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. ]]>
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. ]]>
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]]]>
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]]]>
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.]]>
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]]]>
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. ]]>