Leg 36: UGEE (Zvartnots Airport, Yerevan, Armenia) to ORBS (Baghdad, Iraq)

Date: 7 August, 2004
Time: 7.42 - 10.21pm
Distance: 732nm

Today we're going to the Cradle of Civilization—the Mesopotamia region.

For quite a number of miles after taking off from Armenia, we fly across mountainous regions...

...until we reach flatter areas. Now, I'm thinking to myself, usually a new settlement needs a major river to establish itself (those of you who play Civilisation would know this). The Mesopotamia region has two! Maybe that's why so many civilizations were able to sprout in this fertile region. The picture above shows the Tigris (the branching to the right is the Great Zab); the Euphrates (not shown) is located further left.

The trick to locate Baghdad is just follow the river! The Tigris cuts right through the city, the light brownish region above. The airport is to the right of the river.

Approaching runway 15 at Baghdad airport...

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