Just returned from a two-week tour of both Federal Iraq and Kurdistan (May 2024). I will admit that I didn’t quite know what to expect before arriving, particularly as regards the attitude towards Western visitors. Would we be met with sullen glares or outright hostility on the street, considering the recent memories of the US invasion? From our very first evening walk through Baghdad, however, we were met with only enthusiastic greetings and affable curiosity (“Welcome to Iraq, my friend! Where are you from?”).For the next two weeks we covered the length and breadth of the country from the Marshes in the south to the Zagros mountains in the north, and I am still trying to process the volume of things I saw. The sheer depth of history in Iraq is unparalleled, from the paleolithic (Shanidar cave) to the ancient (Ur, Babylon, Hatra) to the religious (Karbala, Najaf) to the modern (Saddam’s palace, the recent damage in Mosul). Then of course there’s the autonomous region in the north, which in many regards feels like a different country in terms of language and landscape (and the ease of finding a cold beer after a long day????).The guide teams in both regions were superb. In Federal Iraq, Ahmed, his brother Ammar, and driver Habib were always ready with information and effortless good humour. In the north, Brusk – cool, calm, and collected – produced hidden stashes of baklava at opportune moments. Passing through checkpoints and gaining access to historical sites was always easy with them doing the talking. And our Rocky Road representative, Alex, always made sure that the itinerary ran smoothly, suggesting small improvisations when necessary.If you’ve ever been interested in Iraq, now’s the time to check it out. There is a palpable feeling of hope in the country – a sense that things might finally be heading in the right direction after almost 40 years of bad times. Foreign investment is pouring in, and there are construction and infrastructure projects happening everywhere. Some day in the not too distant future, the streets of Babylon could (deservedly) be as busy as the Colosseum or the pyramids at Giza. Right now you can see them all by yourself.