Off The Grid with Luke Coleman - Our man in Iraq
Ten years or so ago, I used to travel from Kyiv to Krakow on the train, on a visa run, or to get the easyjet back to the UK. It would take over a day, with a 6 hour stop to change the gauge on the carriages. The coupes were fun affairs, 4 strangers pooling resources until the little window table groaned with beer, vodka, pickles, bread, meat and fruit. I long to do the trans-Siberian, hopping on and off, for weeks on end. So I was excited to see that one of the few train journeys in Iraq has been reinstated recently. The Baghdad to Fallujah wagon takes just an hour and would get me to one of the cities I’m desperate to visit. I’d also love to do the overnighter from Baghdad to Basra, but that one’s adjudged to be a little on the risky side for a lone English plum. It’s pretty flat down there, so the only tunnels are the legacy of The Fuckers, and the only horns those of the goats. I’m willing to bet that those brave enough to use the growler are still dropping directly on the tracks, though. See, we’re not so different after all.