TRAVELING IRAQ: My experience Q&A السفر إلى العراق: تجربتي, أسئلة و أجوبة
Good afternoon, guys from another video here in Iraq, and it's actually and sadly my last, and final video that I’m going to be shooting here in Iraq before I move on to my next country. That said though guys, I always say the most important video for last which is sharing the answers to all your guys questions that you asked me on Instagram. So let's go ahead, and jump right in. And keep in mind, make sure you stay until the end of this video because these questions aren't in any order from importance from best to worst or anything. They're just simply how they were asked, and how I’m reading them off my phone. So let's hop right into it. Alright so, starting with the first question here from Bgr.nunes, “You think that traveling there as a
woman plus man wouldn't be completely different experience?” You know, it's hard for me to say exactly what it would be like because while I was in Iraq, I did not travel with any other females. Now that said, I would recommend a girl named Janet. I can't remember her last name but she has solo traveled proper Iraq, and she spent a lot of time doing the exploration of many different areas in Iraq. So, I would definitely check out her channel because you'll get a much more authentic response. You know like I think the reality is whenever I get the question about safety is, my time which you'll find out when I talk about it more was overall very safe but of course, do things happen in places around the world? Yes, has a lot of things happen in the past in Baghdad, and are things still happening? Unfortunately yes. Has it gotten safer from what I understand? Yes. Going there and visiting there is always
gonna be a risk, you know taking proper safety precautions like letting your embassy know. You know, having a tour guide can sometimes be a very helpful option to, you know, keep you on the beaten path, staying in accommodations in areas that are known to be a bit more safer. Taking those safety precautions are going to give you the best possible chance to not run into any risks. dj_nair99, “How safe is Iraq to go with family?” You know, I think that is probably the same answer I would give as the last question, the first question which is there are always gonna be risks whether you're with your family, you're a male or a female but just going back to having a tour guide, someone to show you around is going to be the best way to you know ensure your safety. That side of
things can happen, and so you know just keep that in mind. “Which city in Iraq is the best to visit for non-Arabic speakers? From the nadoons_. Yes. So to be honest, I don't know. Let's say if we're speaking about Kurdistan, and Iraq then I would say Erbil or Slemani. Now in Iraq proper, I only went to Basra, and I went to Baghdad. I would say in Baghdad, there were more English speakers
than in Basra but you can still definitely find English speakers everywhere you go. Just bring Google translate because you'll need it, especially when you're taking taxis to places. lana.khalil95, “What do you think about Iraq, do you feel safe to travel there, again what didn't you like? Yeah I think, Iraq's a really beautiful place, I’d say nature wise. Since I’ve only been to Baghdad and Basra, I’ve only gotten a very small feel of what Iraq's like, and in Kurdistan, I had the option to, not the option to spend two weeks there versus only five days in Iraq proper. I only got a small glimpse of what it was like. I got a glimpse of the city life, and just doing some general exploration to all of the markets, and I really liked the hospitality there. People were very nice. I feel like you know unfortunately, I don't feel like it I know unfortunately because of all the things that have happened over time, over the last, you know, couple decades in Iraq, it's caused the culture to not have very much tourism coming in there. And so you know, I really appreciated how
willing they were to show us around, and introduce us to local foods, and everyone wanted to invite us over for meals, and everyone was there to take care of us, and people were really excited to have us, learn about us, and so I just felt very, very welcomed. And you know, you could tell they really love having guests visit them in Iraq, and they just don't get them often enough. So, that was that for me was a very exciting part, and to answer continuous on that question, do you feel safe to travel there again? Yeah, I would definitely go again, since I only went to Basra and Baghdad.
I wanted to go to quite a few more places in Iraq at some point just the way that I had my itinerary set up, I was moving kind of fast paced, and I needed to get to my next spot to work on videos. So, I could only do five days there, and so when I return, I will definitely be sharing more of the country with you guys because I think, there's so much more to see, You have Mosul, you have like the Iraqi marshes to go in, you have Karbala, just to name a couple but yeah there's so many more that I hope next time, we'll be able to share with you guys. What didn't I like so to continue on that question. There wasn't really too many things that stuck out that I didn't like necessarily. There was an extremely large amount of trash, and litter in places, and so that was you know pretty sad to see. When I was on the train, if you saw the train video. when I took it from
Baghdad to Basra, I didn't like how the military officer even as a joke pulled his gun out at me, and basically pointed at me to open the door when I was trying to explain to him because we were having trouble communicating. I was speaking English he was speaking Arabic, and I was changing my flight, and I was trying to tell him, hey I’m on the phone here, just give me one second, and he didn't get that. So, he put his pistol through the door crack, and pointed it at me, and was like you know like yelling something at me but he was kind of laughing, so I think, he was doing it as a joke. Like you don't joke around with a loaded pistol
you know. So, he was a really nice guy, and I feel bad because you know I’m sure he didn't mean it in the way he did but like you just don't do that you know when he- when I opened the door for me, he continued holding the pistol my leg, and I was like Yo, yo dude, chill, chill, chill, chill. Like it happened so fast, and then he popped the clip out, and fired it five times, and I’m like dude if a bullet would have been jammed in there, like you could have like murdered me or Luke by accident. You know there's a certain level, and I was told when I got to Iraq that people enjoyed joking around, and having a good time which I appreciated, and I joined in a lot of the times but that was too far. I took that joke way too far where it was like it kind of put me into like a state of shock after that, I was like whoa what just happened there. Next question here, mr_lupz, “I wanna travel with you and
Luke, it's possible?” You know possibly, I would love to travel with as many you guys as possible. Maybe one day in the future, I plan to try and schedule like a group trip where you know a bunch of you guys can come and join me. Will that be in 2022, I don't know maybe 2023. I want to make sure, I find a great place that I can bring that can you know invite as many people as possible with the least amount of requirements at some point. You know, as you can imagine, I- I am so humbled, and so grateful, and I get many requests for people to travel with me. So, it's obviously hard to
accommodate plans with everyone but that's why I think, it'd be a great idea because I absolutely love meeting you guys when I travel, and I do my best too. But obviously, as you can imagine it's fast-paced. I get a lot of messages, and so it's not always easy to make these things happen, and so that's why I was like you know maybe one day if I can plan one of these group trips, and do some traveling together with you all, then I can see as many of you as possible, and we can have a great time. So you know, keep up with the channel here, maybe in 2022 if I— if I make some plans to work out a trip like that, I would of course be sharing them with you guys through YouTube. So yeah, thanks for that, and hope we can. rhexjushuaaa, “Is it really safe for travelers to go there I mean I love the food and people there seem nice? Yes, we'll probably get a version of this question throughout the video, so sorry if it's a bit repetitive but to be fair, probably your safest way of visiting Iraq is to go with a tour guide. I-- Luke, and I did not go to the set tour guide.
It was kind of a bit of a last minute trip, and so we went to Baghdad. We kinda just figured out some things, and there were pros and cons, we had some experiences that you couldn't have gotten with the tour guide. At the same time, I wish I would have known how many more days I needed in Baghdad because I felt like just those couple days that I was there was not enough. With Basra, it was definitely great to go without a tour guide.
Actually in the either places, I never felt unsafe but like that was just my experience, you know. I think, I read in the news that like a week after Luke and I left, there was like a terrorist attack that happened like 20 minutes from Baghdad. So yeah, unfortunately those things are still happening, and just because my experience, it was very safe I don't necessarily wanna tell you that it is safe. From all my encounters, I never felt like someone was gonna come, and pickpocket me, and rob me but yeah of course in the back of my mind, media and things that have happened throughout the history there, you know bombings and terror attacks, and those things are sometimes in the back of your mind. So, it's important to be
vigilant to be knowing your surroundings. If something seems sketchy, get out of there. Crowded markets, a lot of the times are what can be targeted when these attacks happen, and so you know sometimes you just wanna be a little bit more on edge. If you're going to those markets, you know stay away from the crowded areas. And you know if someone seems like they might be doing or acting or seeming sketchy or following you, that's when you just wanna get out of there. You know I
don't wanna scare you because I didn't have those experiences but I also don't want you to have the wrong impression from this video that everything's perfectly safe there because you know a lot of things have happened over the last couple decades, and you never know who you're going to run into that has a vendetta against your culture. You know, I got some TikTok comments from people that like, really said some very rude things to me just simply because of my nationality. I’m not looking on this video to talk about politics or what's happened in the past. I personally don't do this, I don't blame a single individual if their country has made a decision, that's something that I’m not happy with but there are people in the world that you know just because I’m of an American nationality, they have a specific you know hate against me because of maybe something that government's done or a direct effect on them. And you know that's— that's their own opinion, and I can't say they're wrong. I can't say they're right. I just
can tell you that you never know in countries where there's bad reason history between maybe a country you're from, and a country you're visiting where someone might be upset with your country as a whole, and unfortunately they can take that out on you. So-- I hope, I explained that in a way that was fair to you guys, like you know I respect everyone's feelings, and opinions as to why they feel that way. You never know, what you know something might have happened in the war that was directly related to them, that you know they're very upset about it. So you can't blame them for it but you also have to be safe, and these risks do exist, and outside of those people, there are also evil people in the world that you know will hurt you, and so this I’m telling you this because it happens in all countries. But in some of these countries, where you know terrorism is more common you wanna be safe.
From billy.icehockey, your comment is just “safe”. I’m not sure what your question was. jo.georges_ , “Was it scary traveling in Iraq being an American, did you feel safe? Yeah like I said, I’ll get this question a lot of times but I’ll answer some of them if the question is slightly different. Was it scary for me? So honestly, the anticipation of going in there was way more scary than actually being there. Like the week leading up when I was in Kurdistan, and then like
the night I was flying the Baghdad, I was very anxious all day because you know, you just your mind's heard so much of the media throughout your life, and now you're going to a place where people are calling you crazy, you shouldn’t go, why are you doing this? You know, and for me like I wanna visit every country in the world, and I wanna find beautiful things about everywhere in the world. And so, I believe it's worth it for the risks that come with it. You know since I was going with Luke with another friend, I felt much safer. I probably would’ve felt the whole time much more on edge if I was alone just simply because I would have been a solo traveler in Baghdad. That said though, I know people who have
done that and had an amazing time. They’re maybe just a bit more brave than me, and I’m not even saying that something's necessarily gonna happen to you. It's just you know solo traveling wherever you go in the world there is you know more risks, you don't have someone to know where you're at. You don't have someone to kind of like bounce ideas. You don't have someone to back you up if something happens, and so. When I was actually in Iraq though, I didn't ever have an encounter where I was like whoa something bad is about to happen, besides that train moment but it was more of a joke, it was like a scare of like a joke.
So yeah, I guess that's probably the best way to explain it. ssalito1991, “How is life there comparing to America, will you ever think of moving there?" I mean life is very different, you know very different cultures, different language, different architecture. US is very westernized in terms of culture, architecture, design, and Iraq you know has a more traditional feel, and has a lot of really modern sites, especially in Kurdistan. But you know also in Baghdad, you'll find like very modern cafes, and things like that, and then you'll find a more traditional style. But if I would move there? No, I wouldn't move to Iraq. It's not really a place that I see myself living long term, not for any other specific reason other than it's just you know I don't necessarily have an interest to move there. For me it's a great place that I
enjoyed visiting, and having the adventures there but when it comes to moving, I don't know where I’ll live. I’m not necessarily saying that I’ve been thinking to live in the United States. I don't live anywhere right now. I just kind of travel around. So for me, any thought of moving anywhere is kind of like probably not intense.
From iiiilllllillilllilii “Was Kurdistan region form, give an honest opinion?” Yeah, I loved Kurdistan region. I thought it was so loaded with so much from nature. All the cities had so much life and energy, and vibrancy, and just non-stop stuff going on in all the places. Kurdish people were very welcoming. Kurdish words were a little bit easier to understand. Overall, it was a great experience. Yeah, I wanna come back to Kurdistan so badly, there's like so many more cities that was recommended, and I thought it was such a good time.
So, pascale708, “Did you enjoy the food more than Lebanon?” Honestly, there was a lot of similarities to a certain extent on the food options they had in terms of like Middle Eastern food, and the cuisines but I think, I did like Lebanon’s food better. I also experienced way more options in Lebanon’s. I stayed for two months, so the comparison is not perfectly fair. There isn't as much like beef there, there's a lot more lamb or sheep one of the two and, I don't like that as much. The options were a little bit more limited from that perspective. My favorite dish though from Iraq was probably kebabs, and so I had so many kebabs while I was in Iraq, and in Kurdistan, and they were just delicious. From abdul.hmzi “When you coming back to Lebanon?”
Well, I’m in Lebanon right now, as I’m recording this Q&A video. I’m downtown in Beirut but I won't be releasing any YouTube videos on this trip I'll just to catch up on some work, pick up my drone here, and then head to whatever country I’m going to next, I still don't know actually. siphan1t, “What difference between Kurdistan and Iraq?" Yeah, I think like the main differences are; in Kurdistan, they speak a different language, and Kurdistan had a different type of cuisine. They have different landscapes. The landscapes I would say in Kurdistan from what I’ve seen are much nicer because there's more nature, the further you go up north. And whereas in Iraq, a lot of it feels a bit more like desert in some of the areas but I think, there's also a lot of similarities. You know, they're the both cultures are very welcoming both in
Kurdistan and Iraq. They were so excited to share with us their hospitality, and invite us in for tea, and make sure we knew where we were going. And so yeah, there's a lot of similarities too, not just differences. fawadzahid97, “Do you have sex there? Do me? No. Do the people there? Yes, they reproduce babies. Great question. melodiespapi, “Is it true, it's gonna be the next Dubai? I think, they're probably referring to Erbil, Erbil being like the Dubai of country of Iraq and Kurdistan.
But if you saw my Kurdistan Q&A, I don't I wouldn't consider it like the Dubai of Iraq but I know why people do. And that's basically because Erbil has a lot of modern architecture in some areas of it, and like it's very nicely designed, and a lot of like areas to walk around with very like you know modern restaurants. But then, you know a lot of you also get your traditional setting as well. So you know, one could compare to that I wouldn't like Dubai is such a massive city, every single square inch for kilometers, and kilometers, and kilometers of buildings because everything was perfectly designed. That's what kind of gives Dubai its unique overall feel. So, I didn't fully get that vibe from it but
maybe one would argue that. Alright, nerimemories, “Did you feel uncomfortable at any point or scared?” I already told you pretty much just when I had that military escort on the train. If you saw that video, and they pulled a gun on me. I also after he pulled the gun on me, he like wanted me to put on pants because I was wearing shorts in the train because you're not supposed to wear a short. You're not supposed to wear shorts in the train but I was, and so like he wanted to walk me through the car but keep in mind, he was speaking only Arabic, and I only knew English, and he was like walking me through the train cabins trying to find an English speaker. I don't know why, he just like really insisted on me coming with. I had no idea why. It was really odd because he's walking through these train cars, and it's like 12 or 1 a.m. and he's like
yelling like Americana, Americana. And it was just you know like, I don't know if someone in there has a problem with Americans, and so you know the fact that he was kind of like really soliciting me walking through there even though he was probably just trying to be nice, and find an English speaker for me. That’s what I wanna believe but it was really awkward and really uncomfortable because we went through like six train cars where he was going up to random people, and like you know maybe I’d find someone that spoke a little broken English, and they'd be like what do you need, and I’m like I don't need anything. I don't know why he's bringing me through here, and they're like they're confused because I’m stressed out, and you know I was probably speaking a little bit faster, and more frantically and Luke wanted to stay in the train car.
So I’m like on my own, like anything can happen right now. Yeah I just I didn't like that. I was super uncomfortable, and like I was like come on, I wanna go back to the cabin, and he was pulling me— pulling me to go back like to keep going more train cars. And all this like and keep in mind it's a police officer military guy, and I’m like, yo no like for real. I wanna go
back to the cabin, and I like started to get like really uncomfortable, and really frustrated. And finally, after we went through like I said five or six maybe seven train cars, then finally he brought me back. That part I wasn't able to film because he like told me not to bring my camera either which was like I don't know it was just odd, and I was already very anxious because like the gun was just pulled out on me right before he took me for the walk. So, it was crazy. It was crazy but like other than that, like I never felt
uncomfortable but you know that time that I really did. timberrube, “How did you arrange the travel, did you have guides? No, Luke and I just flew in, we got a taxi, and we got to the Baghdad airport, and we looked up some things we wanted to see, and then the next morning after we arrived really late at night. The next morning, we got a taxi, and we just started seeing Baghdad on our own, same thing when we went down to Basra, we found things we wanted to do, and kind of walked around, ordered cabs, and that was it. But most people, I would say take tour guides when they visit Iraq. It's just a safer way to do it, and it's easier to get around, and it's also easier when you go to 0:19:11.039,1193:02:47.295 checkpoints. We did run into some military, when we were down in Basra. When
we were on a boat, they were asking like where's your employee but that's what they were writing into Google translate. So, I’m guessing that Arabic translation was like, where's your tour guide. I think people are very concerned when like police and military like why are these guys traveling without a tour guide because it's very abnormal. So you're going to be able to get through checkpoints in much easier way if you're traveling with a tour guide. So, I would probably recommend it, especially if you're a bit more on edge about going to Iraq. Like for us, it was an adventure
to go through these experiences where we were stopped by the police, and all that, and we wanted to be a bit off the beaten path for like more authentic content for you guys. So, it was a bit more of a risk for us but also a bit more of a reward because we were able to give the videos that we were able to show you guys over the last 10 or 11 videos here about Iraq. jasonadams., “When will your YouTube video on having to leave Iraq drop?” Having to leave, I didn't have to leave Iraq. I just was planning to leave Iraq
because that was just part of my schedule. There was no like danger or anything of why I had to leave maybe you're talking about the train video. So, that's already been released, and you'll definitely wanna check out now. Koldest567, “How different is the Kurdish region from the rest of the Iraq?” Already answered that. neilmgus, “Were you ever scared to?” Answered that.
gwalla, “What do you think about Kurdistan and Kurdish people?” I think they're extremely kind, extremely welcoming, and I love my time in Kurdistan. All of you guys out there were so, so kind, and the food was great. The experiences were awesome. It was really easy to communicate with people, also in English like most people not most but like I could always find someone in the close vicinity that spoke English, and they were able to help me with whatever I needed. So, it was very easy for me to explore that place, just for all those reasons. jesseksb, “Did you feel safe in Iraq?” Answered that one. rabeah_nazeer, “Did you visited Karbala and Najaf Ashraf, and make vlogs?
No, sadly I didn't make it there. I really, really wanted to go to Karbala. That was actually like number one next place on my list but it just didn't work. I had to fly out to Basra, trying to make it back to Baghdad to take a little cab like maybe two hours outside of Baghdad. I wanna say--, I might be wrong in that to visit Karbala. So, if you're thinking about going definitely go to both of those places. I’ve heard great things about them. When I come back to Iraq at
some point, I’ll definitely be making a trip over there. Now if you wanna see a vlog on it, make sure you're watching my buddy Luke Damant’s YouTube channel, he did make it to Karbala because he stayed there. I think an extra five days, passed me, and saw some other areas of Iraq that I didn't see. So definitely check his channel, you can find a link to his channel in my description below. charbeleserhal8, “Have you ever felt unsafe while traveling to Iraq from like terrorist random attacks or bombings? Nope, I never really encountered that but like I said earlier in this video, there was a terrorist attack that happened like a week and a half after me and Luke left. So, that unfortunately, those things still do happen. Decorini, “Is Iraq safe and there is no war?” Yeah, I think the majority of that question I can answer that, the war has-- is much different than what it was however many years ago. Is there still a war? I don't think so but are there still like random attacks, and things like that? Unfortunately, yes. There are organizations, other terrorist
organizations that are still doing these types of attacks on people. So, it's very sad. Yeah, I’ve already answered the safe part. I feel pretty safe there for the most part when I was there but things do happen. mrslinab, “Did you feel safe?” Already answered that. maha.s_r, “Did you visit the Imam Ali shrine?” Unfortunately, not on this trip.
D-yass, What are the honest differences and similarities between Iraq and Lebanon? I think probably the biggest similarity is the hospitality. Both in Iraq and Lebanon, people were very kind, very open, very like so ready to show me around, and take care of me and try such a an experience from the food side, the culture, the places to see, the recommendations, all of those things I got that both in Lebanon, and in Iraq. I will say that in Lebanon, there's a lot more nightlife. So, that's a big difference, and for me I do love my nightlife. So, that's something that Lebanon has. Well
you can find a little bit of nightlife in Erbil; in Erbil, Kurdistan, Iraq but you can't find as much of that like Iraq proper like I think, there might be some in Baghdad but I didn't ever have a chance to experience it. So what other differences and similarities. Yeah I think in general, finding like transportation options in Lebanon was a bit easier for me to navigate. There's a bit more English speakers in Lebanon. So, that also
was really helpful when it came to you know trying to navigate my way around Lebanon when I first arrived but you know that being said, Iraq is just simply visited way less you know, you can't blame them. There's been a lot of recent things that have happened in Iraq over the last 20 years, and so. So you know, there's not as much English speaking, and that kind of just builds up the territory. So, hejar_sk963, “What one thing loved, and hated in Kurdistan?" I’m probably gonna start skipping through some of these Kurdistan questions guys because some of them are a bit repetitive. And I’ve actually made a complete separate video on my Q&A about visiting Kurdistan, and so this one I wanna try, and keep more about Iraq proper unless there's a question that directly relates to comparing Iraq, and Kurdistan together. So, if you wanna see the Q&A about Kurdistan, just check the
playlist link in the description below, and you can find the Kurdistan and Q&A there, and that'll answer all of these questions for you. casey.caputo, “Do you anticipate questioning upon arrival back into the USA whenever that is? Probably but I do have global entries. So
usually, I don't have to talk to customs agents when I arrive. I just basically fill in what was my last country, and then I’ll walk right in. Now maybe, I’ll get flags for it, and they'll wanna talk to me about it but I’m planning to go to every country in the world. So it's possible though, it might give me a harder time now that I’ve been to Iraq to go to some countries around the world. They might just be like you know why were you there.
So, some would argue maybe that going to Iraq towards the end since they put an actual visa in your passport. Some would argue maybe doing that at the end of all your countries would be better just in terms of reducing the amount of risk you might have of people questioning you. But for me, it just made sense to go to Iraq, and you know I’m— I’m willing to have the conversation. And I have no problem
telling anyone that, hey you know I’m a YouTuber, I visit places all around the world, and I’m playing into whatever country in the world, and so Iraq is one of them, and you know ask me another question you want so. travelingwithmoody, “Iraq proper or Iraq Kurdistan which when you enjoy more?” It's a hard comparison because I spent more time in Kurdistan. So I saw more, I went out in the nature. I had a tour guide in Kurdistan for three days, then I also went on some exploring. I saw a lot more cities there. So right now, I would say I enjoyed Kurdistan more but it's an unfair comparison because I didn't spend enough time in Baghdad, and Basra.
It's basically comparing five days to 14 days. Five days in Iraq proper, and 14 days in Kurdistan. So, I need to go back and probably answer that question more honestly. Once I’ve been to you know other places in Iraq, and I can make a better comparison. yasmineabdallah. “Are they friendly towards Americans?” Yeah, everyone was sofriendly. I sometimes, I was a bit cautious. You never know if someone has something against, you know, you directly
just being from where you're from because of you know some things that have happened in recent history. So there were a few times where I didn't know just because they were speaking Arabic, and I was speaking in English, and you know sometimes Arabic when people are very you know excited about something. Sometimes it can seem like they're very intensely talking to you, and so I had you know maybe one guy that I couldn't tell if he'd liked or disliked Americans. When I said I was from America, so I was a little bit more hesitant in that area in the general area to mention that I was American. So, I was just kind of like avoiding that question for a bit.
Most of them, people were just like shocked that me as an American was there like I went down to Basra, I was like oh do you give any American tourists one of the taxi drivers is like, no pretty much never. I just think, people were more just surprised to have an American tourist there. jameswilliam2793, “What's the best thing have you seen in Iraq?” That’s a hard one. What was the best thing?
I would say, I really just enjoyed seeing the daily life, how people lived there, what the civilization was like you know how- how your average person survives, and goes to work every day, their happiness, their you know just— just daily observations for me is what I enjoy the most. Especially for a place that I’ve only ever known from the media, and all the things going on, and so to see the real side of Iraq, see the nice people of this country, the civilization-- oh we just lost power, to see the civilization that exists behind all of the media, and for me that was very special to see that, and experience that, and meet the people that have lived through all the challenging things going on that are just you know your average people living there. And so, that was very special for me to just experience it, and observe it, and understand their lifestyle every morning. Oh, and the power's back on. That’s Lebanon for you. Cuts on and off quite often. niven.yehya “As an Arabic country, how was it different from Lebanon? I already talked about that. noor al-sharafi, “Top three favorite
things about Iraq?" Number one, I loved how hospitable they were, you know everyone wanted to invite you in for tea. As I mentioned through this video, wanted to share their experience. They wanted to learn about you, so I thought that was just really exciting to have that experience. Number two was, I liked how pleasantly surprised I was, and how modern some places are, like the malls in Basra were just so lit up, and glowing and you know really beautiful shops, and places to eat, and so much energy, so much life. So, that was a really cool pleasant surprise to see that.
Number three, I loved how friendly the military were, obviously like in this video, I’ve shared some of the negative sides but if you watch my video when I took the train from Baghdad to Basra, the military we met were so nice at the train station. They invited us for food, and we sat down and you know while we didn't speak too much of the same language. We were able to find ways to communicate, and it was just such a special experience to you know meet these guys who have AK-47s, and at first look are very intimidating but they're very nice people, and they were making sure that we got to the train station safely. They wanted to help us out, and make sure we had a good experience. And so, overall I thought that was a very enjoyable experience, and really nice, and kind of them. And so, those were probably my three favorite things traveling for five days through Baghdad and Basra. Hormusha, “Any
nightlife like clubs, bars, lively downtown centers et cetera?” Yeah I believe, there are in Baghdad. There were clubs, and things but I never made it. So hopefully, I can go back another time and visit but I don't know much about them. enayakhan567, “Your videos are really interesting, having very good content, really enjoying watching your videos.” Thank you so much. I really appreciate the time from all of you guys. When you watch these videos, when you like them, it helps this video so much. I am so passionate about sharing the world with you guys, and I just couldn't be more thankful that you guys come back every single day to watch my videos. It just
means the world to me, and I just want you to know that. So once again, thank you, thank you, thank you. I’ll say it a million times. halabuzied, “Why didn't you post the stories while you were there, didn't you feel safe there?” Yeah, it's a good question. You know, I think from other vloggers that I had spoken to before, that was the main reason they said they posted Kurdistan videos in the moment, and they didn't post Iraq proper stories at the moment, just because of the you know potential risks. So while I never felt safe-- unsafe, when I was in Iraq proper. I didn't want to put myself at any additional risk. So Luke and I basically agreed that we
wouldn't post any stories or post any posts like feed posts on Instagram until after we both left the country just to reduce any possible risks but that's pretty much the main reason just to play it safe. So yeah guys, that is all of the questions I have today, and just for those of you that are watching this type of video for the first time, after every country I’m going to, I am making a question and answer video. And how you submit these questions is if you follow me on Instagram. After I visit a country, I’m posting a questions poll basically to drop your questions on, what you might be wondering about traveling things to do, safety, my experiences whatever it might be. I have these questionnaires that I’m asking you guys, and then I’m making a video after I get all the responses, and sharing them with you guys here on YouTube. So yeah, just please follow me on Instagram guys because that's where you'll be able to submit all those questions. And thank you
to all of you that have submitted the questions on this video, it helps so much. And it doesn't only just answer your questions, there might be other people that are considering traveling Iraq or simply just curious, and— and thanks to you guys for submitting these questions. It adds a extra level of insight on what my experiences were like here in Iraq that my vlogs don't necessarily share with you because they're more focused on the daily life. Whereas, these are looking back on my experiences. So, I really hope you guys have enjoyed this video, and— and
thanks so much for watching all the way through if you're still here. And if you wanna see more videos both here in the Middle East as well as all around the world, make sure you guys hit that subscribe button below. If you're not already subscribed, and once again if you can smash that like button, it helps so much. And I will see you guys in the next video in the next country, I wonder where it's gonna be. [Music]
2021-11-18 06:21
