I knew nothing about Mosul before visiting this historic city. I had only heard of it from the news. And all of the news coming out of Mosul was bad. It was ISIS ISIS ISIS, all the time. When I said I was visiting Mosul, I was told it was too dangerous.
The wildest thing happened when I arrived. I went for lunch and found that people lived in Mosul, normal people who have kids, and families. Normal people who go to lunch, talk, and laugh. The only sign of ISIS was the carnage and destruction they caused while holding the people of Mosul hostage.
Like Baghdad, Mosul is a victim of one-sided media coverage. Report enough bad stories with terrorism buzzwords and of course, the world will believe that Iraq still is a war zone. In this Travel Guide, I strive to portray Mosul as it is, focusing on the challenges the city faces, but more importantly, the resiliency it has shown despite being written off by the world.
Checkpoint
The checkpoint adventure continued but unlike the seriousness on the way to Samarra (see Navigating Iraqi Checkpoints: The Road to Samarra), the final checkpoint before arriving in Mosul was entertaining. This time a smart dressed man came loaded with questions. He heard from my tour guide that I was Iraqi American and decided to have fun asking me questions in Arabic. He rather enjoyed my limited language skills. “How old are you?” I told him 40. He quickly replied that he did not believe me. That was nice. Then he asked me where I lived. He started laughing when I told him I was a lawyer living in Puerto Rico. Finally, he let us go. But as he did, he told me in Arabic that he would cry for me no sooner than the moment I left.
Lunch
For lunch, there’s only one place to go, مطعم خالد للكص .كص or Khaled Al-Kass Restaurant. He is better known as the ‘Father of Shwarma.’ In our house, we call it ‘gus and tomata.’ Like the Soup Nazi episode, there’s a procedure for ordering. Step 1: Grab a bowl. Step 2: Grab a piece of bread. Step 3: Slide your tray down down. Step 4: Record a video. Step 5: Take a seat, if you can find one.
Like pho, goodies can be added to enhance what will be the best lunch of your life. A lover of onions and cucumbers, I loaded up my plate.
From there, dive in.
TPOL’s Tip: One piece of bread will suffice. The locals do two but try to stick to the diet plan (see A Holiday of Healthy, Tipsy, & on Budget? Basically Impossible).
The final step is to drink chai and digest.
TPOL’s Tip: The restaurant is located at Al-Mansa Street Al Baladyat, Mosul 41016 Iraq.
The Hotel
I found out that there are Airbnbs in Mosul. Full houses can be rented near the old town for the price of a hotel room. Without seeing Mosul in person, I would never have believed such a thing existed.
Our hotel, like Baghdad, mirrored a typical guesthouse in a SE Asian hotel. It had a dreadful shower that was not separated from the toilet. Someone explain why such a thing is still being built!
No Gas in Mosul
A funny thing happened when we were in Mosul. We were out of gas but there was no gas to be found. The queues at the gas stations were endless. How could it be that an Iraqi city was out of gas? This shortage showed the continuing dysfunction and corruption of the country.
Night Tour
After a nap, we toured the old town. The first stop was a square bombed by ISIS that included a museum, café, and restaurant.
In the museum was a replica of what Bachuwa Law’s office would have looked like had his parents stayed in Iraq (see Iraqi Homecoming: My 40th Birthday in Baghdad).
Walking through the old town, I saw the mosque which was across from the church. Both were bombed by ISIS. Behind a wall, was another church, mostly intact.
A common erroneous belief is that Iraq is a strict Islamic nation. This was never the case. St. Thomas came to Iraq in 770 to spread the Catholic faith. Christians of different denominations have been living in Iraq for thousands of years. There were also Jews living in Iraq. Christians, Jews, and Muslims of different sects were literally worshipping side by side.
Dinner
At 11PM, it was time to eat. And by eat I mean feast. Mosul has the best food in Iraq because it resembles my grandma’s cooking. I could not believe it when they brought out aroog, an indescribable, unique concoction we used to consume fresh from grandma’s deep fryer. There was also Iraqi kebab and Iraqi tikka, again made in the same way as my grandma. If that was not enough, there was Mosul kubba. I have never seen it in this color, but it had the same joyous flavors as the version I enjoyed as a kid.
Already full, I forced myself to try and eat dolma. I had never seen it made in individual portions before. During the holidays, we make it enough for ten people. Like everything else, it reminded me of grandma.
Overall
Mosul is fantastic. The city is alive. The people are lovely. The food is great.
