The queue winds through a small back street in the northern city of Mosul, nervous men and women clutching the precious bus tickets that will take them out of their native Iraq, many for the first time.
None have passports. All are excited that within hours they will cross the border into Syria.
PHOTO: REUTERS
"I'm going to stay in a hotel, visit some historic tourist sites, and just lie on the beach!" said Feras Mothafa, who is 35 and has never left Iraq.
A typist, Mothafa is taking advantage of an arrangement between Damascus and Baghdad to allow a limited number of Iraqis a taste of life outside their own borders.
Under the agreement, passengers on special buses are allowed to enter Syria, which borders Iraq along the western desert, without visas or passports. They are allowed to stay for 10 days.
"The Syrians will probably be surprised to see me there, but they are nice people and have a similar culture to ours. I'm really looking forward to it," Mothafa said.
It is not a cheap holiday, nor is it easy to come by. The ticket for the eight-hour bus journey to the northern Syrian city of Aleppo costs US$20 -- roughly equivalent to two weeks' wages in Mosul -- and there are only 270 sold for each trip.
About 1,200 Iraqis apply for seats, and everyone has different reasons for wanting to go.
"People are interested for both tourism and business," said Captain Blake Hamm, who oversees the trips as the US army representative for public transport.
"There are all kinds of business opportunities -- a lot of import-export can be done between Syria and Iraq."
Access to superior medical supplies is another common reason for travel.
Walid Majid Hassan said he was going to buy equipment for his son, a doctor wanting to open a practice in Iraq.
Another passenger is heading over the border to get a kidney removed.
There are concerns that people could just use the fledgling scheme to leave the country for good, though without documentation it would be difficult to move around Syria.
There is also some criticism that the selection process is rather arbitrary.
"They choose names which they recognize," said unemployed Bashar Shamoun who applied as soon as the announcement was made on the local television network.
"Eventually I might get my chance, but the trips might be stopped at any time."
For many though, the journey is above all a chance just to relish the atmosphere in another country.
"Our best holiday spot is the mountains here up north. But this can get dull after a while and there aren't many other places to relax," said Mothafa's traveling companion, Besman Salah.
He has been saving for three months for the holiday and has a budget of US$150, with which he hopes to visit Tartus and the coastal resort of Lattakia.
"I'd like to go for more time but due to the cost it's probably for the best," he said.
The system might not be perfect, but those taking the bus appear to be grateful. And bus driver Matlob Ali certainly relishes his job.
"It's an indescribable feeling to be taking these people across the border for the first time," he said.
"Now the gate is open for Iraqis to share experiences with other people and relax somewhere different."
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