Kuwait

January 2^nd – 18^th 2023

Kuwait

Miles: 480 (770km)

Miles total: 15’820 (25’470km)

Our report on Kuwait is divided into the following chapters:

Ø  First impressions

Ø  General info

Ø  Sights visited

Ø  Overnight places and encounters

Ø  Traveling with campervan: water, sewage, toilet and gas

Ø  Spare parts for Iveco (transfer case)

Ø  Conclusion

First impressions:

We drive in the dark from the Iraqi border towards Kuwait City. There is not much to see along the road, everything is dark, probably all desert and wasteland. But what is that? A sea of garlands of lights spreads out along the road! The closer we get to the city, the more of these lights appear. From a distance, it looks like a lot of small circus tents that are spread out in the desert. On closer inspection, we see that these are lighted tent camps. But what the heck is going on here? Well, during our time in Kuwait, that mystery is solved. During the cool winter months (December-March), many Kuwaitis set up camp in the desert and use it as a holiday home, where they spend their time at weekends or in the evenings. These tent camps are often very well and generously furnished, with a kitchen tent, living room tent, sleeping places, water tank, toilet, satellite dish, generator, etc. In recent years, large American RV’s have also become fashionable. Each of these camps is fenced with a large awning and windbreak. Arabs value privacy. As a decoration, the garlands of lights are then arranged over the entire camp like a pointed roof. Well, as nice as the whole thing looks, unfortunately, like almost everything, it also has its downsides. Until a few years ago, these tent camps were permitted anywhere and throughout the year. This had serious consequences for flora and fauna: e.g. valuable and very rare grassland, which is normally eaten by sheep, camels and wild animals, was occupied or trampled on; A lot of rubbish was left in the desert, etc. Today, camps can only be set up in designated areas of the desert for four months, you have to buy a license and pay a deposit, which is returned if the site is left clean. Unfortunately, the garbage topic doesn't really work out. We are really shocked what is lying around here in the desert! We didn't expect that...

General info:

Fortunately, there are no dress codes in Kuwait. Nevertheless, I carefully observe and keep my longer dress on the first day. I took off my headscarf after crossing the border into Iraq, pleased. But the first visit to a supermarket shows that moderate Western clothing is not a problem. Nevertheless, traditional clothing is still very important to the locals. Many women wear the abaya (long, usually black robe) and headscarf. However, only a few wear a veil (niqab). Most of the men dress in long, mostly white robes and a white and red scarf covering their heads. As on the entire Arabian peninsula, the share of foreigners (including guest workers) in Kuwait is very high at 70%! Above all, people from India, Egypt, Pakistan, Syria, Iran, Palestine, Philippines etc. work here in the low-wage sectors (construction, maids, retail, domestic workers etc.).

Shopping is again very easy in contrast to Iran. You drive into the huge supermarket and get everything your heart desires. Except for alcohol, which is strictly forbidden in Kuwait (also in hotels!). But the prices are back to western levels! And of course, almost everything is imported. Carrots from Australia, garlic from China, etc. We'll probably have to get used to that in the Gulf States for the next few months. Kuwait relies heavily on food imports from other countries. Approximately 90% of Kuwait's area cannot be used for agriculture! But there are actually also local vegetables, such as tomatoes, cucumbers, aubergines, lettuce, herbs, etc. However, the existing farms are dependent on constant irrigation and greenhouses. Natural water resources are minimal; currently, desalinated seawater and brackish groundwater are used for agriculture. The country is striving to expand its food production and achieve food security with innovative facilities such as vertical farming.

Even with the large selection of restaurants, we are in seventh heaven! We mainly head for the many Indian restaurants, most of which have delicious vegetarian dishes on offer. very well present are also numerous American restaurants chains and cafes like Starbucks etc.

Of course, there are also the big shopping malls with many well-known fast fashion brands and the upper class is also catered for with Gucci and Prada. We actually get lost more by accident in Kuwait's largest shopping mall "The Avenues". We find a car insurance office on the iOverlander app, head for it and park in front of the long building. Only when we have already covered a few miles inside the building, we do realize where we actually are :-).

This mall is not built tall, but long. There are even taxis that chauffeur you through the shopping street. We also buy our local SIM card here, at an unbeatable price of 15$ for 100 GB!

In traffic, we notice that mainly SUVs and bigger limousines are on the road. Small cars are a rarity. The housewife also drives to the shopping center in the large Landrover. The massive and mile-long flyovers (overpasses) are impressive, but make navigating a challenge ;-). The traffic in general is certainly a bit more civilized than in Iran, but people like to jostle here too.

Unfortunately, we didn't discover much that was exciting in terms of landscape in Kuwait. The small country is mainly flat, desert and steppe-like. There are only a few small hills and rocky spots. Entire regions are covered with power lines and huge masts. Huge oil refineries are often encountered along the coast. On the way to the camel race track we come to an area with many "farms" where sheep, goats and camels are kept. At the moment, there are even some patches of green short grass, which the roaming animals happily devour. However, we cannot imagine what the animals eat in summer... Some farms consist only of tent camps, we assume that they do not stay in the same place all year round.

We were also a bit surprised by the weather, because it rained quite heavily a few times and the temperatures were sometimes cool during the day (around 60°F 15°C). And we thought it never rained in the desert ;-). For us it was amusing that the drivers were warned over the radio that it was going to rain heavily. It was asked to check whether the wipers really work! And the emergency number was also mentioned several times. For the locals, the rain is something special. We also noticed that when it was raining, many people were out and about with their hazard lights on! The entire infrastructure is also not designed for heavy rain. We saw many overflowing shafts and other flooded areas.

Sights visited:

A real highlight is the great mosque, which took seven years to build and was completed in 1986. Arriving at the visitor center, we have to wait, because entry is only granted with a guided tour and Maryse has to put on a full body robe. In addition to us, two Chinese girls, one American and one Kuwaiti are also taking part. For an hour, we are guided through the mosque by a very friendly young woman. Admission and the guided tour are free of charge. Inside, a Koran competition is taking place, where boys or young men have to know verses from the Koran by heart and then receive an award. For the evaluation, attention is paid to the pronunciation, the safety or the deliberate setting of pauses. Girls and young women can also take part in the competition, but it will take place on a different day. A rather strange occasion for us. We are blown away by the size and the glamorous items imported from all over the world.

Inside there is room for 10,000 believers. Of course, the Islamic faith is shown and explained from its best side.

Another alleged top attraction is the historic Souq Al Mubarakiya shopping market. After all the bazaars in Iran, this one seemed a bit boring to us. In Iran, these are much more authentic and alive!

But the typical Kuwaiti food that we ate in the midst of the turmoil was wonderful.

Of course, there are also a few museums on the program.

The Maritime Museum is really worth seeing with its exhibits. In addition to the history of old ship-sea-life and shipbuilding, we are particularly enthusiastic about the antique instruments and books that were used for navigation on the high seas!

Another museum is the small but very neat car museum, where, among other things, vehicles are exhibited in which Queen Elizabeth or President Eisenhower were chauffeured.

Now the Dar Al Athar Al Islamiyya Museum is still on the program, which contains archaeological finds from the unique Al Sabah collection. Until the Iraqi invasion in 1990, this collection was on display at the National Museum. During the war, a large part of the collection was stolen or destroyed, which is considered one of the great cultural crimes of the late 20th century.

A sad fact by the way. Kuwait produces almost 100% of its energy from fossil fuels. In today's world, that's a disgrace for a country that has money and the sun shines 340 days a year.

By the way, all the museums we visit are free.

Now for a somewhat controversial attraction. We drive 20 miles (30km) south to the Kuwait Camel race track. The evening before the race we stay overnight nearby and see tons of groups of camels, which are mostly taken for a walk by Africans.

The next day, we first go to lunch nearby and are promptly invited by one of the guests. Now to the camel race itself. The camels start in different groups on the 2.5 to 4 miles (4-5km) long track. The camel owners get ready in the car to cheer on their camel. The animals start running and at the same time an avalanche of off-road vehicles drive close together.

Only so-called robot jockeys sit on the camels, a device with a whip that hits the camels. Up until about 20 years ago, people, mostly very young men or children, sat on the camels. These so-called child jockeys were kidnapped in Pakistan (and probably other countries) at the age of 4 to the Gulf States and used as camel racing jockeys. At about 8 years old, they took part in the races as absolute lightweights. These inhuman methods were heavily criticized internationally and finally banned in Kuwait in 2005. The race doesn't seem to be a picnic for the animals either, because at the end of the race they don't look exactly happy with their foamy mouths. Whether it is tradition or animal cruelty remains to be seen...

Here some pictures of the city. There are some interesting buildings from an architects standpoint. 

Places to stay and encounters:

After the first night in the parking lot of a shopping mall, we are drawn to the sea in the afternoon. Not exactly the prettiest place. As everywhere, there is rubbish, and there are quad bikes, horses and camels to entertain the countless local campers.

We spend the next few nights a little closer to the city. At the sea again. We wake up every morning and see countless flamingos filling their bellies with small animals in the shallow coastal water. It is said that these beautiful pink birds are here all year round.

We walk to the nearby shopping center and discover a pack of tiny young dogs on our beach. 11 of them! As it turns out, we shouldn't have teased them because the whole thing almost ends in disaster. First, one of the little clumsy guys follows us to the street, we run away from him and hide. Did he run back? No, he is not! We see him completely confused in the middle of the street and cars are approaching. My goodness, the poor guy nearly gets run over. A car stops in front of the puppy to protect him from the other vehicles. We'll get in the middle of traffic, grab it and carry it all the way back! While we are back with the dogs, a local man stops next to us and watches us. Since it's really cold at the moment, three little dogs immediately seek warmth under the man's warm car and we can't get them away! What an thrill! One is still underneath and we have the feeling that the man can now slowly drive off. He drives off extremely slowly. And now the shock! The tiny dog lifts it in the air by the back wheel! The man stops immediately! Is the tiny puppy dead? I crawl under the car, he moves! But his neck is trapped in a one inch (3cm) gap between the rim and the brake! Quick analysis of the situation. Now I force the dog out of the brake caliper and take him out! Is he alive?

In order to really have our peace and quiet, we drive over a 16 mile (27km) long bridge to Shumaymah, outside the city. But the heavy traffic on the multi-lane bridge doesn't bode well, we're probably not the only ones there! Also here, are hundreds of camps. We stand in the middle of the desert. In the days to come we will continue to write the Iranian reports. As expected, it's teeming with ATV's and off-road vehicles, some of which keep us awake in the middle of the night. There are still old ruins of buildings nearby, of which we do not know exactly where they come from.

The so-called “Bridge to nowhere” is also a bit strange. The 1.3 mile (2km) long, closed road bridge leads to the island of Bubiyan, a military restricted area. But more than just a bridge, it reinforces Kuwait's claim to the island in the face of previous claims by both Iraq and Iran. That keen was Kuwait to maintain its claim to the uninhabited, flat and barren island and neighboring water supply, that when the Iraqis blew up the middle section of the bridge in 1991, the Kuwaitis quickly rebuilt it even though it goes nowhere!

The days pass and we are back at the sleeping place with the flamingos and the little puppies. Two women we met last time are knocking on our front door. Suzi and Dona. We chat and they offer us everything from a shower to a warm meal or whatever we need. We think we could use a washing machine the most. They give us a phone number and two days later we end up in front of the house to be able to wash our clothes. But not in front of Suzi's or Dona's house, as we actually expected. As we get out of the car, a total stranger couple greets us and warmly welcomes us into their home. They are friends of Suzi and Dona and apparently, we got their phone number :-). And the whole time we thought we were communicating with Dona :-).

Traveling with a camper: Water, sewage, toilet and LPG gas:

As in Iran, there is not a single campsite in Kuwait. So how do we take care of all our needs?

Top up water:

We have been in Kuwait for four days and our water tank is almost empty. All over the city we see filtered water dispensers for drinking water where people can fill up their water bottles. The water in Kuwait is obtained exclusively from desalination plants, then distributed with countless small tank trucks in the city and filled into water tanks there. There is no water supply system here. We got lucky with one of these water dispensers and there is enough pressure for us to pour in about 30 gallons (100L).

We fill our tank with water directly from the truck with a small hose while the water flows into the truck from above. We give the truck driver a tip of 3$ and drive away 450 pounds (200kg) heavier.

Get rid of waste water:

We have no choice but to just let the waste water out somewhere. What we check, however, is that we are not near picnic areas or where there are animals. So often outside of the city on the side of the road. In addition, we use almost exclusively biologically very well tolerated agents and use them sparingly. Incidentally, in Kuwait, 25% of the wastewater generated still ends up untreated in the sea or in the ground.

Empty toilet:

This is also a side of camping. We either empty our toilet at gas stations, public toilets or when we are in the desert we dig a big hole and cover it well again. Here we don't have a bad conscience when you see the thousands of camps outside the city that do exactly the same.

Fill up LPG gas:

Well, this is an interesting story. In all previous countries, filling up our permanently installed tank was no problem and you can easily find a gas station that has LPG gas. It's different here in Kuwait. There are countless places that distribute gas bottles, but no gas station that has gas from the pump. We spend a few hours driving around asking and searching. Nothing. Not a single station is listed on the APP iOverlander or park4night either. Our last chance to head to an RV dealer and ask. Finally, this one can help us! There's only one station in all of Kuwait, but it's only open until 12:30! We postpone the project to another day.

But now! On our last day in Kuwait we go to this LPG filling station in the south of the country expecting some kind of gas station. But this is not the case! We are in the middle of a gas and oil industrial area and it feels like the gas is coming straight out of the ground here ;-). We are standing in front of a large steel gate. One greets us and tells us to wait. We are allowed to drive in a few minutes later, but first we have to hand in our passports, vehicle registration and our cell phones! For safety reasons, no photos! Our personal details are taken and we wait in an office. Another, large American mobile home owned by a local leaves the place and we are allowed to drive to the station on the edge of a warehouse. We have to go back to the office immediately because we don't actually have access to this part of the huge area. Now we have to wait until the head of security comes and approves the whole thing. Finally! He's here and we're discussing the refill. He wants to see the fuel level, but our display is defective. So, we don't know exactly how much goes in. "we just take 20 lbs (10kg)" we suggest. But the gas filling station doesn't even have a meter! After a bit of back and forth we can convince them that we just fill up until nothing goes in, because we have a safety tank where nothing can happen. When the pressure in the line is the same as in the tank, no more gas can get in. And so, we fill. No one has any idea how much goes in! We assume around 30 lbs (15kg).

Now pay. An A4 invoice is issued to us back at the office. 13$. However, we can only pay with a Kuwaiti credit card or APP. The friendly staff will find a solution. They smile and say we don't have to pay anything :-). We get our documents and mobile phones back, move on contentedly after more than an hour and are glad we have a full LPG gas tank again.

Spare parts for Iveco (transfer case):

This story begins in Armenia, where we had 3’200 miles (5’000km) less on the clock. At that time, we had the first cracking noises from the transfer case. Then, 600 miles (1000km) later, Yusef temporarily repaired the transfer case in Tabriz. But of course, we didn't get any spare parts in Iran because of the sanctions. At the beginning of December, we start organizing the necessary new spare parts. A chain and a shift fork for the reduction gear. We contacted the Iveco representative in Kuwait (KAICO) twice by email, without success. No Answer! Then we reach Huzefa from KAICO by phone. The shift fork is available but the chain is not. Not even in Switzerland! According to Huzefa, the shift fork can be ordered if we transfer half of the amount. This is not possible from Iran and so Maryse's mother, Christa, has to send over 200$ to Huzefa in Kuwait via Western Union. In any case, on December 17th everything is done and the part will be ordered. Delivery time: 2-3 weeks. Fortunately, thanks to good connections, we can find the chain ourselves! The transfer case comes from the USA, from a company where I used to work very often. So, I write to a good friend. And promptly he finds a chain in the basement and sends it to Kuwait. Awesome, thanks Dave if you're reading this :-)! In the next four weeks, we will ask Huzefa a total of 9 times. The answers vary from "I'll check" to "I can't look, the system doesn't work" to "It will be here in three days". On January 16th we finally had enough, stop by Huzefa and want to check the tracking number of the shipment. Now we can't believe our ears! What did he just say? The part was not shipped and is not even available! Shocked we stand in the modern store!

Well, in the evening, in Saudi Arabia, we contact the Iveco representative and find out that the fork is effectively unavailable. Looking for something we find a new fork on Ebay Italy. We order the fork on Ebay. First, it goes to my sister in France (the Italians only ship to EU countries because of customs), then to friends in Switzerland and somehow to Saudi Arabia. Let's hope that the Iveco will last another 1000 miles (1000-2000km).

Direction Saudi Arabia border:

The route to the south is shaped by the oil industry. We make a last stop just a few kilometers before the border. An artificially designed residential complex with restaurants, shops, several harbors and many residential buildings. 

Conclusion:

The country of Kuwait and Kuwait City are certainly worth a visit if you are driving through Kuwait anyway or making a stopover by plane. It's certainly not worth flying to Kuwait as it doesn't come close to cities like Dubai. But we felt good and finally had some time to write reports and to reflect and digest the last few weeks in Iran.

.End