Ivan’s Travel Advice and Observations — Kuwait May 1998

Kuwait City landing one should sit on the right as the city is along the water and these will be on the right both on landing and departure. Airport has been renovated and is modern, works very well and even though I had to collect my visa upon arrival (i had been e-mailed a copy of it which i showed to the immigration agent who collected the hard copy), i was out within 20 minutes. There are no tourist visas to kuwait; only business visas issued by invitation although if you reserve a room at a major hotel such as the sheraton or meridian (about $200 a night) they will arrange a visa for you. You can also get decent hotels for $100 a night. It may be worth the visit just to go shopping. The cost to a Kuwaiti of obtaining my visa was $6 which is probably a lot less than it would cost me had I gone through the kuwaiti embassy in the US (by the way, the local currency is the kuwaiti dinar and one dinar equals roughly 3.3 dollars) but he insisted on treating me to this and everything else.

This area of the world is not exactly removed from popular culture; the newspapers tell you everything that’s going on not just in america but everywhere else since this area has an eye and ear out toward asia as well as europe and satellite tv carries many stations from america. The majority of kuwaitis speak english and have visited america and a good number of them go to europe to shop although many things are much cheaper to buy in kuwait in short, kuwait and the united arab emirates are one helluva duty free shopping zone and you don’t have the duties and taxes here that you see all over europe and the rest of the middle east .

Sightseeing

We passed by a campus of hospitals (kuwaitis are proud of the free and high quality public health care system; not like other places where any sensible person who could afford to do so would bypass a bumbling and slow public system for a private doctor), the national mosque, parliament building, museum, restored historical ship known as Al-Muhallab (after all this is a settlement on the arabian gulf / called by the iranians the persian gulf and the kuwaitis, before the discovery

of oil, were essentially a sea-oriented shipping and trading country), palaces of the emir’s family (which are not open to the public), the stock exchange and some of the leading banks (which attract capital of kuwait and other gulf countries); then an outdoor strip shopping mall; a big indoor shopping mall and a supermarket. Many American chains are in kuwait and you see the odd assortment of Fuddruckers and Chili’s rising out of the desert all over (obviously all the big boys are there too and they are doing well). The Godiva store has more extravagant wrappings and designs than I’ve seen elsewhere but prices are similar to that in the states. The big shopping mall features all kinds of fountains and marble, pictures of the royal family (de rigeur in this part of the world), a cineplex of movie theaters, a food court and many other stores

and things we are all used to seeing. You can buy a pair of eyeglasses for $200 to $400 but for $400 you have a choice of the best fashion frames from Germany, Japan, Italy and elsewhere and the newest lense technologies. About what I’d pay in the US but much more selection. No sales taxes here. Clothing is reasonably priced and I pick up a pair of French suave blue jeans priced at about $70 including alterations which i couldn’t find in the US for less than $100 and not in my size at any price. Probably a great place to buy perfumes and other small things you buy in a duty free area. I am told it is a good place to buy gold and if you buy a diamond there a government-provided service will give you a free appraisal to ensure you bought what you thought you bought. We took some coffee/juice and cake in the mall and I found out that in this country people take their desserts very seriously. I would come back just for the desserts having had a good number of excellent ones during my just-under 48 hour visit.

We visited the Sultan Supermarket which is open 24 hours and which featured many men shopping alone at 11 at night. There are many night owls in Kuwait. Not everyone goes to work in the morning hours. Good produce, much of it flown in daily and a huge market with lots of

prepared take out items with some prices cheaper and others more expensive than the US. Grocery shopping is probably overall the same price here as in the us. Everything is modern with bar codes, all the brands you know and very nice presentation. I picked up some candied dried fruit treats from syria and other unusual places. We ate dinner upstairs atop the supermarket at a buffet and there was plenty to eat such as green and yellow vegetables and rice, potatos, hummus, salad bar, white fish, and tons of desserts, some of it cake, sticky stuff, custard, hot and cold. Of course there were plenty other foods as well. I am assured that the Department of Health closely regulates restaurants and the penalties for failing inspection are severe. Finally, it’s about 11 at night and time to call it a day. I scan the radio stations and find several ones broadcasting in english; i e-mail a quick letter to my brothers back in the states. Must have been unusual getting e-mail from kuwait but hey, the world’s gotten so much smaller. Kuwait could be Tampa, Florida for all you’d know. Same highways, plants, buildings and chain stores such as McDonalds, KFC and Subways all over the place. Isn’t it sad you can’t escape all this half a world away?

At least here people don’t lock their doors at night. A neighbor might drop in unanounced to ask if he can print something up on your laser printer. It is a safe place though the Iraqis, in penetrating the cocoon and in making a mess that is still being cleaned up 7 years later

in certain places if you look real hard, have forever shattered the complacency that used to exist here. One thing about the Iraqis; they not only looted everything in sight but set themselves about toward destroying all vestiges of Kuwaiti culture and identity in their attempt to make kuwait appear to be part of iraq. For instance, the boat that sat in the national museum as a remembrance of kuwaiti history was torched and destroyed for no good reason. The boat I saw was built from scratch after the Gulf War to, among other things, restore the national pride and it is in consideration of the iraqi spite that kuwaitis are still really angry about the invasion. I don’t think it will ever be forgiven.

my host’s son looks so good in his cream colored dishdasha (the standard outfit worn by males in the gulf that to first appearances is a bedsheet) and I’ve decided I and my little nieces (they’re still so young that it will wear unisex on them as a housegown) will look good on them too so i will definitely get some to take home. (I tried on mine this past weekend at home and they are real comfortable with smooth linen. This part of the world is definitely enjoying something the West

hasn’t caught onto although I suppose that fashion being what it is someday Gucci will decide that everyone must wear dishdasha and they will sell in the US for $100 apiece.) When a boy becomes a teenager, he will also wear a white scarf that also covers his head and fasten the headcovering with two black strands of rope-like material. This is the man’s weekday outfit he wears to work and in the streets; on the weekends or at the university he can wear jeans or whatever he likes. The woman wears a headcovering such as a scarf. I didn’t see too many women wearing chadors or veils but they certainly exist. Mind you, I am with elite Kuwaitis; the beduin who are also kuwaitis run on a different frequency which is more tribal and I don’t know much about them but it would not be a stretch to say that elite kuwaitis don’t think of the beduin as being in the same league.

A drive around to look at the pretty houses people live in; for the most part people don’t like to be ostentatious but some of the newer houses tend to be more bold than the older ones. Then a short visit to Sulaiman’s office at a government ministry where he designs websites. Everyone speaks english, shakes hands and is friendly. Then to pick up mail at the post office (5 day local mail delivery means this particular branch of the country has yet to get with the program).

Another excellent buffet lunch (about $30 a person) atop the kuwait towers which are very pretty tall obelisks overlooking the city. These and other towers known as the Freedom Towers help distinguish the cityscape that is the capital of Kuwait. Khaled dressed in his dishdasha says “howdy” to me and I feel like i’m in texas man. Then to the outdoor sooq to buy some dishdashas; sulaiman and his wife are bargaining with the shop keepers to get a good quality piece and price

on these $2 items (although you can get a custom made one for $100); you can get caviar here from the caspian sea also at a good price and is sold in the part of the sooq that is being moved indoors and renovated.

We ran into some American soldiers on leave before the end of their tour; they are kept away from the civilian areas and know very little about kuwait. We looked at electronics (all the newest stuff from japan is here), clothing fabrics (buy to make your own suit or shirt) and went to hidden upstairs stores to look at shoes. You can buy a simple washing machine for under $100 and you can of course get the best and brightest for more. At least there are affordable items here for those who can’t afford the best. Most Kuwaitis want brand names and are willing to pay the extra money to get the Tiffany’s stamp. Many English items were cheaper here than in the UK (just the 17.5% VAT in the UK is enough of a pinch).

We visited a coop store that Sulaiman’s wife is a member of, and there were $5 Polo shirts and $15 versace jeans; i know it’s Indian manufactured, it could be overruns or fakes I don’t know. But it looked good and the prices were as cheap as i’ve ever seen stuff like this.

Wednesday we go to airport; check-in and passport control takes 5 minutes and i’ve got plenty of time to hang around the duty free (no liquor sold) and walk around the airport. The newspapers have plenty of political debate and the fact that a gallon of gasoline will rise from 50 to 60 cents is big news. It’s a 6 1/2 hour noontime flight to London on Kuwait Airways and it is a wonderful airline with a brand new Boeing 777 airliner with good food, personal entertainment systems in front of each seat and the plane is 2/3rds empty. The kuwait-london flight cost me $675 one-way; I am paying royally in a region in which airfares are pricey. Sit on the right side for the afternoon flight and the view of downtown London as you come into Heathrow.

A couple more random travel observations in no particular order: Tourist hotel and food prices are quite reasonable. Certain things are pricey; long distance international telephony at $1-2 a minute to the US for instance. Roads are good with some 4 and 5 lane expressways and traffic tends to

move; fun for a teenager might be hot-rodding his car or strolling along the gulf promenades and a McDonalds;no public sales of alchohol (not even in the airport duty free); bahrain is about a 3-4 hour drive away and this is a sort of pleasure palace for kuwaitis with nightclubs and other assorted relative decadence. no nightclubs in kuwait. there are some churches. islamic behavior codes are not enforced in public and people pretty much dress as they wish but the sharia is legal law in kuwait. people act with common sense; i stumbled into an all-girls luncheon and good sense told me to get out of there quick!

Lots of fixup since the 1991 war; kuwait probably looks better now than it did before the war. Residences are generally one or two story houses, some of them quite grand. Good amount of greenery in public places and this is expensive to maintain; some tall condos near the sea. Things

tend to work, and the food and water is good. Most public signage is bilingual (english and arabic). Friendship for the US is strong; people here like america. 1 hour drive to iraq border; 2 hours to iran border. People seem to like the country’s political system and do not appear to be demanding change even as the oil market slides and it becomes harder to maintain the social services people have come to expect over the years. Dishdashas are a good equalizer; you don’t have to go to school or work with all kinds of fancy suits and ties.

Municipal workday is 7-2 (and I am told it’s strict with most civil servants punching timecards) with Thursday and Friday off; private sector differs but figure a 35-40 hour workweek. Generally, siesta is sacred in this country and people go home to eat lunch and take naps. The kids come home too and this is a great contribution to family life. Many kuwaitis study abroad but return. It is a cash-driven society; not big on credit cards or interest but this is changing slowly. Population of

kuwait is 1.8 million; about a third are native kuwaitis; the rest are foreigners working and living in the country.

All in all, i didn’t find gold in the streets and kuwait is not an obnoxiously wealthy place as I expected, and the people were nicer than I expected having never heard one nice word about a kuwaiti from other people in the region. Most probably jealous brethren. Nice quality of life, at least for kuwaitis. Worth a return visit for shopping and some really nice people. I’ll admit to you I met very few of them and that much of my impressions are influenced by this but I feel confident that I got an accurate picture of the country and stand on this report until proven otherwise. i definitely felt with sulaiman and his wife like i was with some of my relatives, some of whom have a lot in common with them. sulaiman always says to me “i swear, ivan, you will love it” — and i always do. many thanks to sulaiman and family for hosting my visit.

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