IRAQ

SCHEDULE AND COST:


Dates:
- April 22 – 29, 2024
- September 30 – October 07, 2024

Duration: 8 days / 7 nights

Number of participants: 8 – 12

Cost of participation per person:
– 2 050 USD subject to 11 – 12 participants,
– 2 150 USD subject to 10 participants,
– 2 250 USD subject to 9 participants,
– 2 390 USD subject to 8 participants.

10% early booking discount (in case you book before December 22, 2023 for dates April 22 - 29, before April 30 for dates September 30 - October 07, 2024)

Everything is included except for:
- international flight to Baghdad roundtrip,
- international medical insurance,
- visa on arrival (at 80 USD) or at different visa cost for the citizens out of list the countries citizens of which are eligible for Visa on Arrival,
- lunches and dinners.

Estimated cost of flight Moscow – Baghdad roundtrip: USD 500 – 800 (Usually bought on your own, we consult you).
Estimated cost of flight Istanbul – Baghdad roundtrip: USD 240 – 350 (Usually bought on your own, we consult you).

Single supplement: USD 470 (single accommodation is provided for all nights)




TRAVEL PROGRAM: Tour to Iraq


Day 1. April 22/ September 30, 2024 (Monday). ARRIVAL IN BAGHDAD

Evening or night arrival in Baghdad airport. Pick-up from the airport and transfer to the hotel for resting. Overnight in the hotel 4* in Baghdad.

* Recommended flight from Moscow to Baghdad:
- flight from Moscow to Baghdad of Air Arabia with stop in Sharjah, departs from Moscow at 00:25 on April 22 (September 30), arrives in Baghdad at 11:20 on April 22 (September 30),

- flight from Moscow to Baghdad by Pegasus Airlines with a stop in Istanbul, departing from Moscow at 18:05 on April 22 (September 30) , arriving in Baghdad at 02:20 on April 23 (October 1),

- or any other flight from Moscow or from another city to Baghdad in the afternoon of April 22 (September 30) or the night of April 22-23 (September 30 - October 1) .

Accommodation included: Capital Heart Hotel 4* or similar
Meals included: no


Day 2. April 23 / October 1, 2024 (Tuesday). BAGHDAD – CTESIPHON – BAGHDAD (80 km)

After breakfast, at 9 am leave hotel to explore Baghdad, the capital of Iraq. Visit to Liberation Square, one of the main squares in Baghdad. This square played an important role in some of the revolutions, marches and uprisings that took place in the city of Baghdad. Then we will have a short boat trip over Tigris river and cross the river and Al-Mutanabi street. Al-Mutanabbi Street is considered the oldest cultural market for the people of Baghdad where the trade of books of all kinds and fields flourishes.
Visit Al-Mustansiriya School – an ancient school that was founded in the time of the Abbasid state in Baghdad in 1233 by the Abbasid Caliph Al-Mustansir Billah.
Then we walk through the Old bazar and also see the Copper Market. Then we will have some rest to drink the traditional Iraqi tea and dried lime tea in Al-Shabander, one of the most famous old cafes in Baghdad.
After lunch, around 2 pm go to Ctesiphon. It was an ancient city, located on the eastern bank of Tigris. Ctesiphon served as the main capital of Persia. Today it is famous for its archway, which is considered the second large single-span vault of unreinforced brickwork.
Around 5 pm we visit Al-Kadhimiya is one of the important neighborhoods in Baghdad and enjoy the beautiful night market. It also includes the Al-Kadhimiya holy shrine (golden dome). The tomb of Imam Musa Al-Kadhim and his grandson, Imam Muhammad al-Jawad, one of the most prominent Muslims and the seventh imam of Twelve Shiites.
Dinner at your choice and overnight in the hotel 4* in Baghdad.

Accommodation included: Capital Heart Hotel 4* or similar
Meals included: breakfast


Day 3. April 24 / October 2, 2024 (Wednesday). BAGHDAD – BABYLON – KARBALA (175 km)

After breakfast, check-out from the hotel. Head to the ancient ruins of Babylon – cradle of Mesopotamian civilization dated 18th - 6th centuries BC, with the Hanging Gardens of Semiramida, that was supposed to be attached to the Palace of King Nebuchadnezzar. Appointed as Seven Wonders of Hellenic World, have a presence in various literature sources but its physical existence has never been proven.
Saddam Palace, nowadays Museum, perched on top of Babylon, as the palace was inspired by the Babylonian palace of King Nebuchadnezzar.
Lunch in the abandoned but still very charming palace of Saddham Hussein with the view on Babylon.
Early afternoon visit Borsippa Ziggurat. According to the Talmud, this ziggurat is believed to be the Tower of Babel found in the Torah. It is believed that this ziggurat was for the worship of the goddess Nebu, the god of writing and wisdom at the Babylonians, who was the son of the god Marduk.
Go to Karbala.
Check-in into the hotel 4*.In the afternoon visit Imam Abbas shrine that contain the tomb of the Al-Abbas B. Imam Ali was one of the greatest Islamic and historical characters. He reflected the real brotherhood trait during Al-Taff battle when he sacrificed himself to protect his family, in addition to granting his palms for the sake of defending the Islamic values and idealism of Ahlul-Bayt, which Yazid was seeking to alter. Imam Hussein shrine contain the tomb of the imam Hussein. He is the second son of Imam Ali and the second grandson of the Messenger of Allah Muhammad after his brother Imam Hassan.
Dinner at your choice and overnight in hotel 4* in Karbala.

Accommodation included: Awlad Al Hassan Hotel 4*
Meals included: breakfast


Day 4. April 25 / October 3, 2024 (Thursday). KARBALA – AL-CHIBAYISH – NASSIRIYAH (485 km)

Very early breakfast and around 6:30 check-out from the hotel. Head to Al-Chibayish. Arrival in Al-Chibayish before noon. Lunch time: we have the famous masgouf (fish grilled using reeds instead of woods) inside one of the houses built by reeds only called "almutheef".
Visit to marshes of Iraq, the largest wetlands in the Middle East. They not only provide habitat to hundreds of bird and fish species, but they are also home to thousands of Marsh Arabs, returning more and more to their historical heartland after draining of the Marshes during and after the 1991 uprisings in Iraq.
The Marsh Arabs, also referred to as the Maʻdan are inhabitants of the Tigris-Euphrates marshlands in the south of Iraq. Comprising members of many different tribes and tribal confederations, they developed a unique culture centered on the marshes' natural resources. The society of the Marsh Arabs was divided into two main groups by occupation. One group bred and raised water buffaloes while others cultivated crops.
We stop to have some rest and drink the traditional tea and meet the locals, have some chat with them talking old stories.
Then we will take a boat trip using the old traditions boat called "shakhtura" through the maze of marshes. Visit 2 or 3 different nomadic camps of Marsh Arabs. Taking pictures.
Short drive to Nassiriyah city. Dinner and overnight in beautiful hotel in Nassiriyah city.

Accommodation included: Somerion Hotel 4 *
Meals included: breakfast, lunch


Day 5. April 26 / October 4, 2024 (Friday). NASSIRIYAH – UR – BAGHDAD (360 km)

After breakfast very short drive to visit Ziggurat of Ur. The ziggurat is the most distinctive architectural invention of the Ancient Near East. Like an ancient Egyptian pyramid, an ancient Near Eastern ziggurat has four sides and rises up to the realm of the gods. However, unlike Egyptian pyramids, the exterior of Ziggurats were not smooth but tiered to accommodate the work which took place at the structure, as well as the administrative oversight and religious rituals essential to Ancient Near
Eastern cities. Ziggurats are found scattered around what is today Iraq and Iran, and stand as an imposing testament to the power and skill of the ancient culture that produced them.
Back to Baghdad. Late lunch.
Save the Iraqi monument, that looks like broken and crumbling cylindrical stone column representing Iraqi culture. On his side, there is a group of hands and arms surrounding him as an expression of their attempt to support him so that he does not fall. Visit Al- Adhamiyah, one of the important neighborhoods in Baghdad and enjoy the beautiful night market, that also includes the Mosque of Imam Abu Hanifa al-Numan, a jurist and Muslim scholar, and the first of the four imams among the
Sunnis.
Visit famous statue of Shahryar and Scheherazade, represented by the famous story of the Thousand and One Nights. Where we see Scheherazade standing with her hand raised, telling her stories on Shahryar.
Dinner and overnight in the hotel 4* in Baghdad.

Accommodation included: Capital Heart Hotel 4* or similar
Meals included: breakfast


Day 6. April 27 / October 5, 2024 (Saturday). BAGHDAD – SAMARRA – MOSUL (415 km)

Early breakfast and visit very impressive monument of dedicated to the Iraqi soldiers who died during the Iran-Iraq war. A monument in the form of a drop of water split into two.
Drive to Samarra. In medieval times, Samarra was the capital of the Abbasid Caliphate and is the only remaining Islamic capital that retains its original plan, architecture and artistic relics. In 2007, UNESCO named Samarra one of its World Heritage Sites.
Visit Samarra spiral minaret, one of the prominent distinctive landmarks of Iraq because of its unique shape, the ascending spiral conical design (closed for maintenance, we will see it from outside).
If time permits, we will also visit the mosque Jami Abu Dalaf, that is similar to the spiral minaret of Samarra mosque, but of smaller size and less visited.
Next, we will visit Hatra, an ancient city in Upper Mesopotamia located in present-day eastern Nineveh Governorate in northern Iraq. It is considered the richest archaeological site from the Parthian Empire known to date. Hatra was a strongly fortified caravan city and capital of the small Arab Kingdom of Hatra, located between the Roman and Parthian/Sasanian Empires. Hatra
flourished in the 2nd century, and was destroyed and deserted in the 3rd century. Its impressive ruins were discovered in the 19th century.
Drive to the extreme north of the country, to the city of Mosul.
Dinner and overnight in Mosul at Plaza Hotel.

Accommodation included: Plaza Hotel
Meals included: breakfast


Day 7. April 28 / October 6, 2024 (Sunday). MOSUL – BAGHDAD (400 km)

After breakfast we explore Mosul. Mosul and its surroundings have an ethnically and religiously diverse population: Arabs, Assyrians, Kurds, and other smaller ethnic minorities comprising the rest of the city's population. Sunni Islam is the largest religion in this part of Iraq, with a significant number of Christians though.
Mosul is considered to be among the larger and more historically and culturally significant cities of the Arab World. Together with the nearby Nineveh Plains, Mosul is one of the historic centers of the Assyrian people.
At the beginning of the 21st century, from June 10, 2014 to July 10, 2017, it was controlled by the terrorist organization Islamic State. After the Fatah military operation, IS lost control of the city and its surroundings. In 2014, before the seizure of Mosul by the Islamic State, about half a million residents fled from the city.
Today Mosul is ruined, resembles Mogadishu a number of years ago. We visit the wall of Nineveh and Nergal gate (the gate which had been blown up by ISIS).
Drive back to Baghdad. Late arrival.
Dinner and overnight in the hotel 4* in Baghdad.

Accommodation included: Capital Heart Hotel 4* or similar
Meals included: breakfast


Day 8. April 29 / October 7, 2024 . BAGHDAD – RETURN FLIGHT

After breakfast transfer to the airport to catch return international flight. Can stay free day in Baghdad with evening departure from Iraq.

* Recommended flight from Baghdad to Moscow:

- flight from Baghdad to Moscow by Air Arabia with a stop in Sharjah, departing from Baghdad at 11:50 on April 29 (October 7) , arriving in Moscow at 23:25 on April 29 (October 7),
- flight from Baghdad to Moscow by Turkish Airlines with a stop in Istanbul, departing Baghdad at 05:50 on April 29 (October 7) , arriving in Moscow at 13:55 on April 29 (October 7) ,
- or any other flight from Baghdad to Moscow or to any other city with departure from Baghdad any time on April 29 (October 7) or in the night from April 29-30 (October 7-8), but no earlier than at 1:00 am on April 29 (October 7) .

Accommodation included: no
Meals included: breakfast


* The program can be changed or delayed according to the conditions of the trip, depending on the arrival and departure time, traffic restrictions, authorities' decisions, or under any other circumstances.