Lupine Travel still offer trips to IRAQ despite Islamic State militants' terror
comments
A British travel agent who specialises in unusual holidays is refusing to let brutal Islamic State militants force him to scrap his £750-a-time trips to Iraq.
Travel mad Dylan Harris set up a firm offering daredevil tourists vacations to a string of bizarre destinations including the troubled Middle East country.
Harris, 35, said: 'ISIS have not reached the area of Iraq where we go to and hopefully the US Air strikes will hold them back.
'We are checking the situation is a daily basis but for the moment it is business as usual.'
Fancy this? Dylan Harris' firm Lupine Travel will continue to offer trips to Iraq despite the ongoing militant action
Clear message: The Foreign & Commonwealth Office's advice for travel to Iraq. Many of the areas on the tour (numbered) are pictured here in yellow, at the north end of the country. Erbil (2) is in the danger zone
Tour stops: 1 - Diyarbakir, 2 - Erbil, 3 - Rawanduz, 4 - Sulaymaniyah, 5- - Halabja, 6 - Duhok
Dylan is the owner of Lupine Travel and has offices in Manchester and China. The company are keen to stress that the tours take place in the Kurdistan region of Iraq.
For approximately £750 you will get:
- Iraq visa (issued free on arrival at the border)
- 3* central twin hotel accommodation
- All road transport in Turkey and Iraq
- Tours and entry fees
- Experienced English speaking Kurdish guide
- Accompanied by Western guide throughout the trip
- All breakfasts
Keen back packer Dylan said: 'I spent most of my 20s travelling but found myself constantly looking for new experiences.
'I found the most rewarding travel experiences were to places with very few, if any, tourists.
'While visiting these places I met several others taking similar trips and the consensus was always the same - the logistics of visiting these countries were very difficult and costs usually high.
Burnout: The unpredictability of the IS militants make a trip to Iraq at one's own risk
Careful: Kurdish troops forces position themselves on a road to monitor security and movements around Kirkuk, less than two hours away from one of Lupine's stop-offs at Sulaymaniyah
'So I decided to try and build up a network of contacts in these places to make trips there easier and put my own packages together, for affordable prices.
'Personally I like Iran because it is so different from what you would actually expect.
'The people are some of the most friendly and well-educated around and the food is great - it is just a place that continues to surprise.'
Tensions are high in Iraq as Islamic State fighters continue to bomb and attack many towns in the north of the country.
The battles between Sunnis and Shiites are escalating, with bomb blasts killing over 30 people in Kirkuk and Baghdad on Friday.
The innocent killing of U.S. journalist James Foley by the Islamic State militants in Syria has led for calls on the Barack Obama government for sterner action on the terrorists, in both Iraq and Syria.
The foreign & Commonwealth Office have advised against all-but essential travel to the Kurdistan region of Iraq.
Speaking to Mail Online, Harris said: 'Our next tour there is in October. At the moment we still plan to go ahead with the trip as the areas we are visiting are currently safe.
'If the situation deteriorates though we will re-evaluate and cancel the trip if we feel that it is too dangerous to visit.
'Clients are required to take out their own personal insurance. In the past, most worldwide insurance coverage included travelling to the Kurdish region of Iraq but due to the recent change in FCO advise, we are asking clients to check with their providers for any change in coverage and to take out specialist insurance if need be.'
Nine-day itinerary for your trip to Iraq
Day One
Arrive in Diyarbakir (Turkey) and check into hotel. (Number 1 on map)
An afternoon tour of South East Turkey's biggest city.
Walk around the city walls, see the Great Mosque, the four legged minaret, the Armenian and Cyriac churches and the two restored caravanseries.
Evening at leisure.
Day two
Depart at 8:00 by bus and travel through the ancient city of Mardin.
Travel along the Syrian border before arriving at the border point of Silopi.
Undergo border formalities before crossing into Iraqi Kurdistan. Drive through Zakho before travelling onwards to Erbil (number 2 on map), arriving around 18:00.
Evening at leisure.
What would you like? The market streets of Erbil, Iraq
Day three
After breakfast we will take a tour of Erbil.
Early in the day we will see old Erbil visiting the ancient Citadel, the Kurdish Textile Museum, the Mound of Qalich Agha and the Minaret Park.
Afterwards we will see modern Erbil, visiting parks, malls and shopping areas.
Evening spent at leisure around Erbil.
Drink in one of the tea houses around the city square before heading for dinner at one of Erbil's many restaurants.
Head out to the Christian Ainkawa area later for alcoholic drinks at a bar or club.
Picture this: The famous Hamilton Road through Northern Iraq will do its best to make you forget about militant threats
Day four
After breakfast we travel out onto the famous Hamilton Road.
Widely regarded as one of the greatest engineering feats of the 20th Century, the road was engineered by Kiwi, Archibald Hamilton between 1928 and 1932.
The road snakes through incredible scenery, from gorges, canyons, rivers, lakes and mountains. We will stop along the way at Bekhal Waterfall, Gali Ali Bag Waterfall and also pass through the towns and villages of Shaqlawa, Harir and Soran.
In the late afternoon we will head to Pank Resort, a holiday destination for both Kurdish and Arab Iraqis.
We will stay overnight in this resort, with the chance to use the fairground and restaurants.
Day five
After breakfast we will travel to Sulaymaniyah (number 4 on map).
En-route we will visit the Qshla of Koya Citadel. Upon arrival in Sulaymaniyah we take a sombre visit to Amna Sukhara, also known as the 'Red Prison'. This was the former Northern headquarters of Mukhbarat (the Iraqi Intelligence Service) and was used by Saddam Hussein's regime for imprisonment and torture of Kurds.
Within the prison is a beautiful memorial made from 182,000 mirrored pieces and 5400 lights. Each piece of mirror signifies each Kurd killed by Saddam's regime and the lights for each Kurdish village destroyed.
After lunch we will check into our hotel before heading to Chavy Gashtyary City, a newly built amusement park and entertainment area for the Sulaymaniyah region. Evening spent at leisure.
Memories: The red prison of Sulaymaniyah harks back to earlier troubles - and Lupine Travel will hope these don't return to the region
Day six
Today we will visit the town of Halabja (number 5 on map). On March 16th 1988, the town was subjected to the worst cases of genocide in Iraq's history.
Over a period of 5 hours, chemical weapons were used against the civilians of Halabja with 5000 killed and up to 10,000 injured.
We will visit the Halabja Monument Museum before driving North to the Ahmed Away waterfall, close to the Iranian border.
Afterwards drive back to Sulaymaniyah and spend the evening at leisure.
Day seven
Early morning departure to the beautiful Dokan Lake where we will take a boat trip.
Afterwards we drive north to the city of Duhok (number 6 on map). Duhok is encircled by mountains and the Tigris river.
After checking into our hotel, we will spend the evening socialising with the locals at the Dream city amusement park.
Day eight
After breakfast we will travel back across the border and to Diyarbakir where we will arrive in approximately, mid afternoon.
Check into hotel and evening at leisure.
Day nine
Depart Diyarbakir.
Itinerary taken from http://ift.tt/XJSs80
Book your travel
Put the internet to work for you.
0 comments:
Post a Comment