A most insightful and enlightening trip report that goes beyond many I've read before (and I tend to spend more time in this FT department than others!) Thanks for sharing your experiences here, which I am sure have opened our eyes and shown us another side to Syria and Kurdistan Iraq which aren't so common in the everyday media reports.

Destruction like this, and trying to imagine the 'before' shot, is almost a shock to the system. Moreover, images like this are something of a rose out of the ashes:

Wouldn't it be neat to compile a hardcover book of the top FT trip reports like this!