Climbing the scary spiral minaret of Abu Dulaf.

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On our way north toward Kurdistan, we first stopped in Samarra before continuing on to the ancient city of Hatra.

The famous spiral minaret of Samarra — closed to visitors when we arrived.

I have to admit I was disappointed that the most famous spiral minaret in Samarra was closed to visitors. Ever since I watched Michael Palin’s Iraq documentary on the BBC — clinging to the railing as he made his way to the top — I had wanted to climb it myself.

The enormous courtyard of the Great Mosque of Samarra, once the largest mosque in the world.

Still, we could admire it from a distance, and we were also able to look into the vast courtyard of the Great Mosque of Samarra. The scale of it is hard to imagine. Today only the outer walls remain, together with the stone bases where the massive columns once stood. It was once the largest mosque in the world and is now protected as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Out in the desert, the smaller spiral minaret of Abu Dulaf rises above the ruins.

So we settled for the second-best option. A few kilometers out into the desert, beyond low sand-colored ruins, another spiral tower rose from the landscape. This was Abu Dulaf, a smaller copy of the famous Samarra minaret.

The spiral tower framed by the remains of the old mosque complex.

It may not be as tall, but unlike the one in Samarra, there are no railings here. The higher you climb, the narrower the path feels, and the desert wind suddenly becomes very real. Our guide crawled the final section on all fours.

No railings. Strong wind. Narrow path. Probably not ideal for people afraid of heights.

I did make it all the way to the top, though the last stretch involved pressing myself firmly against the wall and trying not to look down too much.

Around the tower, you can still see arches and ruins from what was once another grand mosque complex.

The ruins of Hatra still feel monumental, even after centuries of destruction.

From there we continued toward Hatra, an ancient trading city dating back to the first centuries before Christ. It was part of a network of wealthy desert cities that included Palmyra, Baalbek, and Petra.

ISIS graffiti can still be seen
on some of the walls in Hatra.

ISIS destroyed parts of Hatra in 2015, and traces of their graffiti can still be seen on some of the walls. Thankfully, most of the site survived. Today you can wander through enormous ruins of classical grandeur with barely another visitor in sight.

Small details from a city that once stood on the great desert trade routes.
Sunset over Hatra before the final drive toward Erbil.

And then came the sunset.

A final golden light over the ruins before we drove the last stretch toward Erbil.

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