Day 2 : London to Kuwait

Exactly as it said in the reviews of the Heathrow Lodge Hotel, it was
pretty much spot on 6am when the planes came thundering over my room but
as 0730 saw me on the shuttle it was no big deal, I was soon on my way
to Bangkok via Kuwait. As should have been expected after sitting
outside watching the chaotic traffic outside Terminal 3, and rushing my
bagel breakfast, the flight was delayed again. I won't say how much as
the folk back home may be taking bets on the total delays on my 13
flights, 2 week holiday in Thailand and the Philippines, with a whistle
stop tour of Kuwait courtesy of Jen, my sister's mate.
After landing, it was with great reluctance I handed over my boarding
pass so I could get a Kuwait visa to leave the airport.
"We'll put your luggage on standby"
"...but I'm definitely getting catching that flight"
"It's just to protect us against delayed departure incase you don't turn up"
"...but I will be"
"No problem"
"...can you see there being any problem with this?"
"No, everything will be ok. Do you have your luggage tags?"
"...cool, here you go"
With that I rejoined the visa queue but it was free rather than the £6
to £30 I had been quoted. Before I knew it I had my "temporary
residence of Kuwait for three months" visa, which of course was only
going to last two hours. That didn't even give me enough time to see
the refineries, and much of it was spent on the freeways. Despite it
being Ramadan, it was dark and I managed to have an authentic Kuwaiti
Costa Coffee and cookie, a walk through the new Fahaheel Mall, and
witness some of the crazy Kuwaiti driving, getting flashed and overtaken
on a single lane offramp.
It definitely was a short experience, but the mall was interesting.
Fresh veg in one hall, fresh meat in another (including live birds), and
fish in another. Women were mixed in clothing for western style to
traditional fully covered in balck shawls, yet despite this they were
still shopping in Zara and Foot Locker looking at modern, and some
skimpy, clothing. I really must learn more about this.
I finished writing these notes sitting on the tarmac in Kuwait, XX
minutes late (no clues to the gamblers at work...am I really telling the
truth, or am I doing a 'poker face' blog?), waiting to start the plane's
engines after "something is replaced".
It's not often you hear about an airline being 'troubled' on their own
website's news section, but here I was £250 better off by flying Kuwait
Air. I can't really understand as they are based in a land which
probably has the cheapest fuel on earth, AND they don't have the cost of
handing out free booze as it's a dry airline.
Next stop Bangkok.

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