February 22, 2025
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The Street Food Guy

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Eating, drinking and sleeping at the Al Burj Qamishi

Gareth Johnson06 mins
Al Burj

While the nightlife of Qamishi might not exactly be eclectic, what vestiges of it that there are seemed to be centered around the Al Burj hotel, restaurant and rooftop bar.

And while being the nexus of the nightlife in Rojava might not exactly seem all that impressive, being the centre of the social scene gives guests a unique insight into the region.

What the Rojava

For the uninitiated Rojava, or west Kurdistan is a region in Syria that has been self governing as the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria since 2013. It is known as being an Anarchist-Syndicalist governed region, although just how leftist or anarchist it is is up for debate.

What is true though is that compared to the rest of Syria, Rojavans enjoy not just better salaries to the rest of the country, bit also more religious freedom than much of the region.

Qamishi is the capital of this exciting region while the Al Burj is its social centre.

For the uninitiated Qamishi is the capital of Rojava, or as it should be called the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria. Should you visit, can you visit and what can you do here? This is the Qamishi travel guide. While probably not known to that many people, Rojava is currently the most interesting experiment in left-wing direct democracy in the world. Getting here is not very easy, with their being quite literally no tourism industry. If though you do manage to get here you will find a bustling place with enough to offer with regards to eating, sleeping and indeed drinking too. You can read bout Rojava here (link to YPT) How to get to Qamsihi Getting to Qamsihi will involve traveling to Erbil in Kurdistan before needing to cross the border into the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria. This involves getting multiple permissions, but does not involve you “exiting” Iraq, or getting stamp. You should not simply try to cross this border, or you will simply be turned away. I have known this to happen to many people (not me). After you do cross into Rojava you will ideally be metby your local contact from where it is three hours from the border to Qamishi City. To learn about how to visit Rojava in 2024 click here (link to TSFG). Qamishi Travel Guide to hotels…… There is no point beating around the bush here, hotels in Qamishi are really not all that good, nor is there that much capacity. We ended up at a street that had 3-4 hotels on it, all of which were mostly full and did not offer great rooms. Our initial night was spent at the Al Sofrae, which was fairly loud and only offered triple rooms with a big plugged in AC unit, not ideal with the frequent power cuts. When it comes to hotels in Qamishi one should be realistic and respect the limitations faced in the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria. On the next night though we took ourselves to the best hotel in Qamishi, which shall get its own article later on. This was the Al Burj which not only had great rooms, but also a rooftop bar and a top restaurant. I was really happy with this and it shall get its own article…. Eating in Qamishi The choices for dining in Qamishi are relatively varied, although it is not exactly Dubai. Most food here is of Syrian and Iraqi type cuisine, with things like shawarma and falafel being good and plentiful. We actually got to discover the best shawarma restaurant in Qamishi which shall be covered in another article. Regarding street food Qamishi again we will delve more into this in another article, but the focal point for this is at the amazing Qamishi markets where all manor of street food are offered. Qamishi travel and nightlife guide Is there a Qamishi nightlife scene? Quite simply yes there is, with part of it due to the fact that in the summer this city is hotter than the sun. Therefore even at midnight people are out selling their wares, food shops are open and yes one may buy alcohol…. Alcohol and the party is of course and much like Erbil centered around the Christian quarter. Rojava here has a progressive system whereby Christians can practice their own culture. Therefore Assyrians \(link external) can sell beer, with there being multiple shops. The best bar though is the 11th floor hotel where we were staying, the Al Burj Qamishi . They offer a plethora of drinks that include Lebanese beer, like I had in Beirut (link to TSFG) as well as even shots. For reference I was drinking a bottle of beer and a shot of vodka with it setting me back just under $7. But there was more, with the obligatory shisha, not to mention the best overview of Qamishi available anywhere within the city. This though was largely where it stopped, with tradition and the reality of being a post-conflict zone limiting the scope of party scene within the city. Qamishi travel guide - Getting out From Qamishi it is around 4-5 hours from Raqqa, the biggest city within the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria. This has to be done by car as the Syrian train network has not been working here since the beginning of the civil war. Technically it is possible to get to Assad ran Syria, but this is not an option realistically for tourists in Qamishi. The same can be said for Turkish ran Idib. This leaves two options, the Rojava border with Turkey, which is very difficult, or simply returning to Iraqi Kurdistan. For the uninitiated Qamishi is the capital of Rojava, or as it should be called the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria. Should you visit, can you visit and what can you do here? This is the Qamishi travel guide. While probably not known to that many people, Rojava is currently the most interesting experiment in left-wing direct democracy in the world. Getting here is not very easy, with their being quite literally no tourism industry. If though you do manage to get here you will find a bustling place with enough to offer with regards to eating, sleeping and indeed drinking too. You can read bout Rojava here (link to YPT) How to get to Qamsihi Getting to Qamsihi will involve traveling to Erbil in Kurdistan before needing to cross the border into the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria. This involves getting multiple permissions, but does not involve you “exiting” Iraq, or getting stamp. You should not simply try to cross this border, or you will simply be turned away. I have known this to happen to many people (not me). After you do cross into Rojava you will ideally be metby your local contact from where it is three hours from the border to Qamishi City. To learn about how to visit Rojava in 2024 click here (link to TSFG). Qamishi Travel Guide to hotels…… There is no point beating around the bush here, hotels in Qamishi are really not all that good, nor is there that much capacity. We ended up at a street that had 3-4 hotels on it, all of which were mostly full and did not offer great rooms. Our initial night was spent at the Al Sofrae, which was fairly loud and only offered triple rooms with a big plugged in AC unit, not ideal with the frequent power cuts. When it comes to hotels in Qamishi one should be realistic and respect the limitations faced in the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria. On the next night though we took ourselves to the best hotel in Qamishi, which shall get its own article later on. This was the Al Burj which not only had great rooms, but also a rooftop bar and a top restaurant. I was really happy with this and it shall get its own article…. Eating in Qamishi The choices for dining in Qamishi are relatively varied, although it is not exactly Dubai. Most food here is of Syrian and Iraqi type cuisine, with things like shawarma and falafel being good and plentiful. We actually got to discover the best shawarma restaurant in Qamishi which shall be covered in another article. Regarding street food Qamishi again we will delve more into this in another article, but the focal point for this is at the amazing Qamishi markets where all manor of street food are offered. Qamishi travel and nightlife guide Is there a Qamishi nightlife scene? Quite simply yes there is, with part of it due to the fact that in the summer this city is hotter than the sun. Therefore even at midnight people are out selling their wares, food shops are open and yes one may buy alcohol…. Alcohol and the party is of course and much like Erbil centered around the Christian quarter. Rojava here has a progressive system whereby Christians can practice their own culture. Therefore Assyrians \(link external) can sell beer, with there being multiple shops. The best bar though is the 11th floor hotel where we were staying, the Al Burj Qamishi . They offer a plethora of drinks that include Lebanese beer, like I had in Beirut (link to TSFG) as well as even shots. For reference I was drinking a bottle of beer and a shot of vodka with it setting me back just under $7. But there was more, with the obligatory shisha, not to mention the best overview of Qamishi available anywhere within the city. This though was largely where it stopped, with tradition and the reality of being a post-conflict zone limiting the scope of party scene within the city. Qamishi travel guide - Getting out From Qamishi it is around 4-5 hours from Raqqa, the biggest city within the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria. This has to be done by car as the Syrian train network has not been working here since the beginning of the civil war. Technically it is possible to get to Assad ran Syria, but this is not an option realistically for tourists in Qamishi. The same can be said for Turkish ran Idib. This leaves two options, the Rojava border with Turkey, which is very difficult, or simply returning to Iraqi Kurdistan.

About the Al Burj Qamishi

Located in what is essentially downtown Qamishi it is also central to the Christian quarter. What does the Christian quarter mean? Well much as in other parts of the Middle-East as well as being in line with the leftist principles of Rojava Christians are allowed to live as they wish, such as by making and or selling alcohol – hence the great bar at the Al Burj.

Also of note are that the Al Burj Qamishi is at 11 floors the highest building within the city, which means it offers the sunset views of the Rojavan capital.

Al Burj the best hotel in Qamishi

When it comes too where to stay in not just Qamishi, but Rojava then the Al Burj is generally known as the best hotel and while I have only stayed at 4 Rojavan hotels, I do largely concur.

In actual fact not all elven floors are the hotel with the reception and the the rooms starting on the 6th floor. From what I can gather they go up around 3 floors with there being around 14-16 rooms on the whole of the Al Burj Hotel.

Al Burj
Al Burj
Al Burj
Al Burj
Al Burj

The rooms themselves range from 1-3 beds with prices going from the $20-40 mark, although some paring seems to be just made up on the spot…

The rooms are big if not elegant and consist of a bathroom a huge living room and a bedroom that is equally s big. Essentially it is a suite and not all that different from where I stayed in Zakho.

And while the rooms are a little run down, the view, as well as the value of the rooms makes it the best in Qaameshi.

The best restaurant in Qamishi?

The Al Barj also has what is perhaps the best restaurant and indeed bar within the city located on the 10th and 11th floors. On the 10th floor this is done as a huge indoor and outdoor area with the menu presented via QR code. Now I’m not gonna lie this is really annoying and something I hoped would not be the case in Rojava, but it is just a thing when you tour the Middle-East.

Al Burj
Al Burj
Al Burj
Al Burj
Al Burj
Al Burj

Said menu was also in Arabic, which whilst fair enough did make things a bot harder. The staff though were extremely helpful and “barbecue” as well as various salads dips