SAMAWAH: Removed from the hustle and bustle of main cities, younger Iraqis are more and more benefiting from a renewed sense of security to discover the nation’s serene desert getaways.
Sheltering amidst the golden dunes, Ghadanfar Abdallah and his buddies collect round a flickering campfire within the Samawah desert south of the capital, buzzing tunes, laughing and consuming.
“Once we publish photos, individuals don’t consider that there are such locations just like the dunes in Iraq,” the 35-year-old oil sector employee mentioned.
“My buddies ask me if the photographs had been taken in Dubai. They’re shocked once they study that they had been, in truth, in Iraq.”
For years, solely probably the most intrepid of hikers and campers would courageous the journeys into Iraq’s desert. However with the rise of social media and a interval of relative stability, it has change into a preferred vacation spot for these in search of not solely journey and off-roading but additionally tranquillity within the huge, barren panorama.
“It’s one thing I cherished since I used to be slightly boy. However I solely began doing it with buddies within the winter of 2018 or 2019,” Abdallah mentioned.
He crossed 200 kilometres (125 miles) from his southern metropolis of Basra to succeed in an space untouched by the trimmings of city life — together with cellphone networks.
On a crisp winter weekend, round 20 campers arrange their tents amid the serene dunes. The air full of the aroma of carp grilling over a smoky wooden hearth, because the hikers ready to feast on Iraq’s nationwide dish, masgouf.
Later, some performed dominoes whereas others bickered over heated video games of backgammon, sipping scorching cups of tea and smoking hookahs (water pipe). Their voices resonated with conventional Iraqi songs, their laughter piercing the nonetheless desert evening.
‘It’s secure’
Abdallah mentioned such desert expeditions have “change into extra widespread, and right this moment many shops promote tenting gear.
“Some are beginning to realise that it’s secure, it’s an journey.”
However for a lot of, the lingering sense of hazard stays.
Iraq has been ravaged by successive years of battle for the reason that 2003 US-led invasion, together with most just lately the battle in opposition to the Islamic State group.
Although the jihadists had been pushed out of their main strongholds in late 2017, many retreated into desert hideouts, largely within the nation’s west, from the place they nonetheless sporadically — although with growing rarity — stage lethal assaults.
“How can somebody go to a desert the place there isn’t any water or cell community? If one thing occurs, how would you report it?” Abdallah mentioned.
Iraq’s hovering summer season temperatures — usually surpassing 50 levels Celsius (120 Fahrenheit) — imply these arid adventures are restricted to wintertime.
A weekend getaway prices between $75 and $100 per particular person, overlaying meals, transportation and lodging. A single journey can deliver collectively a bunch of as much as 30 individuals — sometimes males within the conservative nation the place ladies wouldn’t usually participate in such actions.
For Hussein al-Jazairi, the journey is value each penny.
“The town is stuffed with mud, noise and day by day annoyances,” the 34-year-old influencer mentioned throughout his first desert tenting journey.
“One can come right here, the place it’s quiet, serene, and there may be recent air.”
Jazairi is commonly glued to his cellphone, scrolling by means of his social media accounts. However his latest journey to the Samawah desert proved to be a totally completely different expertise.
“Social media is my work. I obtain continuous notifications. By the top of the day, I’ve spent a really very long time on my cellphone,” Jazairi mentioned.
“Right here, there isn’t any community. It has been two days, and my cellphone’s battery continues to be 70 %. I have never used it.”
‘Not a sound’
Whereas Jazairi encourages individuals to discover the nation’s huge sandhills, he warns that “one shouldn’t go alone, particularly for the primary time”.
“We got here with consultants who know the locations round.”
Iraq’s deserts have lengthy attracted hunters, each locals and guests from neighbouring Gulf international locations, earlier than the years of battle drove them away.
Immediately, campers nonetheless want to stay vigilant, as some areas are nonetheless riddled with mines, whereas the borders with Saudi Arabia, Iran and Syria are intersected by routes utilized by drug traffickers or jihadists.
“We do not begin any journey with out first figuring out the place we’ll sleep,” mentioned Murad al-Bahadli, a camper with over eight years of expertise.
“We plan rigorously to keep away from any safety danger,” the 38-year-old added.
But the placid desert nights are a far cry from the years of turmoil, and for a lot of their lure is irresistible.
Amongst these is Ravshan Mokhtarov, an Uzbek who has been dwelling in Basra for six years.
“This space is exclusive. There isn’t a one, not even a sound,” the younger man mentioned, expressing gratitude for “Iraqi hospitality”.
“It’s just about secure. I do not really feel any hazard.”