Old bridge in Zahko (Zaxo), Northern Iraq, originally uploaded by TwoCrabs.

Hiya. I'm in Erbil, the capital of Iraqi Kurdistan and largest city in northern Iraq. This photo shows an old Ottoman bridge in Zahko, on the Turkish border. I would post more photos but Internet in this part of the world is excruciatingly slow. But so far on this trip I've hit Zahko, Dohuk, Amadiyah, Barzan, Aqrah, Gali Ali Beg, Beckhal, Rawanduz, Shaqlawa, Salahaddin and now Erbil. From here I'll be going to Sulaymaniyah, Halabjah and then back to the land of the big P.X. in London. Erbil is an amazing city, second only to maybe Dubai in terms of construction in the Middle East. There are shopping malls, 5-star hotels, restaurants and entertainment facilities here. This is where it's all happening in Iraq in terms of tourism and development! So other than two minor incidents where I was detained and questioned by soldiers who were suspicious because they had never seen a Western tourist, Ive had no problems at all. This has been a fun assignment and hope to encourage many more Westerners to visit Iraqi Kurdistan! I'll post more photos when I get back to London. Cheers!
Mr. Crab