Kuwait Souq

I joined Axel on one of his business trips this week. He goes to these allusive places, so it is always nice to experience the countries in the flesh. I have always wanted to see Kuwait. I was a teenager of the '90s and the CNN coverage of Desert Storm piqued my interest. I have a lot of my dad in me--always wanting to walk into the fires.

There isn't a whole lot to Kuwait City. However, I think it has a lot more life to the city than Doha. Maybe it is because of its recent history, I don't know, but I think I would prefer it over Doha (other than the stinky sewage issues that are blatantly obvious in 120 degree weather). Axel was critical of Kuwait as a country, until we moved to Qatar and he officially claimed Qatar as the worst Gulf country--lucky us. Funny enough, I love my life in Doha, but my happiness comes from my immediate surroundings and our social network there, the city itself has little to offer.

Outside of the Avenues (arguably the coolest mall in all of the Gulf boasting all the American stores one expat woman could desire), there isn't a whole lot to do in Kuwait. We did, however, visit the Kuwaiti Souq, which is second to our Doha Souq, but still had life and all the oud Axel could possibly purchase.

Wandering the endless alleys was exhausting but every corner exposed a new group of specialized items. I loved the bright, white dishdasha section:

While we were walking this young man stopped us and asked Axel if he could speak 'American' to his little sister. The situation was quite awkward, but cute:

'How are you?

'What is your name?'

'Where are you from?'

'Do you like Kuwait?'

'Thank you, nice to meet you.'

'Good bye'

We were low on Kuwait Dinars so we asked for directions to an ATM from this kind Kuwaiti man. Overall, the locals are rather friendly. Like Bahrain, our taxi driver was a local Kuwaiti. The only difference is, Kuwait has a butt load of oil money. It just isn't equally distributed like it is in Qatar.

What I also loved about Kuwait is that the local women aren't only dressed in black abayas. They mix it up a bit with a different colored hijab and long sleeve shirts with floor length skirts. It makes fashion critiquing so much funner.

What would a good souq be without a fine selection of dates? They taste even better than they look!
The fish market was also a special experience, especially in blasting 125 degree weather. Think of it, dead fish, in intense heat, mixed with a fine raw sewage odor. It was delicious.

What is a good souq without a carpet selection? The carpets in Kuwait aren't as great as Bahrain, but I did happen to find a sweet kilim pillow for a 1/3 of the price they were asking in Qatar. The selection wasn't great, but it is always fun to stare at carpets, good and bad.

The trip was short, but really fun! I would love to visit again. I just may wait until the weather cools down to a balmy 100 degrees.