Inside one of the many courtyards. Since 2000 the fortress has been on the tentative UNESCO World Heritage list.


After our visit to the fortress we headed back to Karbala. On the outskirts of the city we were held up at a checkpoint for almost an hour. Our visit to the fortress on our official itinerary approved by the Ministry of Tourism wasn't until tomorrow so the Police decided to make a big fuss about it. Luckily after some reasoning by Raad they eventually let us proceed into the city.


We rolled into Karbala at dusk. Karbala is home to the two Mosques of Imam Husayn (foreground) and Abbas (background) and attracts millions of Shi'ite pilgrims every year (Photo by Karbobala Photos, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0).


Outside the Najmat Jarash Hotel for our one night stay in Karbala.


And welcomed with a glass of hot tea each.


And the slightly retro room for the night.


Complete with two types of toilets in the bathroom.


The view from the top floor where we headed to the hotel restaurant for dinner.


Soup, meatballs, salad and some Crystal Cola, which was confusingly made by Coca Cola.


And some tasty comfort food after the busy travel day.


Meeting an Iraqi cat just outside the hotel before we headed out for a walk after dinner.


We then headed into the centre of the city towards the two Mosques of Imam Husayn and Abbas.


There were several security checkpoints on the way where we had to get a pat down and have our bags X-rayed. In the instability and sectarian violence following the 2003 US invasion and the subsequent rise of ISIS there have been many bombings in the city against Shi'ite pilgrims.

Fresh popcorn for sale.