Adventures in Asia: Wadi-us-Salaam, Najaf, Iraq

This morning, our last full day in Iraq, our first stop was Wadi-us-Salaam, the largest cemetery in the world. More than 6 million people are buried here!

As I mentioned in my last post, Najaf is home to the shrine for Imam Ali, Mohammed's son-in-law, and many Shia Muslims see it as desirable to be buried nearby. Karrar took us to the roof of a parkade to get a good view. Basically, even from this high up, the cemetery goes as far as the eye can see.

As we stood on the parkade, I saw a family below visiting and washing a particular tomb. Given the distance and height I felt I could non-intrusively watch and record.

After seeing Wadi-us-Salaam from above, I was interested in seeing it closer up, so Karrar drove us down so that we could walk through a section. We only spent about 15 minutes here, but honestly I could have probably walked for another hour, because I found it all extremely interesting. I have visited many cemeteries around the world, including some Muslim cemeteries, but never anything like this. 

I also took the opportunity to photograph Diana in her abaya!