Bowsher wadi - Iraq

Wednesday mornings Eva is hosting a female only hiking group - the group really grew, we have usually 10 or more ladies joining, all sort of nationalities, age and fitness level. I try to pick an easier hike and one I know. This was a bit different, since our scouting trip to the Bowsher falaj hike was not successful, that hike is just too technical for a diverse group like this. This hike however got a score of 2 out of 5 from the badass lady hikers and one of them, Melissa joined us, so I thought it should be fine. Easy wadi walk.

Well, not quite. First we got confused about how and where to start - which was actually good, since some of the ladies were late. The wadi indeed starts easy enough - but after the first 30 min it gets progressively more difficult. Boulders start to get bigger and bigger and there is a steep and slippery section which can be tricky.

Overall it turned out to be a great hike. Some of the ladies turned around after an hour, the others continued to the end, which is a pool. Not much water though, not too fresh either and did not seem easy to reach so we skipped swimming.

The badass lady hikers group has a great overview of 8 of the wadis in this area here - they range from easy to super technical.

Location: park at 23.530168, 58.389900 , there is parking next to the mosque. 

Direction: behind the mosque, on the hillside you will see a huge "Iraq" sign - you will need to enter the wadi on the right side of it. There is a road leading to the wadi from the mosque with a cemetery on your left. The pool is here so walk to this direction :).

Difficulty: starts easy, but gets more and more difficult. 

Time: for pool and back around 3 hours. But you can turn around at any time.

Car: salon car is OK

Other: the start is toddler friendly. Also it is fun to explore the gardens and the old neighborhood with a kido 

The mosque has drinking water which was great after we returned - the hike was more difficult and longer than we expected, everyone run out of water!