The tale of three American hikers held for over a year in Iran after apparently straying into the country from northern Iraq may have led some to wonder at the wisdom of choosing Iraq as a holiday destination.
But, despite the continuing violence in many parts of the country, there are those who are hoping to persuade people to do exactly that, as the BBC's Gabriel Gatehouse has been finding out.
Azzam told us to stop paddling and just let go.
"Just enjoy it. You're on river time now," he said, as we drifted gently downstream.
There were four of us in the inflatable dinghy. The river itself, the Zab, was a brilliant shade of turquoise-green. On either side, the mountains were yellow, covered in green scrub. And overhead, colourful birds - bee-eaters and hoopoes - swooped and played over the water.
Of all the places I have ever been to in Iraq, this is by far the most beautiful, and the most peaceful.
This is not the Iraq we know from our televisions screens. Not the Iraq of "Shock and Awe", nor the Iraq of the near-daily suicide bombings. This is Kurdistan.
Wedged in between the borders of Iran and Turkey, Iraqi Kurdistan runs its own affairs in the north-east of the country. It is mountainous rather than flat, green rather than arid. And most importantly, it is relatively safe.
Azzam Alwash is an Iraqi-American environmentalist. A few years ago he was instrumental in reviving Iraq's southern marshlands.
Now he has turned his attention to Kurdistan, and he's hoping to turn this part of northern Iraq into a haven for eco-tourists.
One of the attractions he hopes will pull in the punters is white-water rafting.
As we approached the rapids, suddenly we were no longer relaxing on "river time". It was all hands on the oars and mind the rocks as we plunged over.
It was my first time rafting, and it was exhilarating: one minute of pure terror, followed by a wonderful sense of elation as the dinghy resumed its previous gentle pace.
