Taking the Hamilton Road

I was in Rayat – the last town in Iraq before crossing the border to Iran at Haji Omaran border post. The driver stopped his car in front of a mosque and went for prayers. It was a cloudy day. I went out and the surrounding mountainous view stunned me right away. I took out my camera and started killing my shutter. An army spotted me in just a second and ‘invited’ me to his office where I was directed to his superior wearing in plain cloth.

As usual, they took my passport.

In exchange, I was served with tea and curiosity(if not suspicion).

Scenic yet unfriendly mountainous region, known as Hamilton Road 

The officer told me that there are landmines all over the mountain which were left behind during the Iran-Iraq War almost 30 years ago. While Hamilton Road remains as one of the most scenic and wonderful high road in Iraq, I told the officer that I’m just wandering on the street. I’m not going for any hike. I have interest but have no time.

The rest of the day seeing me struggling at both sides of the border, explaining to those stupid custom officers and border polices that as a Malaysian, I don’t need a visa to get in Iran. Aighhh…

Leaving Iraq also means saying goodbye to the arduous Arabic. No Arabic anymore!

Next challenge – Turkish and Farsi.

Note: Oh ya! The only cheap stuff in Iraq is the cigarette. So I bought as many packet of cigarette as possible in Iraq to bring over to Iran and Turkey, pretending to be one of those smugglers. Praise me smart, please!