Kuwait: The Old Souk

I truly don't understand people when they say there is nothing to do here. That has not been my experience at all. There is much to do, it just requires going to do it. Perhaps people feel that their social life has been curtailed because there is a lack of pubs and no drinking culture--that I do understand. Going out drinking in other cultures, is viewed as "entertainment" and so not going out to drink--would indeed put a damper on one's social calendar! 
However, not being a drinker--I don't have to worry about that, and in fact am finding plenty to do here in KW. 
Case in point, my trip to the Souk ( old market). The people in the stalls were very friendly and congenial--and I truly enjoyed my experience trying to chat with them. All photos have been used with permission. Honest. ( of course I think they are used with permission--perhaps they agreed to something totally different, what with the language barrier and all) ha ha

As with most markets, the goods are arranged according to theme...if you want olives, for example, you dont need to go running around the whole market to try to find your olive stall. All the olive shops are conveniently located in the "olive aisle" ( just like at your local grocery store). I dont know what that does for price competition, but its worked for centuries and who am I to argue with that?

Butcher Alley:

I am an idiot for cutting this guys head off...but you get the picture. 
The butcher alley was amazingly clean and orderly, as you can see from the cleaning implements in the top photo. I have no idea what happens to all the meat they dont sell. 

Perfume and Gold Alleys:
If you have been a reading regular--you might have remembered reading  that scents are big here in the middle east. At the market there is a whole alley devoted to perfumes and smelly concoctions. Now--make no mistake--they sell your bog standard perfumes that you might see in Duty Free..but of more interest to me were the shops where you get to make your own scent choosing essential oils and spices ( or whatever they make perfume out of??). After you are done, the next bit of fun is to choose a lovely decanter, atomizer and attractive gift box. No wonder the wise men gave baby Jesus "Frankincense and Myrrh" I always thought it was a bit of a lame gift, but now...I understand. 

Maybe I will invent my signature scent before I leave KW? Hmmmm will ponder.

The Gold Alley--is, as one might expect full of shops selling...over the top pure BLING!!! 

Fish Alley:

I smelt fish alley long before I arrived in it. But thats ok--nothing wrong with that. Loved all the sea creatures....again--what happens to the fish that doesnt end up on the grill? 

This guy was descaling the fish--they had this handy dandy wire brush that really did a great job of sending the scales flying...but man--what a job. Wonder if they ever get the smell of fish out of their hands? and if not, does it bother them? 

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Teapot and useless enamel container Alley: 

This area cracked me up!  The photo below is a sampling of the many shops that sell exactly the same thing: Tea pots and enamel ware. How many of these pots can they possibly sell in one day?? And what's to make me choose Shop A over Shop B? The whole thing is a mystery to me....

Where I am going to have dinner on this week for sure!!:

In kind of the center of the market, there is a large open air courtyard. The courtyard is surrounded by cafes/restaurants all selling authentic Arabic food. 

These people are waiting for their meal. 

 Kudos to these guys below for letting me snap a picture of their meal. Hummous and vegetablesand "fool" a kind of warm bean concotion, eggs, flat bread...no cutlery--amazing!! Soooooo coming here one night!

All in all it was an amazing experience. I was not shopping so did not buy anything--but even so, I feel that to successfully navigate that minefield, I will have to bring along someone who speaks Arabic. Not a lot of English was spoken here ( and rightly so) so while price negotiating would not be a problem ( one can hold up the right number of fingers, after all) I do feel that getting exactly what you want, might be. ( see above comment on Signature Scents). Also--since the shops are largely empty- and the clerks are very insistent--it is pretty intimidating to start looking and seriously negotiating a deal, unless one means business. I will go back for all that--but for now, it was just a recognizance mission! 

Generally speaking though there was much less " Miss Miss, come look,come look" then in other countries from the same type of venue--India or Thailand for example.

HIGHLY RECOMMEND!!!!!!!!!!

Kuwait: Ode to the Bat Mobile Pt 1

It's time to have a frank discussion about the driving in Kuwait. I have eluded to it in other posts, not wishing to sound petty or critical--but it's time.
But it must be said: the drivers in Kuwait exhibit some of the most arrogant, aggressive, inconsiderate, rude and dangerous practices that I have experienced any where else in the world. Sure, there are bad drivers everywhere, but understand,  the drivers of Kuwait are not 'bad' they just operate like they are the only vehicle on the street. Ever. 
The driving experience requires more than one post, so for now, I will start with the Type of Vehicles Favoured in Kuwait. 
The most popular vehicle in Kuwait seems to be the Land Cruiser Prado. Its a big useless hunk of a car/truck that guzzles gas and leaves a huge carbon footprint.



This is for sure the vehicle of choice for the Kuwati driver. Most of the time, there is only the  driver in the vehicle, although it seats 6, 8 in a pinch. Everyone drives in Kuwait, as its too hot to walk. People drive a block. Really. There are other types of vehicles that are the same basic shape and size, but to me they all look the same. The common feature is: BIG

Another Popular vehicle here in Kuwait is the Range Rover. Yep, its big too. Note the off-roading experience in the photo below. They dont have grass/trees in Kuwait, so obviously I took this photo from the Range Rover website. From what I can see though, the only off-roading that is done is when they drive up over curbs and park on the sidewalks...so again, I am not sure why such a huge truck/car is needed, but there you have it. One cannot ask "why"?? in Kuwait. 



The Grand Cherokee Jeep is also a very popular car here. Again--not sure what they need such a huge vehicle for--my theory is that they like the big vehicles because accidents, which inevitably happen ( more on the driving, in another post) are less fatal if the passengers are protected by a big car. 

The fact that I find very curious about the size of the vehicles is this--aside from the main roads and thoroughfares, the roads are very small and narrow. A smaller, compact car would be much more convenient, practical and save much aggravation, as traffic is impossible on those narrow streets ( more on that later) but noooooooooo people "need" to have the huge honking vehicle instead, and they dont seem to mind being stuck in traffic for hours because the whole street is blocked off by trucks parked on the sides ( and in the middle) of the road, and so nobody can get by. I dont understand that. 

The poor suckers ( like myself) who dont have these big vehicles, are driving Mitsubushi Lancers, Toyota Corollas and Nissan Altima's. 




Yep, its  a lot smaller than the majority  of vehicles on the road...and yep, I have to use my horn a lot to 'be seen'. I have been run off the road, quite literally in this small car...ohhhh for the Bat Mobile, then I'd show em. 

Just an FYI....To fill up (from empty) this medium sized sedan with premium gasoline, costs me 12$. To fill up my similar vehicle in Canada, from empty, costs about 100$.
I have no idea what the gas mileage is on the gas guzzlers the Kuwaiti's drive--but seriously, I dont think it matters. When it comes to cars here, bigger is better and size is indeed, everything. 













We are run off the road. 
Literally--but like I said--thats another post. 

Kuwait: My trip to the hospital

Ok so I did not really go to the hospital...well yeah, I did, but it was just to buy some coffee ( there is a Second Cup there) and not to have anything poked, prodded, x-rayed or repaired. This is what the hospital looks like from the outside:

I know right? Pretty civilized--wait until you see inside!

This is the Emergency Department. What's missing from this picture?? Thats right--PEOPLE! Either they dont get sick here in Kuwait, or the wait time is 2.3 seconds. Just an fyi? It's the latter. 

This is Pediatric Emergency...one kid was in there. Check out all the rooms down the hall. Empty.

I wonder if they hold balls here....the stair case looks very " Gone with the wind" dont you think?

Part of the Emergency Department

The main entrance...is it just me that thinks this looks like a hotel lobby?

Radiology

So here is how hospitals work in Kuwait. There are private hospitals ( like the one above) and there are government hospitals. Private hospitals are pay per use, government hospitals are free. Private hospitals, you get served right away, the care is fast and efficient and it's how a lot of the Kuwaitis get their medical treatment. It's also how all the expats that are here on a cushy compensation package get their medical treatment. ( myself included)

The Government hospitals are for everybody else. The scores of people in Kuwait who do the down and dirty work. The cleaners, the maids, the cashiers the shop girls the bag handlers the waiters and waitresses--all the people that keep Kuwait running in the style that it is accustomed to. 

I would suspect that those hospitals are not quite as pretty. 

Will track one down, and perhaps do a compare and contrast for you? That should be interesting....and kinda scary. 

Plastic surgery is big here. Think...Joan Rivers big. And so is gastric bypass surgery. From what I can surmise, the Kuwaitis believe that throwing money at problems ( aging, obesity) kinda makes the problems go away. I guess it does--for a while, but money really doesn't solve all our problems for long. Honest. 

Another hospital. Private. Note the curved building. They liked that curved building look here--very "Dubai-esque, eh?" ( yep, I just said "eh")