All is well and safe here

“Don't believe all that you see on TV,” says Sattar Ali, who runs a small hotel in Karbala, about 110 km from Baghdad. “Things in Karbala and Najaf are very fine, very safe. Much better than they were in Cairo last week.”

What about Baghdad?

“Ah, Baghdad is another matter,” says the genial man, my fellow passenger on the Gulf Air flight from Bahrain to Najaf, where the shrine of the most important Shia religious leader Hazrat Ali is located.

The shrine of his grandson Imam Husain is in Karbala, and millions of Shia tourists are flocking to the twin cities of Najaf and Karbala for pilgrimage.

Business for Ali's 25-room hotel was never better; he is sold out for the next two months.

“And all my guests are tourists from India. Welcome to Karbala,” says the beaming man with the typical Arab gesture that signifies warmth, acceptance and welcome – hand placed across the chest in greeting.

The Airbus A321 is packed with tourists from Kuwait, India and Canada, and Iraqis returning home after business trips in Dubai and other neighbouring countries. Mariam, a stunningly beautiful Iraqi woman, is travelling to her home country after five years with her husband and little son. “Its always great to come back home, and my relatives told me that these two cities are absolutely safe, so we are here on a religious tour.” But she is not planning to go to Baghdad, which she says is not safe.

I am revisiting Iraq after eight years; in 2003, there was no question of flying anywhere in Iraq, forget Najaf. I had then taken a ship from Dubai to Basra – the 36-hour journey had taken 72 hours as the ship was stopped in mid-waters and kept waiting for nearly 12 hours before the Americans boarded it to search for the fugitive Saddam Hussein.

The drive from Basra to Karbala had taken another seven hours. So the two-hour flight from Bahrain to Najaf was a huge improvement to begin with.

religious tourism

As expected, the Najaf airport is not exactly a bustling one… even though most West Asian destinations, as well as Pakistani cities, now have direct flights into Najaf, ours was the only flight that had landed there then. Iraqi visa is available on landing for pilgrims but doesn't come cheap at $90 a person, which is invariably rounded off to $100.

The exit of almost all the passengers was facilitated by their respective tour operators; religious tourism is apparently big business here and has helped to put the devastated Iraq back on the road to economic health.

In eight years, dramatic changes have come around in Najaf, and as we set about on the two-hour drive to Karbala, it is soon obvious that the security checks have come down in number and appear a lot less menacing.

The Iraqi policemen and securitymen – unlike 2003, I don't encounter a single American or foreign security person – shout out some questions in Arabic, our visa papers are presented and after a cursory glance at the passengers of the mini-bus, we are waved away.

The policemen are dressed in black and wearing fluorescent green vests, just like the cops in London! One prays some of the London Bobbies' efficiency would rub off on these!

The first change one notices is the increase in the number of hospitals and nursing homes, and private dispensaries.

Obviously, the lives of Iraqis have improved in getting some degree of healthcare. Near the airport there is the Al Zahra Teaching Hospital, Al Ameer Private Hospital, and prominent boards of private doctors.

The shops and restaurants that line the surprisingly smooth highway are buzzing with activity.

The most frightening part of the drive, however, is our driver Ali, a handsome Iraqi man with finely chiselled features, holding long and loud conversations on his mobile phone that seems constantly stuck to his ear with one hand.

As if this is not scary enough as his bus cruises at 100 km, he pulls out his mobile phone frequently to leisurely read the messages he is getting!

But luckily the traffic is not heavy and we reach Karbala soon enough. At the entrance to this holiest of holy cities for the world's Shias, there is a security check post. The bus is not allowed inside and we change vehicles after going though a quick security check.

The tour operator is efficient enough; his van is there and our luggage is transferred with efficiency. Ah, the luxury of travelling in Asia, compared to Europe or the US where you have to handle your own luggage!

(To be continued)