Nice, which parts of Iraq were you in?

Things like safety are quite personal, according to one's risk aversoty and confidence, and ability to look at things objectively rather than thinking 'what if...'. In my experience Iraq was safe and calm. I drove from Basra up to Karbala, Hillah, Najaf, Diwaniyah, Nasiriyah, Chibayish, Qurna, Amarah, Kut, Baghdad, Samarra, Tikrit, Mosul, Zakho and into Turkey.

There are areas which are not safe, for example parts of Diyala, the western desert regions of Nineveh, the Hirmal mountains, but the police will keep you out of these regions. Typically these places are away from the highway, and attacks target the police / army. If you are saying Mosul city is unsafe, I strongly disagree. I spent three days there walking around the city day and night. All local poeple who I asked said it was now safe, and it felt that way. I am not sure about Hatra, I had an offer to go there ($200 for the escort) but chose not to, partly for safety. You won't get there without local connections.

Not my experience. I speak no Arabic. Very nearly all checkpoints were friendly. They can be aggravating if you are in a hurry (don't be in a hurry in Iraq), but I always got through. The only troublesome checkpoint I had was just outside Baghdad on the road to Ctesiphon where I was refused entry and had to take a small road through the fields to reach.

I stand by saying Iraq was safe and calm - in my experience. It is a place that requires a sense of adventure, it's not Switzerland, and there are some no-go areas, but rather like Pakistan, the police will keep you out of them. No areas have zero risk of being harmed. Driving anywhere in the Middle East is already a risky activity.

I've not been to Saudi, but what you describe sounds exactly like the priveleged view of someone visiting a country that has just opened to the outside world. That is an amazing travel experience for me. Be glad it is not 'ready for tourism'. If you want 5 star service, English speaking waiters and cold , try an all-inclusive resort in Alanya.

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EurasiaOverland a memoir of one quarter of a million kilometres by road through all of the Former USSR, Western and Southern Asia.