As the snowfall season returns, hundreds of holidaymakers from the Kurdistan Region and beyond flock to snow-capped Mount Korek to take a break from the political turmoil at home.
When we arrived at Korek on Friday, we were surprised by the massive queues of families, friends and students at the bottom of the mountain. Everybody was impatient to get on the cable car and ride to the top of the giant mountain as soon as possible.
As we got on the cable car, it started to make a slow run towards the top. For me, my friends and my work colleagues, it felt like a ride into the unknown as we found ourselves suspended in midair.
Disembarking at an elevation of 6,000 feet, we came across student groups, lovers, and children dancing in the snow. Others were bogged down in the half-meter snowfall pelting each other with snowballs - one could get hit with a snowball at any time!
Small groups of friends were dancing to loud music on speakers, while others were singing or screaming as their friends chased them with snowballs. It was a sunny day, and we also saw many posing to take selfies with the snow glittering in the background.
Mount Korek is the Kurdistan Region’s largest and most popular winter attraction. At the beautiful tourist spot, tourists can ski, play other winter sports, and dance to stay warm. Besides the beautiful scenery, skiing and adventure games such as paintball are the main attractions drawing tourists to this white-blanketed spot.
As part of its plans to boost winter tourism in the Kurdistan Region, the KRG opened Mount Korek to tourists in 2013 after three years of construction.