Iraqi dinars

NoodleDoodleMan wrote: »

No disrespect - curious to know why anybody would wish to visit Iraq ?

https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/iraq

Sorry for replying to this late. I got distracted.

People said the same before my trip to Iran, and I found it a fascinating trip. I'm 'only' going to Iraqi Kurdistan, and everyone I've spoken to who has actually been says to definitely go.

Here's someone who, as a non-Muslim, went on the Arbaeen walk from Najaf to Karbala. That's a whole level up on what I'm doing, but again his summary is to say: do it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e8iE_kQq1QM

I've seen the Foreign Office advice. Most of the places I will be will be 'advise against all but essential travel' but I will have to pass through regions that are 'advise against all travel'. I'll be staying overnight in an AirBnB in such a region. My host says that I can get to his place easy, and can simply hitch-hike if I want. Let's see if I'm brave enough to hitch-hike out in the middle of nowhere in Iraqi Kurdistan by the 22nd of December

A TL;DR answer might be: When I was young I had fascinating foreign experiences, including three and a half years as a foreign student in a non-English speaking country. But, that was decades ago. I eventually got bored about never having such an experience again, and decided: '£$&$ it'.

If anyone's interested, this music video shows pretty much all of the major places I'm going: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UHnv2clPfU0

How does travel insurance stand if you go against FO advice ?

Very expensive insurance from a specialist provider.

Note: A lot of standard insurers will sell you a policy with Iraq as your stated destination, and won't list Iraq as a country for which they don't provide insurance. But, as far as I understand it, it won't be valid as their T&Cs will exclude going to regions where the FO advises against travel - which for Iraq is the whole country.

Returning to the topic of the thread, when I went to Iran I researched the situation and found that most people recommended Euros. So, I took a whole bunch of them as credit/debit cards don't work there. However, in hindsight, I would have been much better to have taken UK Pounds and changed them directly. I will be able to use my Visa card in Kurdistan, but trip reports suggest: not everywhere. I would prefer to have a number of Dinars when I first enter the country, but it looks as if that will be impossible.

Just as a post-script to this thread, I got dinars in Iraq (Kurdistan region) easily by changing from US$ Everyone seems to change cash there, and my first taxi driver accepted US$. So, going in with US$ is the solution. If you can get to Erbil then the street changers appear honest and will accept a variety of currencies. Mostly I changed at hotels and just didn't bother working out if I was getting a good rate or not - and at least some times I got an awful rate. I was too busy enjoying my holiday.

I'd better hide my £3 or so of leftover dinars then - oops!

For the sub-thread on insurance I went with 'High Risk Voyager' http://www.highriskvoyager.com As soon as you put in 'Zone A' for the most dangerous places in the world the premium skyrockets. So I ended up paying the same insurance premium as if I was travelling to Kabul, Cape Town, or Aleppo, and far more than if I was travelling to more dangerous locations such as St. Louis, Moscow, or Sheffield. But, them's the breaks.

For general information, I'll point out that Iraqi Kurdistan initially doesn't look safe with heavily armed soldiers and police everywhere, and with frequent military check-points on the road. But, my experience there matches other travellers I've talked to: the security there is working and it is all those soldiers and weapons that create safety, not reduce it.

I'm told that many visitors to the Kurdistan Region of Iraq don't bother with travel insurance, but that's something that I just won't do. I'm in my 50s and even if I'm in a safe environment, I could have a medical problem.