Today is the second day of the census curfew. We had hoped that we could go to Taq Kisra a little outside Baghdad but it would be a monumental task compared to yesterday’s shorter trip within the city. And we would risk not be allowed to return!
The second possibility was to retry the Kadhimiya Shrine but it probably wasn’t worthwhile for the effort, considering that we are already going Najaf and Karbala. On a normal day, it would be a breeze but not with the curfew.
That only left us with a wander back to the Al Rashid area which we did after breakfast around 1040.
We were stopped a few times and let through but we had one instance where we were told more strongly to return to the hotel. Unlikely to encounter the same officers twice, we continued our exploration regardless, for a total of more than 2h.
Despite being one of the cradles of civilisation, there is very little local architecture in Baghdad apart from the mosques. It certainly doesn’t ooze history through the brick and mortar like Damascus or Aleppo.
I felt we had made the best of the two days of curfew and was glad to have done most of the sightseeing on our day of arrival. We were fortunate to have managed to fit in the Martyr’s Monument yesterday. The only sight we missed out on was the Taq Kisra which we hope to fit in later on in the trip.
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- Tigris River near the hotel.
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- St Teresa of Child Jesus.
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- Around the Al Rashid area.
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- Around the Al Rashid area.
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- Around the Al Rashid area.
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- In the back streets.
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- Imam Hussein on a door near the hotel.
We spent the rest of the day back at the hotel eating the sandwiches made from our breakfast and also instant noodles, due to all eateries being closed due to the curfes. In fact, after not having instant noodles for yonks, I had one for lunch and then for dinner which we took in the disused rooftop restaurant. We finished with a bad Turkish delight each with a cup of black tea enjoying the Baghdad skyline by night.
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- Sunset from the hotel rooftop.
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- Instant noodles for dinner on the hotel rooftop enjoying the view.
I clarified with the hotel receptionist as to how the census was being conducted. We had in read overseas news reports that the census would employ modern online technology but it didn’t make sense that curfews would be necessary if that were true. And even in developed countries, online census are pretty new. It seemed unlikely to be the case in Iraq despite the good internet we’ve experienced so far.
The hotel receptionist said the census was being done through door-knocking and his father would respond on his behalf. It seems likely the online component (eg. tablet computers) may be for the use of the door-knockers.