Gallery: In Kurdistan, life rolls on just miles from IS

An overview of the old part of Akre, as seen from the top of Akre Qale a hill above the town. On the top of the hill are the still visible remains of a small medieval castle (MEE/Jerzy Wierzbicki)

The famous Shanidar cave where archaeologists have found remains of Neanderthals (MEE/Jerzy Wierzbicki)

A large pile of cash left unguarded in a small exchange bureau in Akre indicating how safe some feel the area is guarded by just CCTV (MEE/Jerzy Wierzbicki)

A young girl from the local village (MEE/Jerzy Wierzbicki)

A group of boys in the central part of Gunduk village came to see what the European visitors were up to. It seemed to be a sensational sight to them (MEE/Jerzy Wierzbicki)

Some of the local children from Gunduk (MEE/Jerzy Wierzbicki)

A local man uses a donkey to get through the mountains (MEE/Jerzy Wierzbicki)

An old Peshmerga fighter in the tea shop behind a bazaar in Akre. Like all former guerrillas, he still wears traditional clothes and always carries a mall knife and a handgun with him (MEE/Jerzy Wierzbicki)

An overview of the Great Zab, an important river in Kurdistan (MEE/Jerzy Wierzbicki)

"A small boy I met on the street in Akre. He played with other boys on the street and all of them were very happy and smiley." (MEE/Jerzy Wierzbicki)

Shanidar cave in the Bradost Mountains, known for its prehistoric remains. This is a place where archeologists have found evidence of Neanderthals and a team of British archeologists are still excavating the site (MEE/Jerzy Wierzbicki)

A typical Kurdish shepherd dog wanders around Gunduk Village (MEE/Jerzy Wierzbicki)

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