More from Kurdistan
I was going to save my writing on Kurdistan until I returned to Baghdad. I wanted to sit and collect my thoughts, assemble my pictures and tell of our travels to Shaklawa, Ali Bek, Bekhal, the Big Zab and Sulimaniyah. But I've run into a little snag here in Sulimaniyah.
Harb, our driver and translator (though he complains that no one up here speaks Arabic), left his car parked on the street in the city center while we went to get a hotel room. When we returned to the street we found that the car had been towed away. Dahr and I went off to Internet and Harb went to get his car, but upon meeting up again, we found that the police had smashed up the car and Peshmerga had interrogated Harb. Apparently the Baghdad plates spooked them. They busted the trunk, smashed the driver side window, ripped up the interior of the car, cut the fuel line and the ignition ... oh and to top it off they ripped off the antennea. Harb, as you might imagine, is slightly upset.
As a result ... we may be delayed in our return to Baghdad. If that happens, I'll probably spend the day in the Internet cafe waiting for the car to be fixed. Alas, Harb is in no position to be able to pay for what we think is about $500 worth of damage. We're not sure what we'll do about it but we feel more than a little responsible.
I was going to save my writing on Kurdistan until I returned to Baghdad. I wanted to sit and collect my thoughts, assemble my pictures and tell of our travels to Shaklawa, Ali Bek, Bekhal, the Big Zab and Sulimaniyah. But I've run into a little snag here in Sulimaniyah.
Harb, our driver and translator (though he complains that no one up here speaks Arabic), left his car parked on the street in the city center while we went to get a hotel room. When we returned to the street we found that the car had been towed away. Dahr and I went off to Internet and Harb went to get his car, but upon meeting up again, we found that the police had smashed up the car and Peshmerga had interrogated Harb. Apparently the Baghdad plates spooked them. They busted the trunk, smashed the driver side window, ripped up the interior of the car, cut the fuel line and the ignition ... oh and to top it off they ripped off the antennea. Harb, as you might imagine, is slightly upset.
As a result ... we may be delayed in our return to Baghdad. If that happens, I'll probably spend the day in the Internet cafe waiting for the car to be fixed. Alas, Harb is in no position to be able to pay for what we think is about $500 worth of damage. We're not sure what we'll do about it but we feel more than a little responsible.
1 Comments:
Firstly, I like your blog and is very informative. However, as a Kurd form Sulaimaniah, I totally suppose to Kurdish Peshmargah for towning the car away, questioning your friend about possible attacks coming in from the south. Secondly, you made the following comment while you were in Shaqlawa? it says ..."It was Friday, an Arabic weekend, so people were everywhere picnicking beside the roads and there was quite a jam getting back into Erbil." I am sure most of the people picnicing were Kurds, so what makes this an Arabic weekend?
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Anonymous, at July 20, 2005 4:43 PM
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