A Canadian who was among the first organized Western tour groups in Iraq found herself in a country loaded with history, landmarks -- and checkpoints.
Vancouverite Roberta Wong was part of the first officially organized tour group going to Iraq since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003. She and her group spent two weeks in the country, travelling to cities and historical sites - without any guards or guides.
And while she spent the trip visiting shrines and archeological sites, her group was often tied up at checkpoints for half-an-hour or more. Wong estimated that a trip from Basra to Baghdad had around 40 of them, with two at a hotel in Baghdad alone.
Wong is a former medical and legal librarian from Vancouver who has traveled to other hot spots before, including Sudan, Yemen and Komodo Island. Last year, she went to western Nepal, where the tourism board said she was the first tourist they had put up in 20 years.
"I was looking for a holiday," she said Monday on Canada AM. "I was doing some research and this tour came up and I thought it would be an opportunity to go to Iraq."
She described Baghdad as a city almost under curfew, with concrete barriers and military personnel all around.
"But once you get out of Baghdad," said Wong, "things look a bit more normal, except for the many checkpoints that we encountered on the highway."
And there wasn't a lot of socializing on the trip either. "There wasn't much interaction with the locals," said Wong. "There was a bit of a language barrier." She added that the group was cautioned not to be too open with the locals because of security risks.
Iraq is still a dangerous place. In the past week, 74 civilians have died in the country. Iraqbodycount.org, a website keeping track of civilian deaths in the country, estimates that nearly 10 civilians a day are killed in Iraq.
When the group first booked the trip, the plan was to have two armed guards with them. However, when they got to Iraq, they were told to pay for 25 guards and their meals or get no guards at all.
They didn't have a guide, either, for the trip. However, they did have a driver and a translator.
Still, despite the lack of guards, Wong said she felt safe while in Iraq.
Their trip took them all across the country: from cities like Irbil to Baghdad and to archaeological sites like Babylon and the Golden Domed shrine in Samarra. However a visit to Iraq's National Museum did not happen. It was closed each time the group tried to visit.
The highlight of the trip for Wong was a visit to Babylon, where she took a photo of herself in front of the lion of Babylon.
She even found time to pick up a few souvenirs. She sent postcards to friends and bought a copper dish with archaeological sites hammered on it at a shop in Baghdad.
Getting to the country was an adventure all in itself, as Wong was unable to get a visa. On the day she was supposed to leave, Ottawa still had her passport. Eventually, she found out she could get a group visa when she met up with her tour group in Damascus.
Since she had planned to go to Syria anyway, Wong decided to go with the group, where they were allowed entry into the country.
However, Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada recommends avoiding all travel to Iraq, calling the security situation extremely dangerous and unpredictable. It also warns that the border with Syria is only open to returning Iraqis, humanitarian organizations and diplomatic delegations.
The trip was organized by British tour company Hinterland Travel, which describes itself as a specialist adventure travel agency. The company has plans for more trips in April, September, October and November. The cost of the tour starts at about $3,400.
