Heaven

[Dan XF]

Imagine this. I get up early and go to the restaurant where a choice of breakfasts is made ready. After this I do a last minute check and then off to the 4x4. After climbing to about 5,000' and entering a lush valley surrounded by high mountains we stop. I hang my hammock and settle down while my driver sorts out a fire and makes me fresh tea. A little while later I am woken from my slumber to find that the fire has been stoked and lunch has been made for me from fresh locally sourced ingredients. After lunch my driver makes more fresh tea and I return to my hammock with a good book being gently rocked by the warm arid breeze. Mid afternoon more tea is made, the hammock is dropped and it's time to head back to camp for tea.
Whilst this has little to do with true bushcraft I just had to tell someone about how great it is being a remote medic in the Betwata Valley in Kurdistan. And I get paid for this too. I do help make the fires and go collecting for firewood whilst avoiding venomous snakes and scorpions and we do forage for fresh figs, pomegranates and almonds so I guess i'm doing a bit of the craft.
It's an amazing place to be and the valley we are in is used by farmers who live here through late spring to early autumn with their livestock. They pitch large tents by little waterfalls and exist alongside their animals. They live on goat and goat's cheese and milk. The grow tomatoes and cucumbers and are all very healthy. I feel privileged to be in the area and to witness these scenes.
just hoping I don't tread on any land mines before I head home.

[saxonaxe]

Good luck to you, it seems you're having a great time. Made me smile, as everyone's idea of heaven is different, which is just as well.. Just keep the 4x4 off the TM-57's..

[Silverback]

GIT ...watch your step Dan

[Rasputin]

Cushty but keep yer head down

[Tigger004]

Sounds very nice

[rossbird]

I congratulate you on the job your doing Dan. I do however have a twinge of envy for the area your working in,
I managed to visit the Turkish Kurdish area, 3 or 4 years ago whilst birding that area. A beautiful area, as I guess the Iraq area is.
Stay safe

[ammo]

Be careful mate, but enjoy every minute. The fact that you have to keep your wits about you will only enhance the experience. All your senses will be heightened, you will take everything in. Or you can not let it bother you, chill out and relax in the hammock.

[Dan XF]

Hi rossbird. did you go to the Mt Ararat area? we are about 6hrs drive from there. most of the high stuff is on the plateau just East of Mt Korek. This is the area where the first civilisations started and I can see why. living here must have given those people a real sense of wonder. the soil is fertile and you can rely on the snow melt to flood the rivers and to create the abundant springs that irrigate the small walled gardens that people use to grow their summer veg. And with the no fly zone and the new Turkish Government playing nice with the Kurds it's very tranquil.

[rossbird]

Hi Dan
Didn't get that far. Spent a couple of days on the Euphrates around Biricek, close to the Syrian border.
Set off heading East, was going to eventually turn North and make for Lake Van. Got stopped by the military and told there was some trouble with the Kurds and unsafe for me to go any further. Don't think the binos and telescope helped my cause!!
Oh, the food was fantasic, lots of goat
How long are you out there?

[Dan XF]

I'm doing a 5 week tour then home for 5. When the Turks talk of trouble with the Kurds they mean the PKK. One of the areas we use is under their control. Two of them asked for pain killers from me so I gave them some paracetamol and showed them how to peel the bark from a willow tree and chew that to obtain the salicylic acid and use it as a pain killer. they were so impressed they wanted their picture taken with me. I got talking to them. They agree to a life of chastity and obedience. When sent on missions they are expected to return only if victorious. If they get injured their version of 1st aid is to shoot the wounded, they slow the team down and might get captured and interrogated. They spend their lives up in the mountains from the day they join and live off the land. some of the little mountain settlements will put aside some land for them to grow food. very very tough people, and nearly half of them are female.