From the nomadic steppes of Kazakhstan to the frenetic streets of Hanoi, Asia is a continent so full of intrigue, adventure, solace, and spirituality that it has fixated and confounded travelers for centuries.
The Imam Ali Mosque, also called the Old Mosque, is the first mosque built in Basra. It was founded around 635 during the era of the second Caliph Umar at Basra’s outskirt right before the city’s conquest. Initially, the building was built from palm canes, but a fire later...
One of our last stops in Iraq, because the immigration refused to extend our 30 days visa, was the principal port of Iraq – Basra. The city is situated on the western bank of the Shaṭṭ Al-ʿArab (the waterway formed by the union of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers) at its exit from...
The Mesopotamian marshes, also called the Iraqi marshlands, are one of the most famous wetlands in the world and one of the most beautiful places in Iraq. It’s a huge swamp area located on the floodplains of the Euphrates and Tigris rivers, bound by the cities of Basra, Nasiriyah, Amarah...
The police escort brought us to Ur – an important city of ancient southern Mesopotamia, situated about 225 kilometers southeast of the site of Babylon and about 16 kilometers west of the present bed of the Euphrates River. In antiquity, the river ran much closer to the city; the...