Babylon, Iraq TOUR

Will return to Camp Zulu, Iraq soon.

The Babylon, Iraq - TOUR

The pictures that where taken after I left Babylon are the first and third picture. It is very hard to get into Babylon at this time if you are not military. Babylon is 60 miles south of Baghdad and you would have to travel from Baghdad, which is very dangerous and the percentage of getting killed on the way is real good because you would be traveling on the most dangerous highway in the world. There is no place you can safely stay around Babylon and you would have to travel back to Baghdad. It will probably many years before tourist will be allowed back in Babylon because of the danger in getting there and having a place to stay. You cannot see eveything in Babylon in one day it took me four or five days. I am probably one of the few people, American, that has walked from one end of Babylon to the other and all places in between. Walking around in the ruins and seeing the name of Nebuchadnezzar on the bricks gave me a weird felling knowing this is the same place that is mentioned in the Bible. A lot of strange things happened when I was Babylon and after I left.

This is one of many that I can tell. There was little building behind the PX which was used as a storage place, have picture of the PX. Directly across the PX was the Chow hall when you walked out of the building after eating you were on the banks of the Euphrates river, have pictures. I am trying to give you a picture of the location. When we ate lunch we would go to this building and wait for the Iraqi workers finished their lunch and daily prayers. They had a place next to the building, we knew they wouldn't leave this place because the Polish soldiers would shoot them and they knew this. One day I was in our little building by myself and was looking around and I saw a book with a lot of dust on it. I picked it up and realized it was a Bible, I have never saw one like this before. It was like something guided me towards the Bible and to opened it, I couldn't believe that I opened it to the verse in the Bible about Babylon. I started to take the Bible with me but I had this feeling to leave it there, which I did. Don't know why but this is the first time I have mentioned this to anyone.

Also, I have a more extensive picture tour of the ruins of Babylon on a CD and if interested you can go to view my complete profile contact and email me or you can go to comments and do the same if you would like to have a CD. I will not post in this site because it is to big.

Numbers and letters below will give what is around them.

a. The town of Al-Hillah

b. below is the road to Hillah and one of two entrance to Babylon, will show picture of entrance later.

1. The road towards the lake and LZ (helo landing zone)

2. In the open area of the 2 there were aprox 50 trailers you lived in which no one did. The building to the right of the 2 was used as a vehicle maintenance for a military unit. If you look closely you can see the ruins by the 2.

3. The bottom curl of the three is a date palm tree that was Saddam H and if went near it or picked any dates from the tree you disappear and/or lose your head, have picture will show later. Very few people knows about the tree, my bud Mohammed told me. You can barely see the road that goes in front of the tree. If you went father to the right you would come to a fork which is the other road that surrounds the palace. When you finally get to the entrance to the palace door which is on the other side a you see the road end. The long hoizional black window on the palace building was Saddam H master bedroom. Directly below the window the Polish army had twin 40 mm gun (the twin barrel gun you see on ships in WW2 shooting at airplanes) sitting on a veranda above the three windows.

4. Below the 4 is a big mound, this is where one of Saddam H son was going to build a palace like his and have a water way built to it. The other son was going to do the same, his mound is to the left of Saddam H palace, have pictures will show later.

This picture was taken from the coliseum looking towards the palace and I waited a long time to take this picture.

a. Palace

b. Helicopter landing zone

c. Road to the LZ and the lake. You go left about 400 meters and you would run into the main road into Babylon from Baghdad

d. This is the fueling place for all of Babylon, last picture below

a. helo LZ landing zone

b. MP Headquarters, to the left of b is the tent by the river

c. building below c is the other chow hall, from c to f you can see part of the road going towards Baghdad

d. directly below d is the same road, below that is the road that surrounds the lake

e. you can hardly make out the little building which is a port-a-potty and the white spots below the e is where there was tables with umbrellas where you can take a break while walking around the ruins. Sometimes there was an Iraqi selling water and answering questions about the ruins.

f. to the right of the f is the coliseum.

a. Below a is the other road from the palace

b. Below b is an MP Headquarters and right behind is a big tent by the river, I stayed there a couple of nights, also have pictures will show later.

c. Below c is where we bought stuff from hodgee, Iraqi who runs a store or there something like it.

d. The famous lake and to the right is the little chow hall.

e. S-hook landing picture of it on the ground in the next picture

f. Below f is the top of the coliseum

a. To the left of a is the palace

b. helo LZ landing zone

c. Below c is the chopper in the above picture landing

d. Fuel bladders

e. Fueling stop

f and g are the beginning of the road that goes around the lake which was one way.

Will try and post more pictures every two or three days