Ahmed Rezani is from the village of Razan in the mountainous Balkayati area in the east of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. He guides visitors on Stage 12 of the trail, from Rezan to Choman, and he and his family welcome walkers in their home. Ahmed is a founding member of the Zagros Mountain Trail and has been involved since 2017. He fought as a Peshmerga, and knows every path in the region; he was a primary scout for the route of the trail, and led the team on hundreds of kilometres of alternative paths to find the right one. He is also a great storyteller, with a huge repetoir of folk tales and histories of the region. His family are equally enthusiastic about welcoming visitors to their village.

“My name is Ahmed Rezani. I am from Razan, which is one of several villages that make up the Balkayati area. All the villages in our area are beautiful. Razan is located on the slopes of Mount Mamarot, which is very well known in Kurdistan. Our village is famous for pleasant weather and a clear river that flows from the larger Choman river. Most people here work on farms, with wheat and barley and also lush orchards. In fact, the name in Kurdish comes from the abundance of orchards. Since 2017, I have been working with the Zagros Mountain Trail, which is an amazing project to me. I want as many people as possible to see our beauty.”