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SaharaDesert · Joined: 05 Nov 2008 Posts: 260

Thanks nomad soul ....I looked at the link again and there seems to be tons to do in Kuwait.

And you are right- I was trying to figure out how many years ago VS had been to Kuwait. Smile

Things can change in a country after a few years....

sheikh radlinrol · Joined: 30 Jan 2007 Posts: 1222 Location: Spain

SaharaDesert · Joined: 05 Nov 2008 Posts: 260

sheikh radlinrol · Joined: 30 Jan 2007 Posts: 1222 Location: Spain

I´m very cynical. Apologies for my error. Enjoy the camel market. Laughing

SaharaDesert · Joined: 05 Nov 2008 Posts: 260

nomad soul · Joined: 31 Jan 2010 Posts: 11454 Location: The real world

veiledsentiments · Joined: 20 Feb 2003 Posts: 17644 Location: USA

sheikh radlinrol · Joined: 30 Jan 2007 Posts: 1222 Location: Spain

mashkif · Joined: 17 Aug 2010 Posts: 178

I was there until a year ago and can't wait to go back.

If the boozing and clubbing ain't your thing, you're golden. You can socialize in restaurants, in malls, in the sea, in the desert; hell, even in the air. If you manage to form bonds with Kuwaitis--and you probably will--, you'll more than likely be invited to a private home, followed by a diwaniya.

I don't know what kind of a "social life" you're into, but so long as it's not something really wild or exotic (and, in many cases, even if it is), Kuwait's got you covered.

I lived in four other 5aleeji states (not the U.A.E., though I visited it several times), and Kuwait is hands-down my favorite.

SaharaDesert · Joined: 05 Nov 2008 Posts: 260

dragonpiwo · Joined: 04 Mar 2013 Posts: 1650 Location: Berlin

Kuwait was really similar to Saudi for me except that women wore more colourful garb and the shops didn't shut at prayer time. For me, a man, it was as dull as dishwater but I know some women who have enjoyed it there. The consensus among my colleagues was that there was nothing to do. The beaches sucked, the restaurants weren't all that and it was simply boring. Kuwaitis of course, enjoyed their chalet parties, which I've heard were/are wild. I only went there during a break in my normal job.

The UAE is a much nicer place to live. The Emiratis are much more chilled out, the beaches are excellent, there's a lot to see and the country is pretty varied in terms of how it looks. If you are a straight single man, it's not all doom and gloom either as there are plenty of places to go and clubs to join. Internations is a good place to start. It's a really tolerant, open place.

Comparing these 2 countries is like comparing chalk and cheese. The UAE wins hands down, by a country mile and any other cliché I can't think of right now.

Doha is pretty nice too.

PM me if you want.

neftoprestupnik · Joined: 11 Aug 2014 Posts: 18

A place is what you make it, right?

I've been in Kuwait for 2 years now. It's much harder to get a driver's license than it was in the past - thankfully I got one, but only after an 8 month wait and with some serious wasta. So if you're like me and you live in a shithole like Mangaf without a car, you need to taxi it anytime you want to go out (few places to walk to - it's the gulf after all).

Do you like malls? Restaurants/cafes? Kuwait has a nice aquarium and scientific center, a few nice museums, some good boardwalk-type places that aren't terribly polluted. I've gone swimming in the gulf down south, about 50km away from the city in secluded areas. Kuwaitis have invited me to go camping in the Jahra "mountain" area, that was cool. If you want to booze, you can buy homemade; a former colleague had friends in the US embassy and used to buy for me when I asked, but you have to work for a connection like that, I suppose. Wink

I could list some bad things too, but let's just focus on the good for now.

dragonpiwo · Joined: 04 Mar 2013 Posts: 1650 Location: Berlin

Mangaf. What a place! Daily trips to the Sultan Centre and the odd stroll down into Fahaheel for a Starbucks by the little marina. We used to go up to Salmiya. Sideeki, the gym we joined and poker kept us sane.

Re the OP, I'd say that if you have a choice and can choose, go and live in Dubai, Abu Dhabi or Fujairah. Way, way nicer people in the UAE. However, I might add that I just went to Kuwait for 8 months while still employed by a Libyan oil company and had a crap job at TQLS for the war's duration.

TQLS! Are they still going? The biggest percentage of total weirdos and nasty fecks I've ever come across. Just thinking of that job and the trainees makes me shudder. We had an America lady with tourettes, an American guy with tourettes, a weird backstabbing Canadian woman who wrote a poem which went something like 'When I was swimming in the Arabian see a creature bit me on the knee',who shafted everyone. Several colleagues who were so mean they nicked everything from the tea hut until we were all barred from going in there. An Irishman who couldn't even open a coursebook cos he was so useless and a weird American called Derrin or Delwyn or summit daft who clearly had shady practices and stalked around the place. Yer man from Stoke, his wife and the New Yorker ML kept me sane. Haven't seen so many nutters in one place since QP.