Gali Sherana, where turquoise waters meet skies filled with flickering stars

In the deep gorges of the mountain in Derluk, Duhok governorate, Iraqi Kurdistan, there is a place with crystal clear, ice cold, turquoise waters running down. This place is called Gali Sherana which looks like fantasy. It remained largely undiscovered until recent years.

As you walk uphill, the scene becomes more and more beautiful with every spot inviting you to jump into the crystal clearwater and swim all day. 

The water is ice cold. But people do not care and swim in it all day long. In my case, I swam in it even at night. It is such a refreshing feeling.

The yellow limestone bedrock of the river, mixed with the reflection of the blue sky creates the stunning green color of the water.

The walk uphill is very tiring, especially if you are carrying your backpack and other stuff. I had to take a break many times to finally get there. It is also very difficult too; in many places you can see narrow walkways built by the villagers to allow passage. The whole trip is an adventure in itself, and hence a lot of fun.

During the evening, the water becomes even more clear and cleaner because visitors start to roll back by the evening. The place is not as crowded on weekdays. So if you want to go there and not find many people, to get the best spots there, you should go on weekdays.

Also, because it is 1.5 hours away from Duhok city, and then 2 hours up the mountain walking, it takes most of your day, so it is better to plan to stay for the night. That’s why it was a camping/hiking trip for me. I stayed there for the night with my 6 friends.

We camped out by a magical water view. We swam in the water all day long, and during the night as well. We made a big fire and then jumped into the ice cold water.

If you stay during the dark nights (when the moon is not full) you will have stunning views of the sky with the milky way just shouting out of the sky. I was lucky that I could capture this milky way view without a tripod and shutter release cable. I had to place my camera on rocks and push the button for every photo which affected the quality of the images because the slightest movement of the camera at long exposure affects the photos.