East Turkey into Iraq
Hi,
just to share my recent experience.
Crossing into Iraq (Zakho) from Turkey (Silopi) is relatively easy these days.
You do NOT need a prior visa. The passport stamp states "Republic of Iraq Kurdistan Region". Young Kurds in Silopi, Turkey will flag you down and offer their services to help you through the border procedures. It cost me US$ 55 for a Turkish-Kurdish taxi/fixer who took care of the 6 or so border officials (ca. 2 hrs) and dropped me on the Iraqi side at another taxi stand (Turkish taxis cannot continue), from where I paid another US$ 7 for a 10 min taxi drive to downtown Zakho, Iraq.
The best hotel in Zakho seemed to be the "Sipan" for US$ 35. A kind of 3* motel, with friendly people, good garden restaurant, but relatively bad hygienic situation.
Onward driving to Dahuk, Arbil, Sulaimaniye seems to be a routine job for Iraqi taxis and pretty safe (as long as you stay in the Kurdish controlled areas and don't venture into Mosul or Kirkuk).
Surprisingly tense and dangerous was the road from Van via Hakkari and Cizre to Silopi in Eastern Turkey. This is a real warzone with fighter jets, helicopter gunships and hundreds of tanks. It took me about 9 hours in very hot weather and rough mountainous landscapes to drive 400 kms on mostly tarred roads. Time is lost at the 30 or so Turkish military checkpoints which are very thorough and tense. If you are not into this kind of scenery, I highly recommend taking the road from Van via Tatvan and Batman.
The rest of Eastern Turkey seemed relatively calm these days, as I expected from the media coverage.
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