#AzadiRail day 11 was a boring day : I stumbled into the city of  #Dihok / #Duhok, capital of a local province. The city does not convince me at all : the much  #Zaxo / #Zakho was a positive and outstanding surprise, the sad and boring Dihok feels to me. There are no sights, no historic building, no modern city center, no parks. Not even a good bazar, nor cafés.

Anyways, this is sadly already my last night in  #Kurdistan. Tomorrow I'll start my trip back home 😥.

After the frustrating outcome of this morning, I decided to stay in  #Zaxo / #Zakho for one more day.

I took the time to visit the citadel, an ancient fortress from Roman and Byzantine times. It was beautifully renovated in past years and a pleasure to visit. The rest of the day, I was walking around on the bazar, enjoying snacks and Çay 🥰.

So far, #AzadiRail day 10 : to the border of 🇸🇾 Syria /  #Rojava but sadly back to 🇮🇶 Iraqi  #Kurdistan from there on. Next attempt tomorrow morning.

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#AzadiRail day 10 : first failed attempt at the #Semalki border crossing in  #Pêşabûr / #FayshKhabur. The 🇮🇶 Iraqi  Kurdish officer at the border told me the border was closed on Saturdays, so here I am, back in  #Zaxo / #Zakho spending another day on the bazar waiting for the border to open tomorrow morning.

But so far, this is already some progress : I now know In fact I can cross the border to 🇸🇾 #Syria /  #Rojava by foot.

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#AzadiRail day 9 was : #AzadiBus with flaws from  #Hewlêr / #Erbil to  #Zaxo / #Zakho, a relaxed afternoon and travel preparations for tomorrow.

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After 3 hours, I arrived in #Zaxo / #Zakho, right at the border to 🇹🇷 Habur and 20 km from the border of 🇸🇾 Feyesh Khabur.

Zaxo is a fascinating city : it had around 30.000 inhabitants 50 years ago. With the de-facto autonomy of  #Kurdistan in the Seventies, it suddenly attracted Kurds from all over the region and grew to the 200.000 inhabitants. Nowadays it's an economically important hub for trade between  Kurdistan, 🇮🇶 Iraq, the 🇸🇾 Democratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria /  #Rojava and 🇹🇷 Turkey.

I was highly surprised, I expected an ugly, transportation and cargo industry hub but what I got was a beautiful, clean, green and prosperous city which rather looks like in wealthy parts of Spain or Italy.

Despite its economic importance, from an international tourism perspective, Zaxo is pretty irrelevant. From a local tourism perspective, Zaxo in opposite is a major cultural attraction for Kurds from the region. Right now, Zaxo prepares for the Seluserik Festival next week. The only internationally known tourist attraction seems to be the #DelalBridge - now with a brand new, beautiful museum next to it. #AzadiRail