Kuwait Adventure

Our little trip to Kuwait was pretty easy going. I didn't expect a great adventure or anything. It is one of those countries you go to just to say you've been. It was an interesting country to be sure. The first I ever learned about Kuwait was during the war back in the 90's. I remember hearing a lot about it (I was 8 or 9 then) but I didn't really understand it. Even now, twenty years later, the effects of the war are still felt among the population. They are probably the only country in the Middle East that was in favor of the Iraq War which started in 2003. Not surprising since Saddam Hussein tried to take them over (and killed many people in the process).
Here is a map of Kuwait. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia, Iraq, and Iran. It was weird to think that we were only a few hours away from Iraq by car. When we arrived at the airport things were a little slow. Kuwait is the most similar country to Saudi Arabia out of all the Middle Eastern countries I have been to (hence the slowness). As we left the airport there was a sign saying "welcome to all our liberation partners" - basically a thanks to all those countries who helped them when Iraq invaded.

Kuwait City is the capital of Kuwait. Kuwait is such a tiny country most of the population lives in or near this city. I thought the city was much prettier than I imagined. They have some nice buildings with some pretty cool designs. The above pic is the view from our hotel room window.

Here is another pic. This is near one of the malls (because this is a Middle Eastern country there are a ton of malls!) This mall was along the coast. We went to 3 or 4 malls in this city because there isn't a ton to do. What did we do at the malls? Watch movies of course! Since movie theaters are forbidden in Saudi we had to take the time to see some good ones. We saw Harry Potter 7.2 while we were here which I have to say was pretty good! Much better than 7.1 which I didn't like much.

Sunset along the Persian Gulf. We walked along the Corniche to kill time waiting for the movie to start.

Here are 3 ladies in abayas enjoying the sea. We have a friend who lived in Kuwait during the 90's and she says that more women wear the abaya now than they did in the 90's. I asked here why this was and she didn't really know the answer. Kuwait is less strict and more friendly to foreigners so they don't take on an extreme strict attitude like Saudi Arabia does.

This is a pretty popular landmark in Kuwait City. These are the water towers near the water park. You can also go inside one of them to view the city. Whenever we went to points of interest in the city they had posted in these places pictures of the destruction during the war. These towers were in pretty bad condition after the Iraqis invaded (as well as the rest of the city.)

Inside the tower.

Chris took this pic of Kuwait City while in the tower. Not bad, though the windows were kind of dirty so it was difficult to get a clear shot of the city.

Here is the Grand Mosque of Kuwait.

A nice Kuwaiti man gave us a tour of the mosque. The inside was surprisingly big compared to how it looks on the outside. As you can see it is very beautiful and spacious as most of the grand mosques we've been to tend to be.

Here I am talking to our guide. He was a great guy. He has frequently been to the U.S. and even studied there during the 70's. I asked him if people were nice to him. He said they were not. He lived in a small town in either Oregon or Washington. He lived there during the Iran revolution in 79 when Americans had a pretty extreme hate towards Ayatollah Khomeini. This caused a lot of animosity towards Muslims in America despite the fact that he was neither Iranian nor a Shi'a Muslim. Despite this I think his feelings were more positive to the U.S. as he goes there frequently. He does believe there is a moral degradation going on there as people seem to be less church going these days.

Here are some men doing construction on the inside of the mosque. Our guide told us that even today, 20 years later, there are still cracks and things in the mosque from during the war. I asked our guide if he was in Kuwait when Iraq invaded. He said he was and that he and his family fled to Qatar until the end of the war.

Here is the "Westerners Perception of Islam Centre" which is a part of the Grand Mosque complex.

Here is the Kuwait House for National Works - Not to Forget Museum. This museum is dedicated to the war crimes commited against the Kuwaiti people. It was a very interesting and eye opening place.

When we arrived at the museum we told them we were from America so they got us some English speaking guides. They were four girls probably around 14 or 15. Their English skills were okay but the best part was that they were competing to say whatever they could in their best English, even when the automated voice was talking they would try to talk over it. Chris and I were impressed that these girls were here working in this museum learning about their country's history. They were born after the Persian Gulf War of course. At one point one of the girls said "I hope you understand what we say" I assured them that we did. It was refreshing to be in a country where we could talk to women (or teen girls in this case) in a competely innocent situation without people being paranoid about it. I often find it ridiculous that men are supposed to ignore women like they don't exist because of some crazy fear that they might do something inappropriate. A simple smile or hello to a woman in Saudi Arabia could be seen as a come on. As we continued the museum had many pictures of those killed during the war and the heroic men and women who fought against the Iraqis. They also had some horrifying pictures of men and children badly disfigured in the war. They were very graphic(sp?). There was one part dedicated to the destruction that Saddam Husein caused not only in their own country, but other countries, including his own. It was pretty disturbing to see it all.

Here I am in front of a toppled statue of Saddam. Throughout Iraq there were various statues of Saddam Hussein. You might recall that famous picture or video of them pulling down one of the statues. These statues now reside in various museums. I think there are 9 or 10. The Americans gave one of these statues to Kuwait and here it is. They absolutely detest this man. It was weird because Saudis tend to really respect him, which I find odd since their own country also helped fight against him during the Persian Gulf War. Many suspect he might have tried to take a part of Saudi Arabia had he succeeded. One of the battles fought during that war was even in a Saudi town.

The cool space needle like tower behind me is Liberation Tower. A very popular landmark in the city.

The above house is basically the Kuwaiti equivalent of the Alamo. Kuwaitis held off the Iraqi troops from this place. This neighborhood was practically destroyed. Though the neighborhood is rebuilt today, they left this house as a reminder of what happened.

Here is Chris and I in front of a tank. I don't know if the tank is Iraqi, Kuwaiti or other. It was a short trip, but very educational. It is always nice to see a new country and a new people. I enjoyed my time there, but a word of warning for those of you who might go there someday -- The taxi drivers will try to rip you off!