Big effort to get there
We headed out around 0940 after the hotel breakfast, initially wandering by foot to the area that sold medical and disabled equipment. My plan was to go to the Martyr’s Monument by Careem but with the census curfew on, I thought it would be wise to test the water on foot first.
The curfew was announced after we had committed to our flights and I had considered rejigging our movements within Iraq but I wasn’t sure if it would have made any difference being stuck indoors in Baghdad vs elsewhere. There had been varying reports regarding the severity of the movement restrictions and how it would impact us sightseeing.
At the various checkpoints, no one tried to stop us from walking. But with so few cars on the road, it was obvious that movement restrictions were very much in place.
We decided to chance it and ordered a Careem to take us to the monument. The driver messaged us to confirm that we were OK to go out on the street despite the restrictions.
Having confirmed that he made his way towards us but was held up and redirected a number of times. He was persistent in getting to us and we helped by walking towards him so that he could avoid a few checkpoints.
Once in his car, the ride to our destination proved to be a challenge. We were OK to continue at some checkpoints with the driver’s smooth talking but turned around at one. With a bit of backtracking and taking alternate roads, we were eventually dropped off near the monument over an hour after ordering the car.
We had to walk the last part of the journey but was pleased to be welcome by the guards at the Martyr’s Monument into the outer part of the complex where we could see the turquoise onion dome that had been split into two halves. It had been quite an effort getting here, arriving about 2h after leaving the hotel!
We couldn’t get any closer to the monument that commemorates the Iraqi fallen of the Iran-Iraq war. The 40m high turquoise domes resemble the style of the Abbasid era and in between the two halves is an eternal flame, so says the publicly available information.
Giving up for the day
We tried ordering for a Careem to take us to the Kadhimiya Shrine across the other side of the river. With no luck, we tried hailing yellow taxis.
We slowly walked in the direction of the destination continuing our efforts to secure both forms of transport. It was all in vain.
A uniform military staff offered us to take us in his car for a hefty fee. Then our luck turned with another military staff offering us to take us in his taxi. Our luck turned again at a checkpoint when his kind deed was reprimanded. I’m guessing he had been told off for abusing his position by breaking the movement restrictions and/or profiting from it while moonlighting in uniform.
We gave up and wandered in the direction of our hotel until we found a street with a bit of life. A number of convenience stores, bakeries and produce shops were open.
E opted to have a shave at the barber. It had been 4h since we had left the hotel and had only managed to do one thing, namely the monument. It hadn’t been a good day.
We returned to the hotel around 1400 and killed some time in the lobby. In the evening, we found no food outlets open and bought some instant koshary and cup noodles for tonight and tomorrow’s meals.
While I don’t dispute the need for a census, especially since the last one was in 1988, I’m unsure how the movement restrictions help. I don’t see any door-knocking by census officers to do headcount and collect other demographic information.