Why Kuwait? (Blog reposted from old site)
Yes, I went to Kuwait. No, not by way of Uncle Sam but as a tourist.
Nobody could believe I wanted to go but the truth is that I have always wanted to see the Kuwait Towers.
I started out at Indianapolis and flew a Northwest Airlink CRJ-200 to Philadelphia. I had about 4 hours at PHL in which I just sat around the airport. The next flight was a British Airways 777 from PHL to London Heathrow. They put me up in Economy Plus. In London, I had a few hours again and so I just sat around the airport. I was able to purchase some breakfast with some pounds that I still had from previous trips. My next trip was on a Kuwait Airways 777, nonstop to Kuwait. I was impressed with the Kuwait service. I was also surprised about how many Americans were on the flight, including many Military. It was about 6pm or so when we touched down at KWI. The Immigration procedure was slow and took well over an hour, even though there were only about 5 people in line. I paid my fee for the visa and was off to the curbside. On the way out I saw many Military people waiting for inbound passengers and they looked at me like I was one. They were confused when I just walked right past them! I'm here as a tourist!
The first thing I remembered when I walked out was the heat. It was warm but not unbearable, especially since I lived for ten years in Las Vegas. My driver was there with a sign and soon I was off to the Sheraton Hotel.
Kuwait is extremely expensive. The Kuwaiti Dinar makes the English Pound seem like a real bargain compared to th US Dollar. The rate is about $3 USD to KD1. Naturally, I could not find cheap accomodations in Kuwait. Even with the airline discount, I paid almost $200 per night at the Sheraton. They did put me up in a huge suite with a fantastic view of the Kuwait Towers and the Arabian Gulf. I freshened up and went for a walk. The traffic was heavy and there were people everywhere! Mostly it was familys out near the beach. I found everyone to be very friendly. I walked towards the Towers and it took about 15 minutes. I went to the top and also snapped a few photos of the area. On my walk back, I stopped for a meal at Fuddruckers. I walked back to the hotel and went to sleep.
The next morning, I was up pretty early. I went down and had some breakfast. I then hit the streets again. It was real quiet out and I found out that most people stay inside during the day due to the heat. The heat was brutal this day but it is mostly a dry heat so I could deal with it. I walked towards the Towers again and got a daytime view. I snapped many more photos and then took a taki to the Marina Mall. It was so nice to be inside that mall with the air conditioning!
I walked all through there and bought some souvenirs at a Hallmark store. I also went to Cinnabon.
After the mall, I walked over to the Hard Rock Cafe for lunch. It was about a five minute walk along the shore. I stayed in there for over an hour, hydrating myself with lots of iced tea! After my meal, I caught a taxi back to my hotel. I had a flight that evening but the Sheraton let me keep the room all day until I finally checked out at about 5pm. I was able to shower and freshen up before heading to the airport. The hotel driver took me to KWI airport in about 20 minutes time.
I went inside and the place was packed with people. This was obviously a very busy time for KWI. I like to sample exotic airlines and so when I saw that I could fly Sri Lankan Airlines on the Kuwait to Dubai route, I purchased a ZED! After checking in, I wandered around KWI airport, purchasing a few gifts and also had a bite to eat at McDonald's. It was cool to see all the exotic airlines there, including Iran Air. At about 7pm, I was on a Sri Lankan Airbus 330. The flight would go Kuwait-Dubai-Colombo, but I would only ride until Dubai. The service was outstanding! They had a exterior camera to watch the take-off and climb out. There was also a full meal and drink service even thought he flight time was an hour or less. There was also a duty free service.
My intention was to arrive in Dubai and do a day trip but the flights filled up. I had about 6 hours in Dubai and did leave the airport but that is not enough. That trip was something to be done in the future.
Dubai airport is massive! I was hoping to do some of the "famous" shopping there but would not have time. I arrived back at the Emirates counter about an hour before departure and they put me on the list. She told me to be seated and she would call me. I am freaking out as time is dwindling in a hurry. It was down to less than 30 minutes before she called me up. She gave me a seat and told me to go to the gate. She did not tell me to hurry but I ran the whole way anyways and I am glad I did! I barely made it.
I settled in for the long flight to New York-JFK, onboard an Airbus 340-500.
Wow! Emirates is as amazing as they say! The entertainment was the best and included about 50 different movies and 600 music chanels. I had a hard time sleeping with all that! We arrived into a foggy JFK airport the next morning.
This was going to be a loooooooong day! I tried the first NW flight to Detroit and did not get on. I decided to take the bus to LGA airport since there are nonstops to Indy. Great, the fog has moved in worse! Why couldn't I get on that DTW flight! The airport was a mess! Many inbound LGA flights diverted to JFK. I sat in LGA all day long and finally hopped on the last flight to Indy on Northwest. I arrived back home at about 9pm.
That was my quest to see the Kuwait Towers! Another crazy nonrev trip down!
