Jaunted

Airline News / New Routes / Airlines / Aigle Azur / SDA / BGW / Iraq Travel / Baghdad Travel / → All Tags

Aigle Azur is the Latest Airline to Try Their Luck at Direct Flights to Baghdad

We’ve been trying to figure out the flight options to Iraq since earlier in the year—we’re kind of wanting to set a personal record for the longest trip to get a Big Mac—and now another airline is attempting to initiate regular service.

French airline Aigle Azur sent a plane into Baghdad over the weekend, but this first flight didn’t carry any paid passengers. It was mostly pomp and circumstance, as the airline is trying its best to start regular service within the next few months.

more ›

New Routes / Airlines / Airline News / Lufthansa / Etihad Airways / Iraqi Airways / SDA / Iraq Travel / → All Tags

Yes, There Are Regular Flights to Iraq Now

We’re not going to get into the political discussion about Iraq, but we do want to talk about visiting Iraq. Sure it might not be the safest destination in the world right now, but it’s probably not the most dangerous. After years of restrictions and regulations there are finally some flights going to and from Baghdad International Airport connecting Iraq with the rest of the world. Here’s three airlines and their new routes that will get you to Baghdad and beyond.

· Land With Lufthansa
Grab a decent in-flight cocktail or beer and relax on your way to Iraq. Lufthansa announced that they’d be sending planes to and from Baghdad from both Munich and Frankfurt starting this summer. It’s been roughly twenty years since the airline had service to Iraq, but they’re now planning to go full speed ahead. Besides Baghdad the airline is also planning to hit up Northern Iraq and the city of Erbil beginning on April 25. We’re thinking this could be delayed by a bit due to all the recent volcano stuff.

more ›

Most Shocking McDonalds / Most-Shocking-McDonalds-Locations / McDonalds / Fast Food Travel / Iraq Travel / Kuwait Travel / → All Tags

Is There Really a McDonald's in Iraq?

Even though we've located this McDonald's imposter in Dohuk, Iraq, we have yet to find a true Golden Arches in the country, one with Quarter pounders and McFlurrys and all that fast food that so bad for you and yet tastes so good.

Yet, after we posted the story on the Iraq knock-off restaurant, we heard from a Jaunted reader serving in the Middle East, who assures us that "there are a few at Forward operating bases all over the country of Iraq. For one instance is the one at Camp Speicher Iraq." So we did some more digging, and although we found mentions of a Subway, Burger King and Pizza Hut at Camp Speicher near Tikrit, any McDonald's locations remained top secret.

But before entering what might be a completely McDs-free land, soldiers homesick with hamburgers usually roll up to the open-24-hours McDonald's at Ali Al Salem Air Base in Kuwait, where many flights leave to or arrive from Baghdad. We managed to find a picture of it above, and it's probably similar to whatever Golden Arches might be found closer to the front lines.

Got another shocking McDonald's location we should know about? This is going to be a running series, so email us your suggestions!

Related Stories:
· What Is A McDonalds Doing in Iraq? [Jaunted]
· The Most Shocking McDonald's Locations in the World [Jaunted]
· More McDonalds Locations That Make You Go 'Hmm' [Jaunted]

[Photo: Bee's Blog]

Most Shocking McDonalds / Most-Shocking-McDonalds-Locations / McDonalds / Fast Food Travel / Iraq Travel / → All Tags

What Is A McDonalds Doing In Iraq?

From Oman straight into the heart of Iraq, we continue to explore the world of fast food; namely McDonald's, that controversial culture-bridger. Only this time, we're not talking about a real McDonald's, but a fake! We'll let the Jaunted reader who sent us the photo explain:

This is not really a McDonalds location, but a knockoff restaurant located in Dohuk, Iraq. I visited the city with some Kurdish colleagues and was told that it was the best location in town for a hamburger. Needless to say, Iraqi versions of hamburgers are very different than what we are used to.

They have the golden arches and the right colors, but they don't have the name "McDonald's," and we did a little internet digging and couldn't come find a single true McDonald's listed in Iraq, although some military bases boast Pizza Hut, Burger King and Subway. Well, we guess the soldiers with a hankering for a Quarter Pounder with cheese will just have to make their way to the Majorca Restaurant in Dohuk.

Got another shocking McDonald's location we should know about? This is going to be a running series, so email us your suggestions!

Related Stories:
· The Most Shocking McDonald's Locations In The World [Jaunted]
· More McDonalds Locations That Make You Go 'Hmmm' [Jaunted]
· Fast Food Travel coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: P. Ammar]

War Zones / Dangerous Travel / Tourism Boards / Iraq Travel / Iraq Tourism Board / → All Tags

We Wouldn't Want to Work on the 'Visit Iraq' Ad Campaign

A Saddam Hussein-regime building along the water.

It might seem incredulous but in Iraq there is an actual working tourism board and even more unbelievable, they want you to visit. The BBC reports that the head of the Iraqi tourism board has attended the World Travel Market in London to promote the country as a new vacation destination.

"Tourism will help regenerate Iraq," says the tourist board chairman, Hammoud al-Yaqoubi. "We want to prove that Iraq still exists and maybe we can change people's minds about it."

In fact, there is one British company, Hinterland Travel, that has begun offering tours of Iraq in March and has at least five more planned through 2010. The company had to stop around 2003 because of escalating violence but today a nine-day tour in Iraq will cost you £1,600 per person.

more ›

Iraq Travel / Museum Travel / Travel News / → All Tags

Baghdad Museum Reopens After 6 Years Reclaiming Its Stuff

After six years and the looting of over 14,000 priceless pieces, the Baghdad Museum has reopened with a red carpet gala and the requisite security for visitors. Not that we advise you to plan a trip there anytime soon, but there have got to be some roving war reporters out there looking for new ways to pass a lazy weekend afternoon.

Surprisingly, prior to the museum's restoration and reopening, 8,500 of the 15,000+ stolen items were recovered and are now either under lock and key in the vaults or under constant watch as the first few visitors cautiously peer into cases. According to the AP, there is still wariness over the 2003 looting of the museum and for now, "the museum — which holds artifacts from the Stone Age through the Babylonian, Assyrian and Islamic periods — will be open to the public starting Tuesday but only for organized tours."

No doubt there will be signs at the entrance banning the carrying of chisels, so leave your Tombraider fantasties at home. For the opening gala, however, all the good stuff was dusted off and displayed as a show of renewed stability, including two small winged bulls and statues from the Assyrian and Babylonian periods more than 2,000 years ago, considered to be amongst the most valuable items in the museum collection. With all the hype around the reopening, we feel pretty bad for that Italian tourist who made the risky trip into Iraq a few weeks too late to hit up the museum; maybe next time, buddy.

Related Stories
· Baghdad Museum Reopens 6 Years After Looting [AP]
· Restored Baghdad Museum reopens with most of its greatest treasures [Guardian UK]
· Italian Tourist in Falluja Shows How Extreme Travel is Done [Jaunted]
· Iraq Travel Coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: Khalid Mohammed/AP]

Iraq Travel / Iraq / Dangerous Cities / Dangerous Travel / → All Tags

Italian Tourist in Falluja Shows How Extreme Travel is Done

The airwaves are filled with travel shows featuring supposedly bold and daring adventurers visiting exotic countries and eating weird animal parts, but one western tourist has proven to have bigger coglioni than the lot of them. As the New York Times points out in a jaw-dropping story, Italian Luca Marchio was having a grand old time traveling alone through Iraq until his backpacking adventure was put to an end by Iraqi and U.S. authorities in Falluja.

more ›

Dangerous Travel / State Department / Photo Ops / Muntazer al-Zaidi / Shoe-Throwing / → All Tags

Good Luck Visiting The Iraqi Shoe Monument

But is there an old woman in it?

An Iraqi town has erected a monument to the journalist who threw a shoe at former President Bush, although conditions on the ground in the war-torn country may preclude a steady stream of visitors.

Muntazer al-Zaidi, a journalist who grew up in Sadr City, was just a broadcast journalist at Al-Baghdadia TV before he chucked his shoe at the visiting president -- a local sign of disrespect. Now the city of Tikrit, near Saddam Hussein's birthplace, has immortalized the shoe in a sofa-sized statue -- even while al-Zaidi is in jail awaiting trial.

Iraq sure could use a tourism boost: The State Department currently considers the country "very dangerous" (no kidding) and, while it has not stopped issuing visas for Iraq, it strongly cautions against visiting there. It's too bad, because we'd love to take some gag photos with that shoe.

Related Stories:
· Shoe monument for man who threw footwear at Bush [Reuters via Yahoo!]
· Iraq Travel Warning [Travel.State.Gov]
· Iraq coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: DayLife.com]

Iraq Travel / Dangerous Travel / → All Tags

Iraq Tourism Potential Hyped Yet Again

Haven't we heard this one before? Seems Iraq is hoping to lure in some tourists. But this time, travel promoters are thinking really big: Ideas include a cruise ship port in Basra, ziggurat-spotting in Ur and rides to Baghdad on Saddam's presidential train.

Says a diplomat from the UK:

Basra itself was a medieveal town, and you have the cradle of civilization here. You could have people's cruise ships come back here to see the hanging gardens of Babylon.

We are on major bird migration routes, you could do that. In five years you can have a significantly improved city. It is potentially a hugely civilised and cultured place.

Ah! There's the rub: Any of this won't happen for at least another five years. That'll give you some time to save up for that day of shark fishing.

Related Stories:
· Iraq to Promote Its Tourist Potential [Telegraph]
· Heidi and Spencer Plan Iraq Trip [Jaunted]
· Iraq Travel coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: Paulio Geordio]

Sharks / Fishing / Mancations / Iraq / Iraq Travel / → All Tags

Iraq Travel: The Next Hot Spot for Shark Fishing

Attention! A new force is threatening the sovereignty of Iraq, and it's very, very hungry. A man fishing in a canal near the southern city of Nassiriya caught a six-foot-long shark who somehow eluded barriers and swam up the Euphrates River into what is known as the cradle of civilization.

Some Iraqis believe the shark was planted by occupying American forces to scare the locals. But that doesn't answer the question of how the shark got to Nassiriya in the first place. If Iraq is a little exotic for you, visit our fishing map to find some more traditional spots for landing a big catch on your next trip.

Related Stories:
· Fisherman Nets Shark 200 km from Sea [Yahoo]
· Deep Sea Fishing Spots [Jaunted]
· Iraq Travel coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: JawsMovie.com]

Celeb Travel / Iraq / Iraq Travel / Angelina Jolie / Brangelina / Super World Travelers / → All Tags

Super World Traveler Angelina Jolie Is Fearless

Remember when Senator John McCain told CNN Iraq was so safe he could walk through its neighborhoods--and then he did so with like 100 armed guards? Well, sir, Angelina Jolie has just upped the ante. The actress and Original Super World Traveler snuck off to a UN refugee camp in Iraq yesterday to talk to displaced people trying to gain admittance to Syria. As a goodwill ambassador she has also visited camps in Sierra Leone, Pakistan and Sudan's Darfur region.

Obviously Jolie had her bodyguard present, and probably other back-up support. But just wait till you see our "Angelina '08" bumper stickers! (As a Super World Traveler, she'll be a lock for our candidate travel map.)

The State Department's guidelines on Iraq travel note that terrorists are targeting civil aviation, vehicular travel within the country is very dangerous and that "the Embassy can provide only limited emergency services to U.S. citizens in Iraq."

Related Stories:
· Super World Travelers coverage [Jaunted]
· Iraq Travel coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: JustJared]

Iraq / Expat Airways / Airlines / → All Tags

New Iraqi Airline Bans Iraqis

Expat Airways is Iraq's answer to Southwest. The self-proclaimed "no frills" airline is the first of its kind in Iraq. Monday, it started operating weekly flights between Baghdad and Amman, Jordan.

While budget U.S. carriers ban large bottles of fluid and European LCCs have draconian baggage restrictions, Expat prohibits its own citizens from boarding. It has a strict "Westerners only" policy, straight out of the Mein Kampf business practices handbook. In addition to Iraqis, Indians, Pakistanis and most other non-Westerners need not attempt to book a flight.

According to ABC, Ahmed al Musawi, a spokesman for the Iraqi Transportation Ministry, called Expat's flight restrictions ''immoral'' but said there are no federal laws in Iraq banning such actions. Go figure.

Related Stories:
· Iraqi Airline [ABC News]
· Iraq Travel [Jaunted]

[Photo: ABC News]