Receptionist from the hotel helped me to stop and to negotiate taxi ride to the bus station (3000 – two dollars). The minibus (they don’t have big buses) was waiting there. Departure time? When it will be full!
No tickets. The driver just collected 10000 IQD from everybody. Fortunanely there was English-speaking Ali aboard. He took care of me. I got front seat for photography and we departed at 10 am.
Nice mountain and desert landscape on the route. Half way to the destination we stopped in chaikhana for the meal. Ali hosted me. There is artificial lake on the route, but sorry – it is nof visible from the road.
We rached Slemani (locals use this nickname) after 3 hours. The bus stotion is again on the outskirts of the town – taxi to the hotel cost me less than 3 dollars. I found Al – Suleimaniya more westernized than Erbil. It has interesting bazaar and long main street with many new, high buildings. A lot of people is crawling the streets around the bazaar. I have been invited to drink a tea with the locals – Kurds are very hospitable! They serve the tea on the streets – see the picture!
