Welcome to Baghdad, in Iraq.
I know, this is gonna be a really special episode.
On today's menu, I'm gonna be taking you around
this incredible Middle Eastern metropolis.
We're gonna be tasting local food,
visiting local bazaars and exploring culture and history,
including a visit to the ancient city of Babylon.
I promise you it's gonna be one hell of a ride.
And the cherry on top of the cake,
I'll take you to see some of the nightlife in modern-day Baghdad.
Alright.
I am Eva zu Beck and this is DW Travel.
Today, we're starting our tour of Baghdad with this place, Mutanabbi Street,
which is the book bazaar, the book market of Baghdad.
One of the longest running book bazaars in the entire world,
and probably also one of the most iconic places in this city.
Now, there's a lot of magic, a lot of literature,
a lot of poetry all around here.
So, let's go and take a little look around.
Al Mutanabbi Street is not just a market.
There's a lot more to it than just the business of buying and selling books.
Artists, writers, and journalists flock here every Friday
to meet, discuss and, of course, read.
This place has been a hub for Baghdad's intellectuals
since the Abbasid times, almost a millennium ago.
And its literary fame extends beyond the borders of Iraq.
According to a local saying,
"Cairo writes, Beirut prints, Baghdad reads."
From books about women traveling and living alone,
to Marxist sociology in Hungary,
to novels and poetry.
I've picked out "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" from the 30s,
and a book of English Verse.
Three dollars for both, not bad.
Al Mutanabbi Street isn't doing all too well today.
People still remember the bomb that went off here in 2007,
killing many people.
And decades of conflict have lowered the demand for books.
But the spirit endures.
A select few still come here to meet their friends and read books in cafés.
Meet Ali, my guide and fixer here in Iraq.
He's the owner of a promising travel start-up called Bil Weekend.
One of the very first of its kind in Iraq.
Tell me about the visa on arrival.
Now, most of nationalities can just get it at the airport, right?
- Yeah. - So, why did that change?
Two main reasons, I believe.
The first one is economic.
Iraq is a market for investors.
We need some people to access Iraq and make business here.
And this is the governmental purpose to open this.
Plus, it's open for visitors,
especially after the visit of the Pope to Iraq.
He called them the Christian pilgrimage.
It was like a call from the Pope to the Iraqi government
to allow foreign believers to visit the holy lands in Iraq.
People like food, we have very delicious food.
I know, I know.
Very ancient, very authentic heritage sites.
One of the oldest civilizations is here.
Very natural.
Many people wouldn't think that Iraq is green.
Only camels and desert.
Ok, we have that, but we also have the green areas, we have a lot of lakes,
the marshlands, we have mountains.
All of this diversity can make Iraq promising.
Let's go back in time for a moment,
right here in the epic Abbasid Palace of Baghdad.
You don't have to be a history buff to appreciate the Abbasids,
a powerful dynasty that ruled over Iraq
until the 13th century, during the Golden Age of Islam.
Their palace still stands here in Baghdad.
A powerful reminder of the city's once great past.
Some people describe it as the Golden Age of Islam,
where science, translation, they reached more lands, West, and East.
It was quite important to Baghdad to be the center,
the capital of the Islamic empire at that time.
It survived the Mongol attacks.
It survived many invasions.
The Ottoman, the Persian, the British, the American.
Baghdad has been enjoying a period of peace lately,
but you can still see the wounds of history in all of these sites.
Right here, at the entrance to the Abbasid Palace
there is still soot on the ceiling, on the highly decorated ceiling
from the Mongol invasion in the 13th century.
Can you imagine?
And right here, on this pillar,
you can see a bullet hole from the 2003 conflict.
I mean, that's right here, right in the center.
It's like it has pierced the heart of the palace.
We've been doing a lot of walking around and exploring,
so, I think it's time to refuel.
Ali brought me to a tiny café in the heart of the market,
and it doesn't get much more local than this.
Wow!
OK, Ali, why don't you tell us about this food?
This is "kubbah", it's like a meatball.
Baghdadi families have it for breakfast or brunch. It's full of meat.
Oh, no! That means I can't have it today.
Unfortunately.
This is good too.
Full of meat, though.
All right, I've got a little exercise for you.
Imagine you're back in your school days,
and in history class you're learning about the cradle of civilization,
in Ancient Mesopotamia.
There is a teacher talking about the great, legendary city of Babylon.
Well, no more textbooks. No more theory.
Given that it's only 100 kilometers away from Baghdad,
it's time to visit Babylon for real.
We're about to meet Dr. Ahmed Aziz Saman,
the director of the museum of Babylon, for a quick introduction to the site.
Why don't you tell us about Babylon.
You have worked here for 29 years you said, right?
That's right.
So, Babylon started as a small settlement in Sumerian times.
It's called in Sumerian language "Ka-ding ra", which means gate of God.
Then it flourished to be the capital for the big empire.
The excavations of Babylon are only 10%.
And 90% is still in the earth.
The Hanging Gardens are still theories, because till now we couldn't know
or say, or show people, the visitors,
that it is the actual location for the Hanging Gardens.
We need to make future excavations to show this.
We have future plans to complete the excavations
and at the same time, to put new plans for the reconstruction.
Because no excavation without reconstruction.
4000 years ago, here stood the greatest city on earth.
Babylon was the capital of the Babylonian empire,
one of the most influential civilizations we've known.
The city was the biggest in the world at the time.
Home to a staggering 200 000 people.
It's right here, on these lands, that writing was first invented.
And it's right here that king Hammurabi noted down the famous Code of Hammurabi,
one of the very first sets of laws ever recorded.
Despite its history, Babylon is only visited by a handful of people every day.
Most of them are domestic tourists.
It might take some time before Iraq develops a strong enough tourism industry
to breathe more life into Babylon.
Here we have the throne, so this is the throne hall.
Wow. It's a pretty big place for a big throne.
Yeah. Alexander the Great, when he controlled Babylon,
he ruled the world from here and he wanted to make Babylon the capital of his empire.
You know, because Babylon was in the middle,
between Europe, Macedonia, Egypt, and also the East.
Because he wanted to conquer India, China.
But he got ill, or he got poisoned, or something,
and he just passed away here.
- Just here? - Yeah, just here.
This is amazing. So, Alexander the Great would have stood somewhere here.
Wow. Amazing, we're walking on the footsteps of some great leaders here.
- Yeah. - In this spot.
I have an idea. Hang on.
I hereby announce myself, the Queen of Babylon.
Anyone disagree?
Who dare?
What remains of Babylon today is a scattering of ruins.
More a memory of greatness than anything else.
Many of the artifacts that were excavated here in the 19th and 20th centuries
were shipped off to European museums and not always legally.
There's a lot of discussion in the museum world
around whether these artifacts should be repatriated back to Iraq.
For example, one of the most important parts of Babylon's architecture,
the Ishtar Gate, is currently housed in the Pergamon Museum in Berlin, Germany.
Not everyone agrees that that's where it should be.
Many times, we asked those countries to give back our artifacts and others.
But you know, this needs political negotiations.
And most of our artifacts, which are inside their museums, belong to Iraq.
If you think about it, there's not many places like this, left in the world.
Sure, there's the Pyramids and a few other sites, but Babylon is truly one
of the most ancient remainders of our history as mankind.
And it's special because it's on these lands right here, in modern-day Iraq,
where writing and reading were invented.
And that's quite special, because those were the beginnings of our recorded history.
The nights are already getting a little bit cold here in Baghdad,
but I've got a solution.
So, this is not only our dinner, but also, an active heater.
What you see here is a spectacle. It's not just food, it's a spectacle.
And it consists of the national dish of Iraq, which is "masgouf".
I don't normally eat fish, but I don't think I can resist it this time.
Glazed and seasoned carp, grilled on a real wood fire.
Looks good, doesn't it?
And for dessert, you can hop on over to one of Baghdad's many sweet shops.
I have a feeling that Iraqis have a very sweet tooth,
because I've never seen a store with this much baklava, sugary stuff,
chocolate cakes, biscuits. Name it, they've got it.
Look at this ice cream, it's so perfect.
All the pistachio, all the nuts. This is just insanity.
So good. So creamy.
Look at this.
All right, I know we've been travelling deep in the history and culture of Baghdad today,
but there is a very modern side to the city as well.
Shopping malls like this one have sprung up all across Baghdad recently.
Catering to the Land Cruiser driving, wealthy citizens of the city.
Honestly, once you're inside a mall like this one
you feel like you could just as well be in Abu Dhabi or New York.
But since we are in Iraq, let's dive back into local culture,
enjoying the musical night to top off the evening.
Guys, this has been an absolutely awesome trip.
I mean, the culture, the food, the history
and the hospitality, of course, here in Iraq are unbelievable.
Out of this world.
I feel so lucky and privileged to actually be here as one of the first tourists
to be allowed back into the country the year that the visa applications
have opened up to most people around the world.
And honestly, if you're looking for a place to visit that has everything in it
that you've read about in history books, this is the right place to be.
I really feel like Iraq is going to become a more and more
popular tourist destination in the coming years.
So, if you wanna come and check it out before anyone else does,
this is the right time.
So, I guess I'll see you in Iraq.