Kurdistan: The Country That Doesn't Exist (CONIFA World Football Cup 2024)

Meet at Suvarnabhumi Airport at 04:40. Fly Turkish Airlines TK59 at 07:40 to Istanbul, then TK316 to Erbil International Airport, arriving at 20:50 (Erbil is 4 hours behind Thailand). Overnight in Erbil.

Watch and cheer at pitch-side at the CONIFA World Football Cup 2024, hosted by Kurdistan. The tournament is for minority peoples, self-governing territories and stateless groups that are not widely recognised, the 'countries that don't exist'. The venue rotates between tournaments, so the chance does not come often.

Travel to Sulaymaniyah, a major city and cultural centre, home to many Kurdish poets and artists.

• Red Museum, a former prison of Saddam Hussein's Ba'ath Party, now showing the fate of the Kurds, including the Hall of Mirrors with 182,000 pieces of mirror representing those killed or missing
• Bazaar of Sulaymaniyah, the largest market in Kurdistan, selling handmade gold jewellery, beads, rugs and local sweets

Visit Halabja, the town attacked with chemical weapons under Saddam Hussein. See the Halabja Monument and Peace Museum, which people still visit to remember the importance of peace. On the way back to Erbil, stop at Dukan Lake, a symbol of the area.

• Lalish, the holiest temple of the Yazidis, whose ancient religion is about 4,000 years old and has some 700,000 to 1 million followers. It holds the tomb of Sheikh Adi Ibn Musafir, whom the Yazidis regard as an avatar of the Peacock Angel, Tawusi Melek
• Khinis, an archaeological site that is part of an ancient Assyrian irrigation system built 2,500 years ago, linking Sennacherib's palace at Nineveh to mountain water
• Mosul, once the capital of ISIS, and Mar Mattai (St. Matthew's) Monastery, the oldest religious institution in Iraq, to learn about Assyrian Christian culture
• A climb of 150 steps to Rabban Hormizd Monastery, ringed by caves and said to have housed up to 600 monks

Overnight in Duhok.

• Saddam Palace ruins in the Gara mountains, built by Italian craftsmen, wrecked by villagers after the uprising and now used as a Kurdish army base
• Amedi, an ancient town on a plateau known as the 'city in the sky'; local tradition says the Magi stood here watching the stars that led them to Bethlehem. It has a synagogue and an old gate
• Barzan, homeland of the Barzani family. Barzan Memorial tells of the 8,000 Barzani men killed by Saddam, followed by sunset at Barzan Gorge, one of the most beautiful gorges in Iraqi Kurdistan

• Shanidar Cave, one of the most important caves in Iraq, an archaeological site showing Neanderthal occupation
• Rawanduz, surrounded by mountains and waterfalls, with the deepest gorge in the Middle East, similar to a Grand Canyon, and former capital of the Soran Emirate
• Hamilton Road, built by New Zealand civil engineer Sir A. M. Hamilton to link Iraqi Kurdistan with Iran
• Geli Ali Beg Waterfall, a symbol featured on Iraqi banknotes
• Korek Mountain, a mountain resort with panoramic views

Meet at Erbil Airport at 06:50. Fly TK315 at 09:50 to Istanbul, arriving 12:45, then TK58 at 16:25 to Bangkok.

Arrive at Suvarnabhumi Airport at 06:05.