Travelling from Istanbul to Baghdad
Travelling Istanbul to Baghdad on the Taurus Express
I turned 20 in Istanbul, and we travelled by train through Syria to Baghdad on the Taurus Express ~ a journey of approximately 2,700 kilometres.
It was a very slow-moving train, as demonstrated by the food vendors who would jump on board to sell their wares and afterwards simply walk ahead to the next carriage.
The train didn't seem to pick up its pace at any time!
It was on this journey that I discovered a most delicious and refreshing snack ~ Lebanese cucumbers sliced lengthways and sprinkled with sea salt and paprika.
Yum!
The journey took us through Syria and eventually into Iraq, and when we arrived in Baghdad, we took ourselves to a café that sloped down towards the Tigris River. We enjoyed many glasses of the local black tea as we sat watching the river.
As the waters of the Tigris began to rise, following the lead of other customers we picked up our table and chairs and moved them further up the bank.
As the water continued to rise, we moved them again.
It was a moving feast of cakes, tea, table and chairs. It was all part of the experience.
An outdoor café in Baghdad circa 1970s, around the time of our journey
While we were in Baghdad, we met two young veterinary students who befriended us and became our guides, showing us around their city.
Through them we experienced a generosity and hospitality that became one of my strongest memories of being in Baghdad.
On another occasion, we met a jovial and very friendly restaurant owner. When he realised I was vegetarian, he invited us to come back the next day and said he would prepare some vegetarian dishes especially for me.
He also invited us to dine with his family in their home. His wife was an air hostess with KLM, and they welcomed us with great warmth.
It was this sort of unexpected kindness that I particularly remember about our time in Baghdad.
These encounters became as much a part of the journey as the places themselves.
The ruins of Babylon
While in Iraq, we travelled about 100 miles south of Baghdad to visit the ancient ruins of Babylon.
My memory of Babylon is of a very flat and open landscape. Two images that have remained with me is the great Lion of Babylon ~ the stone sculpture of a lion standing over the figure of a man and the photo I took of Stewart exploring the ruins.
I still have 2 tiny photographs I took of the Lion and the ruins all those years ago, which I will include with this story.
But one of my strongest memories of Babylon has very little to do with the ancient ruins! We found a tiny store, rather like a little convenience shop, and to my amazement sitting there on one of the shelves was a tin of imported Kraft processed cheddar cheese.
To this young vegetarian traveller, it was like finding ambrosia!
It wasn't that I had particularly loved Kraft cheese back home, but finding it in Babylon, in what seemed like the middle of the world, was amazing. We would cut off the smallest pieces and eat them with local flat bread, cucumbers and tomatoes.
It tasted like heaven.
We treasured that tin of processed cheddar cheese so much that we managed to make it last for more than a month.
The memories that remain
Looking back, what I remember most about travelling when I was young was that sense of openness and discovery. We travelled without knowing exactly what would happen next or who we might meet along the way.
There was an excitement in that uncertainty.
So many years later, I may not remember every railway station or every town we passed through, but I remember the people, the tastes and the sounds. And when I think particularly of Baghdad, I remember those unexpected moments of kindness.
I remember that impossibly slow-moving train, the food vendors walking ahead to the next carriage, drinking black tea beside the rising waters of the Tigris, the Lion of Babylon and our precious tin of Kraft cheese.
And I can still remember those Lebanese cucumbers with sea salt and paprika!
Perhaps that is one of the great gifts of travel. We set out to discover other places and cultures, and somewhere along the way we discover something about ourselves.
And in Baghdad, I discovered something else that has stayed with me ~ the kindness and hospitality of people who welcomed two young travellers into their lives.
