It started with a kiss

 Sulaymaniyah has always been a liberal and cultural city. However, a previous statue in much style as the one picture was badly vandalised last year. The city responded by creating a larger and indestructible version and placing right by the main entrance the park. A statue like this is inconceivable elsewhere in the Middle East.

Taken for a ride

While most fret about ISIS and suicide bombers, a taxi ride is a far greater concern. Kurds are not usually aggressive drivers like the Lebanese and the Egyptians, but they are daydreamy and careless, generally preferring to drive in the middle of the road, straddling two lanes. Keeping right is not a popular option.

The quickest, easiest and cheapest way to travel between cities is by shared taxi. You just arrive at the 'garagy', find a taxi going to your destination and then wait for it to fill up (the front seat is a bit more expensive). Then you say Hamadallah (Praise God) and you are off.

Apparently the maximum speed level is 100 kph but my taxi hit 170 kph and this is no motorway. The roads are not bad, but not great either. Of course we had to have music as we speed along and at one stage doing 160 kph, the driver singing away takes his hands completely off the wheel so he can clap time to the music and execute some dance moves.

Oh and the taxi's tyres were bald too....

Hamadallah indeed.

An ancient legacy

The Sumerians ruled this region from about 4000 to 2000 BC and today very little remains of their civilisation (and now even less since ISIS is having a bit of go....).

One enduring symbol is the Sumerian good luck charm  It was frequently included in furniture, in particular mirrors. Today Kurds still incorporate this ancient charm into baby cribs.

Rats to you

 'DENT' is short for dentist and I am not sure what 'RO' is short for,but the two definitely don't go together. 

Life goes on

The economy is in ruins, ISIS are lined up long the 1000 border but that is no excuse not to be stylish. 

This is one of the large 'style centres' in Erbil. There are about 20 chairs in all and it is packed with young men getting their hair done and the occasional facial.  In addition to those in the actual chairs, the place also accommodates all their friends. It is a racket - several tvs are on, there is music blaring and outside two tea stands continuously ferry in glasses of sweet tea. The women are much more discreet and women's hair salons are thoroughly screened off from prying eyes. 

What is she doing?

The Ukraine has retained most of its Soviet era monuments,  especially those relating to the Second World War.

The man holding the sword I can understand, but what is the woman doing? She looks like she is about to dive from a high board....




 This monument from the nineteenth century has also survived from the time when Lviv was an overwhelmingly a Polish city.

Not so fortunate was the statue of Stalin with just the empty plinth now remaining.
Polish city. 

No

A night out in Lviv

 Lviv has many smart cafes and this combined with warm summer temperatures make them a welcome place to waste time on a hot afternoon.

Divide these prices by 20 to give the NZ S price. 

Alcohol is incredibly cheap, though much of it is pretty horrible. The ugly side of that are the large number of alcoholics on the street. Walking back to the hotel in the evening I noticed up ahead a police car partly parked on the footpath and a couple of policemen talking to 4 or 5 drunk men. It wasn't until I was alongside them that I noticed a dead man lying on the footpath in a transparent body bag. Aged in his fifties he too looked alcoholic. What surprised me is that he wasn't covered, the police didn't even bother closing the footpath and no one seemed at all upset.

Lvi

This lovely wine bar didn't have much of a wine list but it did have two New Zealand wines and none from Australia bless them. Both wines, a Sauvignon Blanc and a Pinot Noir, were from Marlborough and very expensive. Only one bottle of French wine was more expensive.