Date of Last Visit: Late March, 2011

See Dad, they have hotels in Kuwait. They even have — gasp — MARRIOTTS.

I thought Kuwait City was pretty awesome. I though the JW Marriott was even more so. Mainly because of the lovely staff. The rooms were a bit dated and the Internet in the rooms was only Ethernet (although there was wifi in the common areas), but the people who work for this hotel are really some of the nicest hotel staff I’ve ever encountered. By the end of my stay, they all knew my name. That’s impressive. Most impressive of all though was that everyone seems to have worked for the hotel since it opened more than 20 years ago. That’s BEFORE the war, for those of you up on the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait.

There’s a Japanese restaurant in the hotel called Kei. I had lunch there late one afternoon after a long day of meetings, when I couldn’t get up the energy to head out into the 90+ degree weather and find something else. For a Japanese restaurant in the middle of Kuwait City, you really couldn’t ask for better. This was unexpectedly excellent. The salmon was like it had just been caught and cut up moments before. What a surprise. A pricey surprise (hotel food! sigh.) but a nice surprise nonetheless.

The only downside to the Marriott was that it was pretty expensive. (And of course, just my luck, it was the only business-class hotel with rooms available while we were there.) I got talking to one of the sales guys later in my stay and he explained that hotel prices in Kuwait are more or less fixed. So if you’re  a certain class of hotel, you have to charge a certain price. This means they can’t really be as competitive as they’d like to be.

If I do go back to Kuwait, I would stay here again mainly for the staff. And maybe because I plan to buy a Louis Vuitton bag. (The hotel is attached to the most upscale mall in Kuwait.) That being said, I hope I make my millions before returning so that I don’t blink when it’s time to pay the bill at checkout.

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So while you’re waiting, here are some pics from my time in Kuwait City, Kuwait earlier this week. Enjoy.

After my Thursday night flight had been canceled and I found myself with an extra day in Kuwait, I took a stroll through the new souk in the old souk in Kuwait City on a Friday morning. Friday morning in the Middle East is akin to trying to go grocery shopping in Germany or Belgium or the Netherlands on a Sunday morning. That is, a lot of things are closed. But it was nice because there was a quiet sort of peacefulness to everything. The gentleman in this picture is wearing a dishdasha, which is the traditional Kuwaiti ensemble for a male. Can I say I found it pretty sexy? Is that wrong? This gentleman is not wearing the traditional headcloth though. More on that later.

You might remember that I have a thing for doors. This is a door in the newer part of the old souk.

I stumbled into the meat market in the souk. It was awesome and EXTREMELY clean. All of the butchers — there had to be more than two dozen different stands — were also very charming and kept chanting “Saori, saori!” at me. (Saori, pronounced sow (as in how)-ree, means photo.) This particular butcher is showing me the head of something. I’d say cow, but those look like horns. Steer of some sort? It made me sad to think that here we are in America — this developed-world country — and our supermarket food isn’t as fresh as this.

And our butchers aren’t as bloody. There’s something real about blood now, isn’t there? In the background, you can see a picture of Sheikh Sabah Al-Sabah, the Emir of Kuwait. Sheikh Sabah has done some good things for Kuwait, namely promoting tourism, women’s rights, and freedom of the press.

This gentleman is a Kuwaiti fishmonger. He is wearing a keffiyeh, the traditional Arab headdress. It has a very simple purpose: protect you from the heat and dust. This red-and-white version is somewhat of an anomaly in Kuwait, where the vast majority of the male population wears a very crisp and clean white version called a ghutrah. (I am dying to know how they keep their whites so white, by the way. Because I looked for dry-cleaners and I didn’t see any. Bleach sales must be very high in Kuwait.)

Seriously, the fish market was a seafood lover’s dream. I wish I had taken more photos. Can anyone name these fish? Seafood is a big part of the Kuwaiti diet. Kuwait, after all, is on the water.

Spices and candies and nuts, oh my! This place smelled fantastic.

After the souk, I tried to go to the National Museum, but it was closed. (Friday. Bah.) So instead, I went to Kuwait Towers and took the elevator to the top. These towers were severely damaged during the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, which began in 1990. There is much love in Kuwait for America because of the US involvement in the Gulf War. There are also many American cars in Kuwait because of this. My best interaction of the trip…

Me to hotel on Attempt #2 of flying out of Kuwait: “Are you going to drive me to the airport in a Mercedes like last night?”
Hotel: “Oh no. It will be something better. Much better. Many times more comfortable for you. You will like it very much.”
Me: “Really? Wow. That’s cool. I mean, what could be better than a Mercedes?” (I start imagining rolling up to Kuwait Airport in a Bentley or a Rolls.)
Hotel: “Ah, here it is. Come with me. Tonight you go to the airport in a Chrysler! Very good car. Very good. American car. Very good.”

You should know that in Kuwait, you can buy FOUR GALLONS OF GAS — 16 LITERS — for $3.60 USD.

This was one of my favorite buildings in Kuwait City. It reminds me of a keffiyeh or an abaya fluttering behind you as you walk. It’s called the Al Hamra tower and it’s a Skidmore, Owings and Merrill Building, for those of you keeping track. Al Hamra is the tallest building in Kuwait.

The Gulf. I think we have this idea (and I use “we” loosely here) from TV that the Middle East is all desert. That there are camels everywhere. The Gulf is lush and the water is turquoise. They have jet skis in Kuwait.

After I checked out the souk and Kuwait Towers, I went to the mall. Avenues Mall. It was HUGE. They had IKEA there. And Pinkberry. Quoting from the Visit Kuwait Web site, Avenues offers the following: Pizza Express, T.G.I. Friday’s, Ruby Tuesday’s, Nando’s, Chili’s, Pizza Hut, Johnny Rockets, KFC, McDonald’s, Burger King, Hardee’s, Costa Coffee, Starbucks, Caribou Coffee, Le Notre, Dunkin’ Donuts, The Chocolate Bar, Columbus Coffee, and the Krispy Kreme.

(THE Krispy Kreme. Cracks me up every time.)

Seriously, Avenues was exhausting. And expensive. And my feet hurt. It was time to go home. To pack, and to work on some blog posts.

The post Photos from #Kuwait City first appeared on Passport Delicious | Solo Travel Blog | Solo Female Travel.

I’ve had a busy three days here. I’ve seen the back of a lot of taxis and drank more coffee than I have since I gave up caffeine in 2008. It is SO hard to say no to coffee here.

I’ve read the English-language daily paper here every morning and wondered “What must they think of us?” It’s all the worst of America’s news.

I’ve been fascinated by the expat community: Egyptians, Philippinos, Bangladeshis and more. Many have been here since before the war…21 years ago.

Since my arrival, my Arabic is better than ever: I’ve added “No problem” to my (entertainingly limited) vocabulary, and I can finally remember how to say 7, 8, 9, and 10. (Prior to this, I could only count to 6 in Arabic.)

And everyone has just been so gosh darn NICE.

Kuwait, I think I like you. I will just have to come back.

***Update*** Shortly after posting this, I left for the airport for my flight back to the States. Denied. Cancelled. So looks like I’ll have another 24 hours to get to know Kuwait City!

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