Escape

          I previously posted some pictures of myself and a few others swimming at the Mosul Lake.  I recently went there again, twice actually, to try and cool off from the 110-125F degree scorching heat.  That clear blue water provides the perfect escape from an otherwise arid existence of trying to hide in whatever locale has a functioning air conditioner.  There is also a playful aspect, for me anyways, to this seemingly unrecognized oasis, and that is the mud which surrounds the water.  Anything beyond a meter from the shore is a bone-dry, earth colored clay.  There are a few rocks but it is otherwise fairly smooth, with its only inhabitants being some scrubby brush.  However, once you get close to the water your feet immediately sink into the softened clay.  At one point I was even up to my knees in this soft mud.  Naturally feeling the need to express my inner child, I began to cake the mud all over my body and enjoy its texture.   Once in the water we swam to the rock formation, as seen in the picture, and climbed up only to plunge into the water below.  There’s nothing like swimming in a lake on a hot summer day. 

While the previous story addressed trying to escape the heat, this one will tell of my experience embracing it.  Samuel and I had been commenting for some time that we wanted to confront the foothills surrounding Duhok.  This had been going on for a few weeks until one lazy morning we managed to coax ourselves out of an “Entourage” filled respite (This popular HBO show has been our mental escape to a lavish Western life).  We also managed to cajole my friend Aza into joining us on our journey.  As we began to trek out of our Zeri Land flat we noticed that, despite our waiting until 3pm to leave, the heat was still unrelenting.  Regardless, we continued.

           As you will see from pictures these foothills are not overly high and are anything but treacherous.  There are no instances of having to climb solid rock, and most of the way up it is just a steady incline up the stony face of the hill.  The distance itself isn’t the problem; the paramount challenge is the sun.  This particular day it was around 115F; simply walking outside for more than 2 minutes is enough to break a sweat.  Luckily for us, there were a few scattered trees along the hillside to provide some needed shade as we snacked on some fruit and enjoyed the view. 

            After about 30 minutes walking, 5 unpleasant minutes through what appeared to be a garbage dump, Aza started to falter.  The heat, and his lamentations that he should have come to the gym with me, were starting to take their toll.  Samuel went ahead unabashed; I stayed back a bit and ensured that our little troop made the summit together.    Once we reached the apex a few minutes later the views of the city were quite spectacular.  I had driven up to a hilltop opposite the city before, but because I had to work for this one it was all the sweeter. 

            There were a few old forts on top of the hill which, as I had been informed, were used by Saddam’s troops, the peshmerga, as well as the PKK.  Evidently, nobody had used them in 7-10 years.  The walls were crumbling and all metal remains were well rusted; what I believe were AK-47 shells were also scattered about.  From the top you could see all of Duhok.  It is a large city population wise, but from above it looks like a massive village tucked in the hillsides.  An interesting aspect of our climb was the views of the wealthier neighborhood.  A massive man-made plateau rests above the city which houses the areas richest residents.  It is surrounded by concrete walls, and the houses are far larger than those of the average citizen.  The foundation of this plateau seems like it will lose stability over time; ironically enough, their questionable derivation of wealth is probably equally unstable.  All in all, it was a worthwhile.  Our trip was topped off with a well deserved meal from Athena-300, a haphazardly named Greek inspired restaurant attempting to combine two warring city-states into one.