00:00
I recently came back from a really
00:02
awesome two week long trip around the
00:04
northern part of Iraq called Iraqi
00:06
Kurdistan which is an autonomous region
00:08
where mostly the Kurdish people live and
00:11
it was it was an incredible experience
00:13
and I don’t know if you know this but
00:15
recently published a video about my
00:16
experiences there you can find it in the
00:19
description box down below it was really
00:21
cool I did so many things there I
00:22
learned so much about the local culture
00:24
I learned so much about the local people
00:26
and had a total blast and obviously
00:29
throughout that experience I learned
00:30
them quite a bit about you know how to
00:32
behave traveling in that region and you
00:35
know what things to do and what things
00:36
not to do which is obviously very very
00:39
useful to you if you’re thinking of
00:41
traveling to that part of the world and
00:43
then if you’re not thinking of traveling
00:44
to that part of the world no worries at
00:46
all I really do think you’re also gonna
00:48
enjoy learning quite a bit about you
00:50
know the culture of the local people and
00:52
the habits of the local people and stuff
00:54
and I really hope it’s gonna be
00:55
incredibly useful to you in one way or
00:58
another these are the top 10 things you
01:02
definitely shouldn’t be doing in Iraqi
01:05
Kurdistan
01:07
[Music]
01:11
thing not to do the racket or the set
01:13
number one is never ever ever believe
01:18
your passport at home so when traveling
01:20
around the country once you leave any
01:22
major city you will have to go through
01:25
these checkpoints literally every I
01:29
don’t know 15 20 minutes or sometimes
01:30
every 10 minutes you know they’re just
01:32
every few kilometers away so yes never
01:35
leave your home without a passport and
01:37
you can thank me later think not to do
01:40
in Iraqi Kurdistan number two is do not
01:43
be afraid if the army invites you to
01:46
their offices at one of the checkpoints
01:48
so when I was travelling in the country
01:50
with my friend Gabriel from the US we
01:53
both you know rented a car we’re both
01:55
foreigners we don’t know the local
01:56
language we were both white we don’t
01:59
know anything we’re doing you know and
02:01
and we were going through the
02:03
checkpoints everyone was a bit surprised
02:05
to see us cuz generally you know the
02:07
tourists they go with some sort of a
02:09
guide or in a guided tour some of this
02:11
and we’re just there alone couldn’t say
02:13
anything we just say hello hello hello
02:15
thank you thank you you know and in some
02:18
of the checkpoints that would actually
02:19
invite us to the offices of I guess the
02:23
the higher ranking Army official or
02:27
something you know
02:27
so there they which double check out all
02:29
the documents and stuff and I felt like
02:32
in those situations quite a few people
02:33
would be you know a little bit
02:35
intimidated me because you know an
02:37
Arabic guy comes with a machine gun and
02:39
says oh can you park your car here go
02:41
with me you know but every time we went
02:43
inside one of the offices it was amazing
02:46
basically the the guy simply wanted to
02:48
welcome us they would even give us tea
02:50
and and all that stuff it wasn’t free so
02:53
yes if you’re ever invited into one of
02:56
the offices certainly don’t be afraid
02:58
don’t be intimidated just go say hello
03:00
answer answer their questions and treat
03:03
it as a wonderful wonderful local
03:06
experience thing not to do number three
03:09
is do not pay $40 for taxi at the Erbil
03:14
Airport so most people when they come to
03:17
Iraqi Kurdistan
03:18
flying into the capital which is called
03:20
earth Ville and that’s the same place
03:21
that I travel to the the craziest thing
03:24
about is that they have this pretty
03:26
crazy scammer so basically when you land
03:30
at the airport the only way for you to
03:33
get to the city is to hire a taxi but
03:36
they will charge you anywhere from 35 to
03:39
60 US dollars for a car you know and
03:42
it’s it’s a crazy amount because it’s
03:44
only like a 12 or 15 minute drive so
03:46
it’s not really that far and so when in
03:48
Albany spend quite a bit of time in
03:50
Iraqi Kurdistan I had to go to the
03:52
airport a couple of times from the city
03:53
and the taxi a normal text from the city
03:56
costs exactly five dollars what I did
03:59
when I wonder I angle the price quite a
04:02
bit and it didn’t really work out too
04:04
well but I think as opposed to paying
04:05
$40 which is the regular price I ended
04:08
up paying 25 which is still five times
04:10
more than otherwise but you know the
04:13
airport needs to be paid and everyone
04:16
needs to be paid so I guess it makes
04:17
sense but yes don’t pay the initial rate
04:20
they tell you thing not to do number
04:23
four is do not take free stuff before
04:26
double checking with the local people
04:27
so as in quite a few different places in
04:30
the Middle East especially the ones that
04:31
are less visited by tourists the locals
04:35
are so incredibly friendly and so
04:37
incredibly hospitable that quite often
04:39
they will offer you things completely
04:41
for free in Iraqi Kurdistan happen to be
04:44
many many times I don’t know 10 15 20
04:47
times whatever everywhere I’d go
04:48
sometimes I tried to buy a candy or you
04:52
know fruits or a bottle of water or
04:53
whatever and the local people that the
04:55
sellers they would just tell me girl
04:56
just take you take no money no money no
04:58
when everything’s okay that was
05:00
incredible I mean no one would ever do
05:02
something this in Europe you know what I
05:03
mean and and then travel them there you
05:05
know almost every other person was was
05:07
like that that every time people offer
05:09
you things for free you must must much
05:11
double check because 95% of the time
05:14
people really just want to give it to
05:16
you for free
05:16
but 5% of the time they’re just trying
05:18
to be incredibly polite and very very
05:21
nice to you as a as a turist because
05:23
that’s part of the culture right but one
05:25
of those whatever 15 or 20 times when
05:28
the guy at the gas station told me I can
05:30
take the juice for free I said oh well
05:32
no I actually want to pay and stuff and
05:34
he said okay so he basically accepted
05:38
the payment because I guess she was just
05:40
trying to be you know very nice to me
05:43
and once again this was the only time it
05:44
ever happened to me but I was very happy
05:45
that he was actually honest about his
05:48
intentions and stuff and I just made
05:50
there whatever forty US cents I was a
05:52
happy boy and everything was okay so
05:54
every time someone offers to you for
05:56
free ninety-five percent of time they
05:58
want to give it to you for free but five
06:00
percent I’m yeah they might not so you
06:02
must must must always double-check very
06:06
important thing not to do in Iraqi
06:08
Kurdistan number five is do not do not
06:11
do not take pictures of the government
06:14
buildings so once again this is quite
06:15
similar to quite a few countries in the
06:18
region and this is sort of like a Middle
06:20
Eastern thing I guess because you know
06:22
those people have been through a lot of
06:23
a lot of crazy things in the past and so
06:27
obviously their security and their army
06:28
and their police generally tend to be
06:31
you know a lot more strict than once
06:34
again in Europe or the US or some
06:36
Southeast Asian countries and stuff
06:37
right and so one of the things you you
06:39
must never do there is do not take
06:41
pictures of you know government
06:43
buildings or please buildings or things
06:46
like that you know because it’s it’s a
06:48
it’s a it’s a very tricky thing you know
06:50
some people might think you could be a
06:53
spy gathering intelligence for some sort
06:55
of a group that might for example one to
06:57
attack that building in the future and
06:58
stuff you know and and obviously know
07:00
that in most situations you you would be
07:02
okay if you couldn’t easily prove that
07:04
you’re just a partner I don’t know
07:05
making YouTube videos or taking
07:07
Instagram pictures but what you don’t
07:09
want to get into those situations so be
07:11
respectful of the fact that people are
07:14
you know quite sensitive there
07:16
security and do not there’s those limits
07:19
okay now that I told you the five things
07:21
not to do in Iraqi Kurdistan it is time
07:23
for a short break during which I want to
07:25
tell you the one thing you absolutely
07:26
must do there and that is you should
07:29
definitely be using a VPN connection so
07:31
throughout my travels over the last six
07:33
years I’ve been using many different VPN
07:34
services but my favorite one and
07:36
obviously the sponsor of this video is
07:37
called surf shark VPN so I really do
07:41
think that this company can help you
07:42
take time throughout your travel so here
07:45
we have a very real quick first of all
07:47
as you know in quite a few different
07:49
countries around the world different
07:51
services are banned for example in
07:53
caches like China or Iran you know
07:54
services like even YouTube and Instagram
07:56
and Facebook and Twitter are all banned
07:59
so you cannot really access them there
08:01
but if you use a VPN connection you can
08:03
change your IP address and you can
08:05
easily easily use them all around the
08:07
world
08:08
second of all during your channels
08:10
you’ll be using a lot of different
08:10
public Wi-Fi networks and if you do that
08:13
it’s very easy for any potential hackers
08:15
to actually tap into your data and steal
08:17
your login credentials and the only way
08:19
to really protect yourself from that is
08:21
once again to use a VPN connection and
08:22
that is why I think it’s very important
08:24
you know going to countries like Iraq
08:26
and you know all around the region and
08:27
really all around the world to Z VPN
08:30
connection to protect yourself from any
08:32
potential problems so if you click the
08:34
link in description box right now you
08:36
will get 83 percent off what so.there
08:41
VPN service for 24 months plus one one
08:44
three is only $48 I think which is you
08:48
know less than $2 a month it’s
08:49
incredible and also you can apply the
08:52
coupon code a cup to get that this click
08:55
the link inscription box right now check
08:57
those guys out they’re really cool and
08:59
they’ve helped me out so much throughout
09:00
my travels and I’m sure you’re gonna
09:03
love their service as much as I do
09:05
that’s pretty much it thank you so much
09:07
for taking this break with me
09:09
I think we’re ready to get back into the
09:12
middle let’s go think not you in Iraqi
09:15
Kurdistan number six is don’t call the
09:18
Kurdish
09:19
people as Arabic people so I don’t know
09:23
how much you know about you know the
09:25
history of the region and the history of
09:26
the Kurdish people if you if you if you
09:29
want to learn I guess quite a bit about
09:31
it you can once again watch the video
09:32
that I made from from from Iraqi
09:34
Kurdistan this mashing link in the
09:36
description box down below but here’s a
09:38
very short recap so the Kurds they live
09:41
in the Middle East they have their own
09:43
language they look quite different they
09:44
have a completely different culture and
09:45
you know I mean they’ve been around for
09:47
literally thousands of years so for
09:49
example if you walk around the Iraqi
09:50
Kurdistan trying to speak Arabic to the
09:54
local people they’re not gonna be too
09:56
excited about it you know what I mean
09:57
but once again I’m sure no one’s gonna
09:59
get offended because you’re obviously a
10:00
partner so if they don’t like something
10:02
we’ll just let you know and you’ll be
10:04
respectable that and everything’s gonna
10:06
be perfect thing not to do in Iraqi
10:09
Kurdistan number seven is do not expect
10:12
to find proper foods on the road so
10:15
after my friend Gabriel left I went to
10:18
the other part of Iraqi Kurdistan to
10:20
this beautiful city of Suleymaniye and
10:22
there I met this bloody legend by the
10:24
name of bodycon and then with bodycon we
10:26
went to quite a few different places
10:28
basically did another road trip together
10:30
with food by the Colonel’s car and and
10:33
one of the things that became very
10:35
apparent there and also traveled with
10:37
Abel is that we would never really be
10:39
able to find proper foods on the road so
10:41
all the foods all the restaurants all
10:43
the whatever coffee shops you’re gonna
10:45
refine whoo and be either obviously in
10:47
the big cities or you know the bigger
10:49
towns essentially but if you stop at a
10:52
gas station or some sort of a place on
10:55
the road you will never really be able
10:57
to find proper foods there I remember
11:00
there were a couple of situations where
11:01
I somehow forgot that fact and so I
11:04
didn’t bring anything with me for
11:06
example and I was hard it was so hard
11:10
I would for example spending whatever
11:13
seven hours without food and I’d be
11:15
sitting in that car thinking oh my god
11:16
I’m good
11:17
you know and and then we’d be rushing to
11:20
some sort of a big city then we’d go to
11:21
this big Russian and we’d order
11:23
literally everything way too much food
11:26
then we’d feel very happy but there’d be
11:28
quite a bit of food that we could have
11:29
finished you know so be mindful of the
11:31
fact that you will necessarily find a
11:34
lot of food on the road so just take
11:36
something with you and that’s gonna save
11:38
you quite a bit of heartache thing not
11:42
to do in Iraqi Kurdistan number eight is
11:44
do not be afraid of the military so once
11:47
again I know that saying some like this
11:49
is potentially a tricky thing because
11:50
you know certain things can happen and
11:52
this and that but I just want to share
11:54
my personal experience with you about I
11:57
guess you know interacting with the
11:59
military so as you know and once again
12:00
it’s quite a few different countries
12:01
around the world the military is a
12:05
sensitive thing right like you generally
12:07
don’t don’t approach you know army
12:09
people generally don’t interact too much
12:11
you do everything be what they want you
12:13
to do you know you give them your
12:14
documents and stuff but you generally
12:16
don’t make friends and obviously the
12:18
same thing with you know Iraq to
12:19
understand they have one of the most
12:21
efficient armies in the world called the
12:24
Besh Monica they were incredibly
12:26
friendly I mean I can’t even explain how
12:28
friendly they were because they didn’t
12:30
feel like army at all they were almost
12:32
like a long-lost cousin that that really
12:35
wants to hang out with me you know what
12:37
I mean I mean it it was that good um
12:39
there was this one situation where
12:41
weren’t this very famous museum in
12:44
Suleymaniye and then I wanted to take a
12:46
picture with with some army people the
12:49
hair and and so by the gun approach
12:51
these two random army guys standing
12:53
there and he was like eh my friend was
12:54
sick picture you is that okay and they
12:56
said oh no words at all so that was my
12:58
experience once again I don’t know how
13:00
you’re gonna be treated when you come
13:02
there obviously defense at the time and
13:03
depends who you ran into you know but
13:05
out of all the militaries that I’ve met
13:06
throughout my travels I mean the the
13:08
best marketer had been the Kurdish
13:10
military was oh my god probably the
13:13
most friendly ever so I was really
13:15
excited about that and I think generally
13:17
shouldn’t really be afraid of them
13:19
because it seems to be incredibly nice
13:21
people and stuff and once I can be
13:22
careful with you know things but buddy I
13:25
personally had a had an incredibly and
13:27
good experience them think not to do
13:30
interact Curtis at number nine is do not
13:33
hitchhike anywhere you want so what he
13:36
finished my row shoot with my friend
13:38
Gabriel and he had to fly out so he took
13:41
the car to the airport gave it back in
13:43
them you know and so I decided to go to
13:46
this major highway going towards you
13:49
know the city and try to hit you and I
13:51
was trying to hitchhike for maybe you
13:53
know 25 30 minutes or so but every time
13:55
one of the cars would stop and there
13:57
were quite a few cars that stopped I
13:58
mean you’re still in the city area you
14:00
know from this point most of the people
14:02
are not going to suit my name so the
14:04
possibility of you actually catching
14:08
someone who is going to silly money is
14:10
probably you know zero right so then I
14:13
had to change my plans had to take a
14:14
taxi there I share a taxi with you know
14:17
a few other people which is also great
14:18
but yeah my hitchhiking experience
14:21
didn’t go down as well as I had hoped
14:24
because I simply went to the wrong place
14:28
and finally think not to do in Iraqi
14:30
Kurdistan number 10 and I think it’s by
14:32
far the most important thing on this
14:36
list and that is do not expect the
14:39
donkeys to be incredibly family so I
14:45
don’t really want to talk too much about
14:46
it I just want to show you this one one
14:49
clip just up that he completely random a
14:51
kurdish village by the side of this
14:53
beautiful beautiful river
15:07
[Music]
15:12
probably thinks I’m carrying a gun or so
15:14
well yeah so yeah I don’t I don’t know
15:17
what happened there really I was just
15:18
walking in the dunk you started
15:20
screaming be careful with the donkey’s
15:22
you know and don’t get run over by a
15:25
donkey and and yeah I don’t know
15:28
dang thanks for being a curious human
15:32
being who is interested in all parts of
15:35
the world all countries of the world
15:37
and have yourself a plenty legendary day
15:40
see you
15:44
[Music]
—
Have you read the original anthology that was the catalyst for The Good Men Project? Buy here: The Good Men Project: Real Stories from the Front Lines of Modern Manhood
◊♦◊
If you believe in the work we are doing here at The Good Men Project and want to join our calls, please join us as a Premium Member, today.
All Premium Members get to view The Good Men Project with NO ADS.
Need more info? A complete list of benefits is here.
—