De 21-daagse reis van Koning Aap, met vertrek op 5 oktober. Er stond een klein advertentietje in de Volkskrant afgelopen zaterdag dat dit een reis is met gegarandeerd vertrek, dus in spanning afwachten of het minimum aantal deelnemers wel gehaald wordt is niet nodig.
Behalve een Amerikaanse aanval staat nu niks meer een erg bijzondere reis in de weg.
Alleen: hoe bereid je je voor op zoiets? Er bestaan geen reisgidsen voor Irak, er zijn haast geen reisverslagen van te vinden. Wat moet je lezen ter voorbereiding? Iemand een goed boek over het Assyrische rijk?
quote:Klinkt bemoedigend.
Warning
It won't come as a surprise to too many people that Iraq isn't the best place for a holiday at the moment. The almost constant threat of military action by the United States (sometimes even with UN support), combined with a turbulent and extreme domestic situation, makes Iraq one of the least desirable places in the world to be at the moment. Even if you wanted to go, chances are you'd have trouble getting there; there aren't any commercial carriers running flights to Baghdad's Saddam International Airport due to UN restrictions. By road, borders with Turkey and Jordan remain open, but heavily guarded. Violent internal struggles with the nation's Kurdish population, along with cross-border conflicts between Turkey and rebel Kurds, make many outlying regions dangerous. American fighter planes patrol northern and southern 'no-fly zones', and bomb sections of the country regularly.Severe shortages of food and essential medicine throughout the country hamper the nation's chances of prosperity any time soon, as does the West's fanatical hatred of Iraq's despotic leader, Saddam Hussain. As diplomacy becomes increasingly unsuccessful, giving way to military action, Hussain's bravado increases. Eventually, something's got to give. Just don't be there when it does.
