Tourism Business

Blog Post About November 2021

Doug's tourism business had some customers from America in November. They stayed in the city for a few days, but they also took a five day bus tour out and around the country seeing some incredible places.

I have never been to most of these places, but Doug toured with them, and the men shared some of their photos with me.

I do know one thing. These guys were treated like celebrities wherever they went. 

Locals would stop them to talk, ask where they were from, engage them in conversation, serve them tea, and sometimes offer food along with incredible hospitality the people here are known for.

This is an ancient aqueduct from the time of King Sennacherib, who reigned the Assyrian empire 700 years before Christ

This is ancient cuneiform writing from this same time period

The guys also got to go in places I probably wouldn't be allowed.

This is a Yazidi temple. You might have read about this people group in the news in the last few years.

This is the site where Nahum's tomb is. 

Days after this photo was taken, the grand opening ceremony for it took place. We have been here twice in the last four years, and it's been constantly under construction. It will be nice to see it all finished when we return.

We climbed up to this cave about 5 years ago.

We traveled deep into it, and it seemed to go forever.

The guys were short on time, so they couldn't do much exploring inside, but you can see from the picture how vast it is.

They also traveled to one of the monasteries that we have been to a few times. 

I wrote about it Here and Here.

I thought this was a pretty picture, and even though I see these spices in markets all the time, I forget what a novelty they are for some people who don't live on this side of the world.

I want to point out the black spheres on the left. Those are dried lemons, and I have had some really good dishes and drinks made with them. I just haven't learned how to use them myself.

This picture was taken in Halabja. If you don't know the story of why that city is significant, you should probably google it. 

The men had a tour guide who lost 45 family members on that fateful March day in 1988. He miraculously survived in the cab of a truck, but he did lose his sight for 6 months. He and the girl he married are still suffering affects of the chemical warfare attack today. Every child they have had has died an early death.

Thousands died that day and the days after.

Another facet of this country that they found interesting was the number of waterfalls they came across. 

And these are just a few. 

God has been providing water to this region for thousands of years.

"Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, but..."

One Last Time

While we were looking for a house to move into, this is one of the things that Doug inspects. How much amperage does the house hold and what is the condition of the electrical box?

The one in this picture is a fairly new setup; however, the city is going around to houses and blocking the amount of amps they can run at a time, which greatly reduces the amount of cool and heat you can use when you need it.

Oh well, looking for a house will have to wait.

Kylie needed one last hurrah around town.

Kylie, Karis, and Doug went downtown and had fun acting like tourists for one day just taking pictures, buying last minute things from here that Kylie wanted to take with her, and generally, just enjoying the city one last time.

We hated to leave when it looked like it was going to be such a mild summer. 

These are the actual summers you WANT to be here for, but alas...

Castle on a Hill

We went to the top of the original city during the first week of March 2020

with some friends. They hadn't been up there yet, and we always enjoy going 

for the history and the view. They took their two kids and we took Keira.

Only a few people live up there now while it is being restored, 

but people still visit up there every day, walking the streets and looking around

This is the first time I had visited this particular shop.  I've been to a couple of the museums and one of the rug shops, but I don't think this shop has ever been open.

It was crammed full of interesting items.

Some of the restored buildings.

An old mosque.

We also visited a small amphitheater

Before heading out the other end of the city.

The buildings and high walls of the original city shielded us from the sun, 

so we were pleased to walk out to this warm glow hitting us.

The old bazaar was just below us. I've shown you 

other pictures of it here when Karis' friend came to visit.

Some of my favorite parts of the bazaar are the crafts on these steps.  

They are so colorful!

You'll see them again when I post Kylie's graduation photos, 

because she took some of them down here in the old city.

Keira is always a popular attraction.  You can see the men behind her, 

looking at her, while she looks at me.

Some of the many carpets and bags for sale..

Pomegranate and pomegranate juice are some of my favorites, 

ESPECIALLY when someone else does the work of peeling the fruit for me!

The old city really is built higher than you think.  

Civilization built on top of civilization for a few thousands years 

resulted in where it is today.

And the new city is always bustling below.

 

March 4, 2020