day in the house hungry and uneventfully wasting time on Couchsurfing and sending e-mails (I didn’t have Facebook, Twitter or a blog at the time to make the day go by).
The following morning I was incredibly hungry and decided that Iraq wasn’t a safe place for me to be. I gave the Turk my Colombian poncho as a gift, but I’m not sure why, and excused myself to take a shower. I took my time in the shower because there is noting better than a nice cold shower, bathing one’s self with Dr. Bronner’s in a hot and arid clime.
When I got out of the shower I was greeted by several of the Turk’s co-workers, all of whom were Kurds. They seemed very happy to meet me and excited to see an American visiting their homeland. A Kurd that I particularly got along with was Ahmed, who I later found out was the owner of the engineering firm. I asked them if there was an ATM nearby, and they looked at me as if I were crazy for asking such a question. ” Of course there are!”? they laughed.
Ahmed was nice enough to have his chauffeur take me to the nearest ATM. To make a long story short, none of the ATMs worked, but I enjoyed seeing the majority of the city with my own private driver. I was in Iraq with no money, at a very frightening time with full-on war just kilometers away.
I had to get to the Turkish boarder without a single penny in my pocket.
TO BE CONTINUED.
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About the Author: Kevin Post from Orlando, Florida, U.S.A at the age of 18 decided to utilize travel and living abroad as his classroom with aspirations to study in the Middle East, Latin America and to become a wilderness first responder, mountaineering & rock-climbing guide. He currently works at an outdoor retailer while moving to and from Florida and Colombia to be with his wife Tomasa del Carmen. For more information regarding Kevin Post check out his blog www.amanofnonation.com and follow him on Twitter @amanofnonation.
Article Series - The Road to Halabajah
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Categories: Iraq
Post tags: blogsherpa, Iraq, Middle East