It's all to play for in January ... a copy of the Arabian Gulf Cup attached to the bus bonnet stands gleaming in the sunshine
The Gulf Bus will hit the road in the next few days in a journey of peace and love from Basra where the Arabian Gulf Cup football tournament is due to take place in January. All photos: Essam Jaafar Athab
The bus parks outside Basra Museum
The wood-panelled buses were the main means of public transport in Basra for decades
A Chevrolet agent in Iraq imported Chevy Apache vehicles in the 1950s that were later converted by local carpenters in Basra into buses by building wooden sidings
The bus will be driven by the last craftsman in Basra, Jassim Al Assmar, and visit Iraq’s 18 provinces before heading to the Gulf states to promote the eight-team tournament
The seats are covered with flat-woven kilims prepared by Iraqi female farmers from the southern province of Samawa, with sayings such as 'You are welcome' and 'Our Gulf is one'
The Gulf Bus outside Basra International Stadium as the flags of the eight competing countries are displayed
The bus outside Al Menaa Olympic Stadium in Basra
Essam Jaafar Athab, a filmmaker and a professor at Basra’s Fine Arts College, spent nearly 60 million Iraqi dinars ($40,000) to rejuvenate the ageing bus
It's all to play for in January ... a copy of the Arabian Gulf Cup attached to the bus bonnet stands gleaming in the sunshine
The Gulf Bus will hit the road in the next few days in a journey of peace and love from Basra where the Arabian Gulf Cup football tournament is due to take place in January. All photos: Essam Jaafar Athab
The bus parks outside Basra Museum
The wood-panelled buses were the main means of public transport in Basra for decades
A Chevrolet agent in Iraq imported Chevy Apache vehicles in the 1950s that were later converted by local carpenters in Basra into buses by building wooden sidings
The bus will be driven by the last craftsman in Basra, Jassim Al Assmar, and visit Iraq’s 18 provinces before heading to the Gulf states to promote the eight-team tournament
The seats are covered with flat-woven kilims prepared by Iraqi female farmers from the southern province of Samawa, with sayings such as 'You are welcome' and 'Our Gulf is one'
The Gulf Bus outside Basra International Stadium as the flags of the eight competing countries are displayed
The bus outside Al Menaa Olympic Stadium in Basra
Essam Jaafar Athab, a filmmaker and a professor at Basra’s Fine Arts College, spent nearly 60 million Iraqi dinars ($40,000) to rejuvenate the ageing bus
It's all to play for in January ... a copy of the Arabian Gulf Cup attached to the bus bonnet stands gleaming in the sunshine