On the lighter side-Travel- Iraq-11

When we reached the Samarra shrine, it was a sad view to see that the signs of destruction were still there. Although they are trying to rebuild it, but still it is really sad that even the people who are not in this world are not immune to the hatred of few crazed individuals. These individuals think that they will live forever or there will be party on the other side when they die. Hopefully, these individuals despite their vicious agenda will never win how much they apply their violent ways on peaceful people. We went inside the shrine and first did our prayers and then before entering the shrine we gathered to hear the story of how our Imams laid their lives and also the last Imam went into hiding because the ruler of that time wanted to kill him like he had done it before to his father. We stood there in respect and then after the recitation was done by the guide, we went inside the dome to pay our respect. It made me very sad and very mad at the same time to see the condition of the shrine and I prayed to God that it becomes again the beautiful shrine that it was before the bombing the next time I come back to see it. After paying our respect to the father of the hidden Imam, we went downstairs to the area where it is said that the hidden Imam Mehdi went into hiding from the forces of the then ruler. There it is said you’re your prayers are answered. After praying there, I came outside and started to heading back to our buses. On our way back to the buses, since it was so hot that we had to stop by some shop to get as much water and sodas as we can to quench our thirst.

After boarding our buses we headed towards Karbala and reached there a little after dark. After reaching our hotel and eating dinner. We went to our rooms to get rest and sleep to wake up again early in the morning for another trip to Baghdad- the capital city of Iraq which was 90 Kilometers (about 60 miles) from Karbala. Same as with Samarra, we encountered numerous check points and tanks along the way to Baghdad. Since the shrine was in a dense neighborhood of the city called Kadhimiya, we had to disembark at a bus stop to again walk to the shrine.