So this is my first trip into Kuwaiti City on the search for the elusive camel, Im Shallah (God Willing). The trip consisted of visiting the Grand Mosque, Kuwaiti Towers, and a trip to a Kuwaiti Mall!
So here we are in front of the Grand Mosque. The city itself is quite busy full of cars, (They drive worse than Californians) and people. There is a sense of the “old” Kuwait blending in with the more modern Kuwaiti city.
Here is a picture of the Kuwaiti Bank/Stock Exchange. They use Kuwaiti Dinars or KDs. Exchange rate about $3.25 US to 1 KD!
Here are some buildings under construction. The temperature is around 125, it was a cool day:)
As we enter the Grand Mosque, we are greeted with a nice little fountain.
And some infidel sitting in front of it! Get out of the way infidel!!!
Next we enter a visitors’ area where we await our tour guide. The have water, coffee, tea, and crackers while you wait. There is even a mock tent set up along with some old photos of Kuwait circa 1940’s.
The tent looks nice and … hey there is that infidel again!!!
As we enter the Mosque the enormity of it cannot be described, but I’ll try.
They have no paintings or statues only complex mosaic designs and artwork throughout the mosque because it is easier to concentrate on praying and ladies you get to hide behind some screens so you don’t ruin their concentration either.
Each one of the rows in the carpet helps for the men to line up rich or poor they all take spot; except if you’re a lady :) !
Here we have a case containing a copy of the original Koran, which is kept in Turkey.
Here we have the seat where an Iman, or priest sometimes sit, hold on that’s no Iman!
As we leave the Grand Mosque, we head towards the Famous Kuwaiti Towers and still on a search for the camels.
Here we have the seat where an Iman, or priest sometimes sit, hold on that’s no Iman!
As we leave the Grand Mosque, we head towards the Famous Kuwaiti Towers and still on a search for the camels.
The Kuwaiti Towers are famous for the fact that they represent the symbol of the country of Kuwait and its main source of revenue; pearls! (I bet you were thinking oil) Back in the day, pearl divers would collect pearls and place them on a stick or spike and offer them to the Kalif or King to pay tribute. Now these towers also play another key role in Kuwait, one is a water tower which provides the necessary water for all of its citizens cuz hey it’s a desert! (Trivia Note: During the invasion by Iraq, a lot of things were destroyed. Fortunately they only shot up the restaurant but not fully destroying it because of needing the water in the water tower.) The other contains a restaurant and view tower which provides some pretty good shots of the city, possibly here is where we can spot some camels!
As we ride the elevator into the main tower we are greeted with a spectacular view of the city and are provided a delicious 5 star lunch.
Above the restaurant there is an observation tower that actually rotates 360 degrees around the city, which allows the fat and sassy lunch guests to expend as little energy as possible to look around… like this guy!
Well that’s it for this adventure and still no signs of the elusive camel. Will try again on the next…….
MY ADVENTURES IN KUWAIT part 2!
Take care love, Brook
