COB Basra

Arrived in Amman a short while ago on the Royal Jordanian flight from Heathrow. It is now sometime in the wee hours of the morning, and they have put me up with a few of the other transit passengers at the Golden Tulip hotel near the airport. I wish they hadn't. The bathroom leaks, the door to the room doesn't lock, and the whole place reeks of decrepitude. On the whole, I think I would have been happier roughing it out in the terminal building.

I can't sleep.

In a little under three hours, I will be bussed back to the airport for my connecting flight to Basra in southern Iraq. What did the FCO travel advisory say about flying into Basra? Were commercial flights still subject to small arms and missile fire? I can't remember – don't want to remember.

I could still bail out. Ring up and cancel. Spend the rest of the weekend lazing by the Dead Sea... but, of course, I don't.

* * *

Good start - I seem to have made it in one piece!

Somewhat inexplicably, the destination at our departure gate in Amman had read 'Aqaba', so I was still half hoping I'd tumble out of the Embraer into a Red Sea resort. But no – we're definitely in Basra.

There's plenty of time for me to observe my fellow passengers at immigration – and what a rum lot they are. Most appear to be ex-military types, interspersed with a few shady-looking 'businessmen' in shiny suits. I wonder what they must make of me, with my linen jacket and FT. There were also two women on the flight. Definitely not Iraqi - what were they doing here?

It takes several hours for my visa to be processed, but I was forewarned and have come prepared with a chunky novel. When I emerge into the arrivals hall, it turns out to be larger and, well, less dingy than I'd expected: light, airy – and with a rather intriguing mural of a fallen bird-man. Best of all, there are no obvious bullet-holes in the masonry...

I will be staying on the Skylink compound on COB Basra over the next few days. As its name suggests, the COB (contingency operating base) is still an American military facility, surrounded by grey concrete blast walls and heavily-guarded checkpoints. On the plus side, I have a superb view of the control tower of Basra airport.