There are no chickens in Arbil. They’ve all been rounded up and turned into kebabs. Here, the imams do the job of a crowing cockerel by waking up the neighbourhood at the crack of dawn.

Just from my hotel room window I can see at least four mosques. At 4:45 every morning they crank the speakers up to 11 and start wailing. It’s the Koran in Surround Sound.

This is what it sounds like.

I don’t mind people having the freedom to practice their religion. I just wish they’d do it quietly.