Anbar
The Euphrates, the desert, a rebuilt minaret
Western Iraq · BEST SEASON: November – March
Anbar is Iraq's largest governorate and its emptiest — gravel desert for hour after hour, then the Euphrates arriving as a band of date gardens, reed beds and mud-brick towns. The set-piece is the minaret at Anah: eight stone sides tapering upward, carved niches repeating storey by storey. It has had a hard century. Iraqi archaeologists took it apart and rebuilt it on safer ground when the Haditha dam's reservoir rose over old Anah in the 1980s; ISIL levelled it in 2016; it was raised once more in 2022. Upstream the Haditha dam holds back Lake Qadisiyah; downstream, the Ramadi barrage feeds Lake Habbaniyah, whose 1980s lakeside resort is slowly reopening. This is the old caravan line to Syria, crossing bare desert past ruined rest-houses toward Rutbah. Be clear-eyed: Fallujah, Ramadi, Hit and Anah were fought over between 2014 and 2017 and are still rebuilding. Access is limited, needs local coordination, and shifts month to month.
On our last western loop we reached Anah in the late afternoon and stopped below the minaret while the low sun went gold on its eight faces. A man patching the road nearby wandered over — not to sell anything — and pointed out which stones had been carried up from the old town before the reservoir came and which were newer. We stayed longer than the schedule allowed, and the driver flashed the headlights twice before anyone moved.
WHAT WE SHOW YOU
Minaret of Anah
heritageEight stone sides tapering skyward, each storey carved with pointed niches. Dismantled and moved when the reservoir rose, then rebuilt again after ISIL levelled it in 2016.
Haditha Dam & Lake Qadisiyah
modernA nine-kilometre earth dam holds the Euphrates back into Lake Qadisiyah, a reservoir in open desert — and the strategic prize that shaped much of the valley's fighting.
Lake Habbaniyah
natureA wide freshwater lake between Ramadi and Fallujah, ringed by an abandoned 1980s resort of chalets and diving platforms now slowly being patched back into use.
Date islands of the Euphrates
cultureMidstream islands strung along the river at Anah and Haditha, thick with date palms and vegetable plots once watered by giant wooden na'ura wheels.
The caravan road to Syria
heritageThe old overland line to Syria across bare gravel, marked by ruined desert rest-houses and the waypoint town of Rutbah where cross-desert convoys once refuelled.
PROOF, NOT PROMISES
Years of groups, stamped and dated
NEXT DEPARTURES
Groups that visit Anbar
No announced departure currently includes Anbar. Ask us about the next one
The gate is open.
Tell us which month suits you and we will tell you which group fits.