Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
NOTE: To view the full picture, click on it and it will expand.
The travel from Egypt to Venice was long and tiring.
I sat next to this girl on the 3.5 hr flight from Hurghada to Venice. Keep in mind this is 2am-6am. She watched Marley and Me. And seriously laughed THE ENTIRE TIME. Like a constant never ending laughing and sniggering. I could not sleep. Plus I was cold (?). To make matters worse, like a complete idiot, instead of just swallowing the sleeping pill like a normal person, I bit into it while it was in my mouth. It was extremely bitter, and made my mouth numb! So that was a huge mistake. Eventually I got some earplugs and tried to sleep, but I think the entire plane was awake. I mean, its 2am people, try to sleep.
Once I finally got to Venice I took a 3 hr nap. I can't remember what I did after that, but eventually I got some dinner, and went to bed early.
Today was work in the morning, which was more of a pain than it needed to be, but I guess that's not too bad considering all of the other cafes were very easy. This one is extremely small, so it worked out alright anyway.
I spent the better part of the day wandering around Venice. I feel like I know where I'm going in Venice well enough that I can just explore without getting too lost. It's not hard to find my way back to the hotel when I need to get there. I walked a little more slowly this time, stopped in a few churches, and a few art galleries as well. I took a few photos, which if they turn out any good, I will share.
I met a guy from New Zealand tonight while taking some photos, and we had a nice little conversation about photography and traveling. I meet quite a few photographers while traveling and we always manage to have nerdy conversations about the things that nobody else wants to talk with us about. It's refreshing.
The nice thing about Italy is that you can have food that you might normally have, even if it's unhealthy, because hey baby, it's Italian food. So i've had pizza, lasagna, and various other kinds of pasta. None of it has been anything special though, and very overpriced. Venice is not a cheap city. Plus the Euro is totally killing the Dollar :(
Tomorrow I will fly to Prague, where I will photograph one more cafe, and then meet up with Kat. I am very much looking forward to having someone to hang out with and explore with. This will probably be the last blog post, but I may post a few more pictures if I have time to get to them.
Here are a few from Venice:
The travel from Egypt to Venice was long and tiring.
I sat next to this girl on the 3.5 hr flight from Hurghada to Venice. Keep in mind this is 2am-6am. She watched Marley and Me. And seriously laughed THE ENTIRE TIME. Like a constant never ending laughing and sniggering. I could not sleep. Plus I was cold (?). To make matters worse, like a complete idiot, instead of just swallowing the sleeping pill like a normal person, I bit into it while it was in my mouth. It was extremely bitter, and made my mouth numb! So that was a huge mistake. Eventually I got some earplugs and tried to sleep, but I think the entire plane was awake. I mean, its 2am people, try to sleep.
Once I finally got to Venice I took a 3 hr nap. I can't remember what I did after that, but eventually I got some dinner, and went to bed early.
Today was work in the morning, which was more of a pain than it needed to be, but I guess that's not too bad considering all of the other cafes were very easy. This one is extremely small, so it worked out alright anyway.
I spent the better part of the day wandering around Venice. I feel like I know where I'm going in Venice well enough that I can just explore without getting too lost. It's not hard to find my way back to the hotel when I need to get there. I walked a little more slowly this time, stopped in a few churches, and a few art galleries as well. I took a few photos, which if they turn out any good, I will share.
I met a guy from New Zealand tonight while taking some photos, and we had a nice little conversation about photography and traveling. I meet quite a few photographers while traveling and we always manage to have nerdy conversations about the things that nobody else wants to talk with us about. It's refreshing.
The nice thing about Italy is that you can have food that you might normally have, even if it's unhealthy, because hey baby, it's Italian food. So i've had pizza, lasagna, and various other kinds of pasta. None of it has been anything special though, and very overpriced. Venice is not a cheap city. Plus the Euro is totally killing the Dollar :(
Tomorrow I will fly to Prague, where I will photograph one more cafe, and then meet up with Kat. I am very much looking forward to having someone to hang out with and explore with. This will probably be the last blog post, but I may post a few more pictures if I have time to get to them.
Here are a few from Venice:
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
I am sitting in the Vienna airport on Tuesday morning.
I will pick up when I entered Hurghada.
I began to lose my patience with Egypt when I arrived in Hurghada. After I got my bags, I looked around for an ATM like I usually do, to get cash for a taxi. Finding no ATM, I walked out what I thought was the exit into the main terminal, only to find that it basically dumped me out into what was a construction site/parking lot...apparently the entire airport is under some kind of "renovations". So, I tried to go back inside, but once you leave an airport here, they just will not let you back in, even though you JUST came through the door.
They told me if I wanted an ATM or a "bank", I had to go into the departures terminal. The problem is, in Egypt, only people with physical tickets can go into the terminal, or basically into the airport at all. The security people just could not figure out why I wanted into the airport, and the fact that I had just arrived here seemed to do nothing.
It is times like these where I just feel like America stands out from the crowd, at least from a logical and reasonablity standpoint. There was NO atm available to arriving passengers from what I could see, clearly a huge flaw with this airport. But no, I could not get back into the airport to get money. Simply amazing.
I ended up having a taxi driver just drive me to an ATM where I got cash, and then went onto the hotel. Just getting this to happen took plenty of gesturing, and arguing, and negotiating on price. I have found that it is really impossible to get a fair cab ride in this country unless you have another native speaker there who will just tell them what price you are willing to pay. They really prey on people coming out of the airport terminal.
Things improved once I got to the Marriott Resort in Hurghada.
I liked this resort even more, probably because it seemed much less crowded, and a little more private. I have been going to bed earlier than usual just to get more sleep.
Again, a nice, relaxing breakfast the next day, and then a very quick cheap cab ride to the HRC. The staff at the HRC was fantastic, very prepared and very friendly. They basically just got out of the way and let me do my thing, and it went very smoothly.
Again, I did some looking into scuba diving/snorkling, but in the end decided it wasn't really worth it. I just can't justify spending close to $100 for maybe a half hr of scuba diving. I'll get more for my money in mexico or on a cruise.
I did try to take advantage of the great weather here though. I spent a decent amount of time swimming in the Red Sead close to the beach of the resort. I suspected, and later check of wikipedia confirmed it, that the saline content of the Red Sea is very high. I realized this when swimming...it took literally no effort to float or swim. You could literally just float in the middle of the ocean, without trying to tread water. It was a strange feeling, but it made swimming very easy. I swam all around this small island next to the beach, and didn't get tired at all. I borrowed a diving mask and did some minor snorkeling, which was kind of fun and made up for not doing the real thing. The water in the red sea was refreshingly cooler than the pool at Sharm had been, and the pool at Hurghada was much colder toot thankfully.
That's basically how I spent my time in Hurghada. The next day shoot went well again. And I spent more time swimming in the ocean and the pool. I got slightly sunburned, but it was worth it.
I got maybe an hr of sleep before leaving about 11pm for the airport in Hurghada.
Once again, I must make note of the absolutely incredible amount of security in Hurghada, and all of Egypt. I think I went through no less than 4, maybe 5 metal detectors on the way to my gate. One initally when entering the airport, which also requires a check of the passport, and the PHYSICAL TICKET to the dozens of security officers. Even then I felt lucky that I got through somehow. Then again, going through customs ON THE WAY OUT OF THE COUNTRY! Amazing. More metal detectors, more x ray machines. This country is either very worried about security, or they just enjoy employing a lot of random people to stand around. I swear, there were probably 4 or 5 guards doing the job of one guard everywhere you look. About 5 guys simply standing at the entrance to the airport where passports are scanned. The funny thing, is that they don't make you feel safer. I feel as though if I get to leave the airport, they'll be doing me some kind of favor. Like I'll be lucky they let me through. It's amazing the parody between the airport and it's treatment of people, and a resort and it's treatment.
I have found that international airports tend to have awful customer service, very rude and confusing employees, etc. The internatinal hotels are the exact opposite, and so much better than their US counterparts in all respects that it borders on laughable. I am treated like royalty in every hotel, no matter how prestigious or small. You have to experience it to know what I'm talking about. Porters running to take your bags, hauling over 100lbs worth of luggage all over the hotel. The room service employees are extremely gracious. The front desk staff is incredibly polite. It's a pleasure to stay in most hotels internationally, whereas in my experience, the travel through the airports is a huge pain and a hassle. And whereas in the US, you at least get the idea that there is some kind of a point to all this, that they are actually trying to make sure that they prevent crime or terrorism, in other airports around the world, the security gives me the impression that their sole goal and aim is to infuriate passengers. I feel that I have done a fair amoudnt of traveling, and asking to see my "ticket" before I have checked in is maddening. Dear Egypt, the rest of the world is on E-tickets now. WE DON"T GET PHYSICAL TICKETS THANKS.
Anyway, I'm loving the free wifi here at VIE. My short flight to Venice leaves soon, and will have to take quite a nap when I get there. Maybe I"ll take some pictures on Venice?
I have been posting a lot of random pictures to facebook with my iphone, you can see them here
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2063615&id=141300035&l=c1ac1fdc9f
I will pick up when I entered Hurghada.
I began to lose my patience with Egypt when I arrived in Hurghada. After I got my bags, I looked around for an ATM like I usually do, to get cash for a taxi. Finding no ATM, I walked out what I thought was the exit into the main terminal, only to find that it basically dumped me out into what was a construction site/parking lot...apparently the entire airport is under some kind of "renovations". So, I tried to go back inside, but once you leave an airport here, they just will not let you back in, even though you JUST came through the door.
They told me if I wanted an ATM or a "bank", I had to go into the departures terminal. The problem is, in Egypt, only people with physical tickets can go into the terminal, or basically into the airport at all. The security people just could not figure out why I wanted into the airport, and the fact that I had just arrived here seemed to do nothing.
It is times like these where I just feel like America stands out from the crowd, at least from a logical and reasonablity standpoint. There was NO atm available to arriving passengers from what I could see, clearly a huge flaw with this airport. But no, I could not get back into the airport to get money. Simply amazing.
I ended up having a taxi driver just drive me to an ATM where I got cash, and then went onto the hotel. Just getting this to happen took plenty of gesturing, and arguing, and negotiating on price. I have found that it is really impossible to get a fair cab ride in this country unless you have another native speaker there who will just tell them what price you are willing to pay. They really prey on people coming out of the airport terminal.
Things improved once I got to the Marriott Resort in Hurghada.
I liked this resort even more, probably because it seemed much less crowded, and a little more private. I have been going to bed earlier than usual just to get more sleep.
Again, a nice, relaxing breakfast the next day, and then a very quick cheap cab ride to the HRC. The staff at the HRC was fantastic, very prepared and very friendly. They basically just got out of the way and let me do my thing, and it went very smoothly.
Again, I did some looking into scuba diving/snorkling, but in the end decided it wasn't really worth it. I just can't justify spending close to $100 for maybe a half hr of scuba diving. I'll get more for my money in mexico or on a cruise.
I did try to take advantage of the great weather here though. I spent a decent amount of time swimming in the Red Sead close to the beach of the resort. I suspected, and later check of wikipedia confirmed it, that the saline content of the Red Sea is very high. I realized this when swimming...it took literally no effort to float or swim. You could literally just float in the middle of the ocean, without trying to tread water. It was a strange feeling, but it made swimming very easy. I swam all around this small island next to the beach, and didn't get tired at all. I borrowed a diving mask and did some minor snorkeling, which was kind of fun and made up for not doing the real thing. The water in the red sea was refreshingly cooler than the pool at Sharm had been, and the pool at Hurghada was much colder toot thankfully.
That's basically how I spent my time in Hurghada. The next day shoot went well again. And I spent more time swimming in the ocean and the pool. I got slightly sunburned, but it was worth it.
I got maybe an hr of sleep before leaving about 11pm for the airport in Hurghada.
Once again, I must make note of the absolutely incredible amount of security in Hurghada, and all of Egypt. I think I went through no less than 4, maybe 5 metal detectors on the way to my gate. One initally when entering the airport, which also requires a check of the passport, and the PHYSICAL TICKET to the dozens of security officers. Even then I felt lucky that I got through somehow. Then again, going through customs ON THE WAY OUT OF THE COUNTRY! Amazing. More metal detectors, more x ray machines. This country is either very worried about security, or they just enjoy employing a lot of random people to stand around. I swear, there were probably 4 or 5 guards doing the job of one guard everywhere you look. About 5 guys simply standing at the entrance to the airport where passports are scanned. The funny thing, is that they don't make you feel safer. I feel as though if I get to leave the airport, they'll be doing me some kind of favor. Like I'll be lucky they let me through. It's amazing the parody between the airport and it's treatment of people, and a resort and it's treatment.
I have found that international airports tend to have awful customer service, very rude and confusing employees, etc. The internatinal hotels are the exact opposite, and so much better than their US counterparts in all respects that it borders on laughable. I am treated like royalty in every hotel, no matter how prestigious or small. You have to experience it to know what I'm talking about. Porters running to take your bags, hauling over 100lbs worth of luggage all over the hotel. The room service employees are extremely gracious. The front desk staff is incredibly polite. It's a pleasure to stay in most hotels internationally, whereas in my experience, the travel through the airports is a huge pain and a hassle. And whereas in the US, you at least get the idea that there is some kind of a point to all this, that they are actually trying to make sure that they prevent crime or terrorism, in other airports around the world, the security gives me the impression that their sole goal and aim is to infuriate passengers. I feel that I have done a fair amoudnt of traveling, and asking to see my "ticket" before I have checked in is maddening. Dear Egypt, the rest of the world is on E-tickets now. WE DON"T GET PHYSICAL TICKETS THANKS.
Anyway, I'm loving the free wifi here at VIE. My short flight to Venice leaves soon, and will have to take quite a nap when I get there. Maybe I"ll take some pictures on Venice?
I have been posting a lot of random pictures to facebook with my iphone, you can see them here
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2063615&id=141300035&l=c1ac1fdc9f
Sunday, September 6, 2009
I know I haven't been providing any pictures for you guys, but here's a great picture of the Sharm airport, and the surrounding area. It was very rocky and mountainous all around where I was, but not right by the water obviously. It's interesting to see how it is basically desert and rocky wilderness, except right next to the water where the resorts are. This is probably not far from where the Children of Israel were wandering in the desert for 40 years...unless I'm wrong :-/
http://www.airliners.net/photo//1497998/L/&sid=7c02854a4a210b4063220953864de65a
http://www.airliners.net/photo//1497998/L/&sid=7c02854a4a210b4063220953864de65a
Saturday, September 5, 2009
I have a few days to catch up on. I apologize for that.
After my last post, I went back the next day to finish up at the Sharm HRC.
We only had a few things to do, all of which involved taking various things, 2 guitars and one jacket, off of the high walls which they were on. 2 guys did this for me with a large ladder. At the end of the shoot, they were back on the ladder about 15 feet up putting a large jacket in a frame back on the wall. I heard a large crash and looked over to see a pile of ladder, people, and memorabilia. I'm not sure what happened, but they came crashing down, breaking the memo, and some other parts of the restaurant in the process. One guy broke his foot somehow. All in all it made a very interesting morning there.
When I got back to the hotel, the same taxi driver from my first day was there waiting, the one who drove me around forever and had no idea where he was going. Apparently he is at the hotel often, but when he saw me he started asking where his money was that I didn't pay him yesterday. I had a nice little 15 minute "chat'' with him explaining that when you don't deliver on the service you promised, you don't get paid. The funny thing was that he wanted 2.5 KD, when the fare should have been 1.5 KD, for a 15 minute taxi ride. Amazing. Eventually though I felt sorry for him, so I paid him 1KD. FYI, 1.5 KD is about $5.20, and 2.5 KD is about $8.75
Later that day I went back to the HRC to get some night shots and eat dinner with Elias the GM. Low and behold, there was this same taxi driver again, who apparently had a friend at the hotel. But, since I'm a nice guy, I told him that I would let him take me there for 1.5, and especially since he should know where it was by this time. He took me there and there was no problem after that.
I did some night photos, and then had some dinner with the GM, which was nice of him. He is Lebanese, and we had an interesting discussion about Kuwait and it's strict Muslim law. Almost everything is illegal in that country.
The next day was pretty slow. I took my time leaving the hotel, and checked in with literally NO problems for my flight on Wataniya Airways to Cairo. Because of Ramadan, the terminal was very empty, and very quiet, which was fantastic. I also had free wifi, which was great as well.
The flight was about 2 hrs on a brand new A320. The seats on this plane were quite large, probably 18.5 in width, and the pitch had to be about 35". It was really a good coach product. As usual, most international flights, especially one of over 2 hrs, will serve lunch, which they did. I had some kind of chicken with rice, and it had a very indian taste to it, but it was good.
Cairo was absolutely nuts. A mad house. I changed some money, bought a visa, collected my bags, and then fended off the taxi drivers. Egypt is somewhat infamous for it's aggressive Taxi drivers, which is totally true from what i've experienced so far.
I had a few hrs to kill in Cairo airport, which I did by reading a book in the almost deserted domestic terminal for Egypt Air.
I got to Sharm El Sheikh easily and took a taxi to the hotel, etc. I stayed at the Marriott Resort, which is nice enough, especially for the outrageously low rate I got here. Sharm El Sheikh, which you can google on your own, is on the tip of the Sinai peninsula. It is somewhat odd to realize that I am about 20 minutes from Mt. Sinai, where the 10 commandments were delivered.
In the morning I got up and had a pretty good breakfast that was free. I then walked across the main road to the other Marriott Property, which was the "beach" side. I walked down this small path running the length of the beach. It was probably a mile walk to the HRC, but seeing as its about 100 degrees, I was drenched when I got to the HRC. The photo shoot went smoothly, and walked back to my hotel afterwards.
The scuba diving in Sharm is supposed to be some of the greatest in the world. Lots of good reefs and shipwrecks. I had hopes of doing some scuba diving here, but the more I looked into it, the options for someone without a license were limited. About the best I could find was $50 for about 30 minutes of "instruction" at about 20 feet maximum depth.
I will try my luck in Hurghada with the scuba diving instead.
The rest of my day was spent basically swimming in the pool and relaxing. The weather is really perfect here, and if it weren't so far away from America, this would be a pretty nice vacation spot.
Today, I went back to the HRC to finish up a few small items. This time I took a cab there for about $2, and wore shorts and flip flops because of the heat.
Soon I will be packed and will leave to go to the airport, where later this evening I will take the very short flight to Hurghada.
I will be there a few days before flying to Venice.
I am more or less halfway done with the trip at this point as well.
After my last post, I went back the next day to finish up at the Sharm HRC.
We only had a few things to do, all of which involved taking various things, 2 guitars and one jacket, off of the high walls which they were on. 2 guys did this for me with a large ladder. At the end of the shoot, they were back on the ladder about 15 feet up putting a large jacket in a frame back on the wall. I heard a large crash and looked over to see a pile of ladder, people, and memorabilia. I'm not sure what happened, but they came crashing down, breaking the memo, and some other parts of the restaurant in the process. One guy broke his foot somehow. All in all it made a very interesting morning there.
When I got back to the hotel, the same taxi driver from my first day was there waiting, the one who drove me around forever and had no idea where he was going. Apparently he is at the hotel often, but when he saw me he started asking where his money was that I didn't pay him yesterday. I had a nice little 15 minute "chat'' with him explaining that when you don't deliver on the service you promised, you don't get paid. The funny thing was that he wanted 2.5 KD, when the fare should have been 1.5 KD, for a 15 minute taxi ride. Amazing. Eventually though I felt sorry for him, so I paid him 1KD. FYI, 1.5 KD is about $5.20, and 2.5 KD is about $8.75
Later that day I went back to the HRC to get some night shots and eat dinner with Elias the GM. Low and behold, there was this same taxi driver again, who apparently had a friend at the hotel. But, since I'm a nice guy, I told him that I would let him take me there for 1.5, and especially since he should know where it was by this time. He took me there and there was no problem after that.
I did some night photos, and then had some dinner with the GM, which was nice of him. He is Lebanese, and we had an interesting discussion about Kuwait and it's strict Muslim law. Almost everything is illegal in that country.
The next day was pretty slow. I took my time leaving the hotel, and checked in with literally NO problems for my flight on Wataniya Airways to Cairo. Because of Ramadan, the terminal was very empty, and very quiet, which was fantastic. I also had free wifi, which was great as well.
The flight was about 2 hrs on a brand new A320. The seats on this plane were quite large, probably 18.5 in width, and the pitch had to be about 35". It was really a good coach product. As usual, most international flights, especially one of over 2 hrs, will serve lunch, which they did. I had some kind of chicken with rice, and it had a very indian taste to it, but it was good.
Cairo was absolutely nuts. A mad house. I changed some money, bought a visa, collected my bags, and then fended off the taxi drivers. Egypt is somewhat infamous for it's aggressive Taxi drivers, which is totally true from what i've experienced so far.
I had a few hrs to kill in Cairo airport, which I did by reading a book in the almost deserted domestic terminal for Egypt Air.
I got to Sharm El Sheikh easily and took a taxi to the hotel, etc. I stayed at the Marriott Resort, which is nice enough, especially for the outrageously low rate I got here. Sharm El Sheikh, which you can google on your own, is on the tip of the Sinai peninsula. It is somewhat odd to realize that I am about 20 minutes from Mt. Sinai, where the 10 commandments were delivered.
In the morning I got up and had a pretty good breakfast that was free. I then walked across the main road to the other Marriott Property, which was the "beach" side. I walked down this small path running the length of the beach. It was probably a mile walk to the HRC, but seeing as its about 100 degrees, I was drenched when I got to the HRC. The photo shoot went smoothly, and walked back to my hotel afterwards.
The scuba diving in Sharm is supposed to be some of the greatest in the world. Lots of good reefs and shipwrecks. I had hopes of doing some scuba diving here, but the more I looked into it, the options for someone without a license were limited. About the best I could find was $50 for about 30 minutes of "instruction" at about 20 feet maximum depth.
I will try my luck in Hurghada with the scuba diving instead.
The rest of my day was spent basically swimming in the pool and relaxing. The weather is really perfect here, and if it weren't so far away from America, this would be a pretty nice vacation spot.
Today, I went back to the HRC to finish up a few small items. This time I took a cab there for about $2, and wore shorts and flip flops because of the heat.
Soon I will be packed and will leave to go to the airport, where later this evening I will take the very short flight to Hurghada.
I will be there a few days before flying to Venice.
I am more or less halfway done with the trip at this point as well.
Friday, September 4, 2009
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
If you are at all curious about what Kuwait or Bahrain look like, here are a few links to a photographer I found on Flickr. She is based in the middle east, but has traveled all over. Her photography is really, really good, the kind that I could just look at forever. These sets will give you a good idea of what these areas look like.
Kuwait - http://www.flickr.com/photos/-lucie-/sets/72157603873263271/
Bahrain - http://www.flickr.com/photos/-lucie-/sets/72157619099943070/
Kuwait - http://www.flickr.com/photos/-lucie-/sets/72157603873263271/
Bahrain - http://www.flickr.com/photos/-lucie-/sets/72157619099943070/
Monday was a pretty leisurely day for me. I had a big breakfast, which is pretty western from what I can see. There is some different meat, fruit, and breads, but there are still various cereals, scrambled eggs, sausage, toast, etc.
I enjoyed the pool again for a little while. The water is about 85 degrees, but it felt much cooler than the air temp.
Eventually I went to the airport and checked in for my flight. I was lucky that the excess baggage charge was only about $40 as opposed to in Europe where it can top $120! My checked luggage weighs in at around 41-42 kg, and the usual allowance is only 20kg. :-/
I waited in the airport for quite a while. My Gulf Air flight to Kuwait was delayed almost 1.5 hrs (not sure why).
They gave us some kind of bread roll with some kind of tasteless yellow spread on it. They also had some kind of "milk" in a white bottle, that tasted more like sour yogurt. It was pretty gross.
The arrival process in Kuwait is pretty confusing, much more so than your average international airport. Eventually I figured out where to go to get a visa, and waited for quite a while in a line. The hotel that I am staying at was going to send a driver to pick me up. I figured since my flight was supposed to land quite a while earlier that he would be gone. I came out of the luggage area almost 3 hrs after i was originally supposed to show up, but there he was waiting. I was surprised but very relieved that I wouldn't have to find and pay for another taxi.
My hotel here is pretty average. Kuwait seems like a very large city, right next to the Persian gulf, and also right in the middle of the desert. It is extremely hot, and extremely sunny, always. I have yet to see a cloud in the sky, but it's not pure blue sky sunlight that we are used to. It's more like hazy, gray blue. I think there is a lot of dust pollution or something. It's hard to explain, but even buildings that aren't very far away look very distant and hazy. There are a lot of very large skyscrapers being built here. Clearly Kuwait has some serious cash. Apparently the citizens don't have to pay for electricity, or water. Supposedly most employers give their employees 4 weeks of vacation a year, and also provide a round trip plane ticket to use as well!
Today was interesting. As in Bahrain, Ramadan is going on here still, so the cafe isn't open during the day, giving me a lot of time to spread out the work-flow. I was planning on being there sometime around 8:30ish. I had breakfast at the hotel again, and then had the hotel call me a cab. To make a long story short, the cab driver was an idiot, and had no idea where I needed to go. He proceeded to basically drive around for almost 1.5 hrs. He called people, he asked people in cars, we even stopped so he could ask people on the street. Eventually we found it, and of course, I informed him I wouldn't be paying for the ride since it took so long. he wasn't happy about that, but hey, learn where things are! It's a Hard Rock Cafe...it stands out. And, it had been there for 5 years, so it's not like it was brand new. Maybe he just moved to the city or something, but either way, it was ridiculous.
But once I got to the cafe, the people were nice, at least there was one guy there who spoke enough English that we could converse.
Apparently Kuwait is even stricter about Ramadan. Even though I am a visitor, and not Muslim, it would still be illegal if I was to drink, or eat anything in public. So they gave me a bottle of water, but told me not to drink it in front of the windows in case someone looked inside and saw me. I thought that was hilarious and insane, but I didn't want to get thrown in jail, so I didn't do it in front of the windows....but what a ridiculous rule. And of course, since its Ramadan, nothing is open until about 6pm. Thankfully there is always room service.
I enjoyed the pool again for a little while. The water is about 85 degrees, but it felt much cooler than the air temp.
Eventually I went to the airport and checked in for my flight. I was lucky that the excess baggage charge was only about $40 as opposed to in Europe where it can top $120! My checked luggage weighs in at around 41-42 kg, and the usual allowance is only 20kg. :-/
I waited in the airport for quite a while. My Gulf Air flight to Kuwait was delayed almost 1.5 hrs (not sure why).
They gave us some kind of bread roll with some kind of tasteless yellow spread on it. They also had some kind of "milk" in a white bottle, that tasted more like sour yogurt. It was pretty gross.
The arrival process in Kuwait is pretty confusing, much more so than your average international airport. Eventually I figured out where to go to get a visa, and waited for quite a while in a line. The hotel that I am staying at was going to send a driver to pick me up. I figured since my flight was supposed to land quite a while earlier that he would be gone. I came out of the luggage area almost 3 hrs after i was originally supposed to show up, but there he was waiting. I was surprised but very relieved that I wouldn't have to find and pay for another taxi.
My hotel here is pretty average. Kuwait seems like a very large city, right next to the Persian gulf, and also right in the middle of the desert. It is extremely hot, and extremely sunny, always. I have yet to see a cloud in the sky, but it's not pure blue sky sunlight that we are used to. It's more like hazy, gray blue. I think there is a lot of dust pollution or something. It's hard to explain, but even buildings that aren't very far away look very distant and hazy. There are a lot of very large skyscrapers being built here. Clearly Kuwait has some serious cash. Apparently the citizens don't have to pay for electricity, or water. Supposedly most employers give their employees 4 weeks of vacation a year, and also provide a round trip plane ticket to use as well!
Today was interesting. As in Bahrain, Ramadan is going on here still, so the cafe isn't open during the day, giving me a lot of time to spread out the work-flow. I was planning on being there sometime around 8:30ish. I had breakfast at the hotel again, and then had the hotel call me a cab. To make a long story short, the cab driver was an idiot, and had no idea where I needed to go. He proceeded to basically drive around for almost 1.5 hrs. He called people, he asked people in cars, we even stopped so he could ask people on the street. Eventually we found it, and of course, I informed him I wouldn't be paying for the ride since it took so long. he wasn't happy about that, but hey, learn where things are! It's a Hard Rock Cafe...it stands out. And, it had been there for 5 years, so it's not like it was brand new. Maybe he just moved to the city or something, but either way, it was ridiculous.
But once I got to the cafe, the people were nice, at least there was one guy there who spoke enough English that we could converse.
Apparently Kuwait is even stricter about Ramadan. Even though I am a visitor, and not Muslim, it would still be illegal if I was to drink, or eat anything in public. So they gave me a bottle of water, but told me not to drink it in front of the windows in case someone looked inside and saw me. I thought that was hilarious and insane, but I didn't want to get thrown in jail, so I didn't do it in front of the windows....but what a ridiculous rule. And of course, since its Ramadan, nothing is open until about 6pm. Thankfully there is always room service.
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