The first time I visited the camel races was back in 2013 and I posted a guide for anyone who wanted to experience it as well. Because it’s been awhile since I last went, I decided to pass by again and publish an updated guide.
This past Saturday I drove out to the Kuwait Camel Racing Club to see how much things have changed. I took my old Alfa because I recently replaced some parts on it and wanted a long trip just to make sure I installed everything correctly. The trip to the tracks took a bit less than an hour and didn’t feel like a long drive at all. Once I got to the tracks I noticed all the main gates were locked. For a second I thought they were closed but then I noticed SUV’s speeding across the desert in the distance and heading in the direction of the track, I figured there might be another entrance and drove in the direction they were all heading. Sure enough, there was a side gate open off the main road and I drove into the racing club.
Once I drove into the track I didn’t see any spectators, racers, employees or even any signs telling me where to go next. So I just started following other cars and ended up driving through another gate and onto a tarmac road adjacent to the race track. I then kept driving till I eventually ended up at the start line. You can watch the video above which shows you how to enter the tracks and get to the tarmac that takes you to the start line. If you don’t have an SUV you’ll be fine since I was able to get to the track in my Alfa.
If you want to watch the races there are two ways:
The first way is you drive up to the start or finish line and park your car on the side and just watch the start or end of the races.
The second way to watch the races is you drive around the track with the race as it’s taking place. There are four tracks technically, the main track for the camels to race on is a large wide dirt track surrounded by railings. To the right of the race track is a dirt track for the camel owners who drive next to their camels during the race to control the robot jockeys on the camels. To the left of the camel track are two paved roads also separated by railings, one for use by track employees and the camera vehicle, the second is for the spectators to drive alongside the camels during the race. I didn’t do that this past Saturday but I did do that the first time I went to the tracks and you can watch the video above to see how it looks (chaotic basically). The only difference now is the spectators road is paved instead of it being a dirt road like in the video. Back then you could also tune into FM 93.1mhz on the radio and listen to a live broadcast of the actual race as you drive around. I couldn’t test it this time since my Alfa doesn’t have a radio.
The races start at 1PM and last till 3 or 4PM depending on the week. They alternate between 8 races and 16 races a week, the more races the later they finish. This Saturday when I visited it was 8 races, 4 races with the large camels and 4 with smaller ones. The only difference between the two is the starting line shifts closer to the finish line for the smaller camels. Each race lasts around 15 minutes before the next one starts. They’re not that strict with timing, they basically wait till the races end and all the spectators drive back to the starting line before starting the next race. The races take place weekly starting in October and this year will end in the first week of March.
I definitely recommend you check the races out just don’t go with high expectations, it’s nothing fancy. If you have kids they’d probably enjoy seeing camels up close and you can get pretty close to the camels both at the start and finish line. If you want to visit the Kuwait Camel Racing Club, here is the link to Google Maps.
Here is this weekend’s list of things to do. The KMT events don’t allow spectators so if you aren’t participating, you can’t check them out. I’ll keep looking for more things going on and will add them as I find them.
At the start of the pandemic, I shut down the events section since everything obviously stopped. But, a few things are starting to pop up and I’m going to start posting about them here and once things really take off, only then reopen the events section again. For now here are a few things taking place this weekend:
If you’ve recently walked along the Gulf Road or taken a trip to Mutla’a then you’ve probably noticed Kashta setups on the beach or in the desert. Last year there were only a handful of businesses that set up these gathering spots but this year the market has exploded with everyone jumping on board the kashta train.
Inspired Edibles have put together the ultimate kashta setup list which I’ve reposted below. Because there are so many I’ve highlighted the ones that seemed the most interesting with an asterix *
If you’re looking for a safe place to ride your bicycle, Kuwait Motor Town is bringing back bicycle days. Bicycle days are when they open the race track to the public so that people can ride their bicycles on the road in a safe car-free environment. Bicycle days are on the following two days:
Melemele is Kuwait’s first Karaoke house that opened up recently at The Palms. Not sure how karaoke works when you’re sober since I’ve only ever done it when plastered, but it seems it’s doable based on the videos in their highlights.
The whole place along with the karaoke rooms looks pretty cool and they have over 10,000 tracks to choose from. The price is 4KD per person on weekdays and 5KD per person on weekends but depending on the size of the room you want, there is a minimum number of people that have to sign up. Booking is done through their website in advance and they’ve got a bit more information there so make sure to check it out.
We don’t get a lot of new things to do in Kuwait so it’s good to see something fun like this pop up especially during the pandemic. They’re on Instagram @melemelekaraoke and their website is melemelekaraoke.com
A friend of mine was set to open a ceramics design studio called From Mud before the pandemic hit and now is forced to push back the opening date.
In the meantime, she’s decided to put together a “Clay at Home” starter kit for people looking for a new hobby to get into, or a fun activity to stay entertained with at home. If you’re interested, check out her instagram account for more details @frommud
There obviously aren’t any events taking place this weekend in Kuwait so what is everyone planning to do to pass time over the weekend and the coming two weeks? Video games? Movies? Binge watch 7 seasons of Parks and Recreation?
Last May, I was lucky enough to be invited on a private tour of the new Al Salam Palace Museum which was recently restored. The museum was expected to open end of last year but I guess due to some delays it just opened now.
Al Salam Palace was built in the late 1950s and was used to accommodate visiting heads of state. During the 1990 invasion, the palace was completely destroyed and stayed abandoned for years until the restoration project started back in 2013 to turn it into a museum. The palace is located right next to JACC and consists of three main museums:
Museum of Kuwait’s History through its Rulers
Museum of Al Salam Palace History
Museum of the Civilizations that inhabited Kuwait
You can only get a tour of the museum and there are two kinds right now:
Standard Tour (English or Arabic)
Duration: 120 minutes
Cost: KD8
VIP Tour (Arabic)
Duration: 60-120 minutes
Cost: KD20
The Al Salam Palace website is up right now with more information and booking options, you can check it out at aspm.com.kw. You can also follow them on isntagram @aspm.kw
I haven’t been this excited about a new place opening up in quite a bit but last night I passed by Smash Hub and I had a blast. So much fun that I’m actually headed back there tonight again.
Smash Hub houses two games:
Smash Therapy
This is why I basically dropped by. Their Smash Therapy section is composed of two rooms where you go into and destroy stuff. You have different packages you can choose from, I ended up choosing the Troublemaker in which they provided me with 12 glass cups and 1 electronic item to smash. I could choose between a receiver or printer and ended up going with the printer. You can also destroy other items like a TV but at an additional cost. Once you select your items they set it up in the room and provide you with disposable overalls and protective gear to wear. You also get to choose two weapons of choice, I ended up going with a sledgehammer and a baseball bat. I was tempted to go with an axe but figured with my clumsiness I might not leave the room in one piece. Finally, I also got to choose my on smash playlist which was a nice surprise. I didn’t have much time to think but I think I made the right choices:
Once inside the room they take you through some basic rules and then leave you to it. I have to say, this was so insanely fun. It didn’t take long to smash 12 glass cups and a printer, in fact, I didn’t even get past my first song on the playlist, but damn it was fun. After I was done I told the guys they should create a monthly membership package since I’d love to drop by once a week just to vent out on a flatscreen TV. Below is a video I shot of the guy before me smashing some glass cups. Even smashing something so small and fragile like a glass cup was fun. I also have a short video of the guy smashing a TV with an axe, it’s a vertical video though and you can watch that here.
Axe Throwing
The other activity Smash Hub offers is axe throwing. I was just very recently having a conversation about this with a friend since it’s an activity thats gaining popularity in the States right now and I was telling them someone should bring it to Kuwait. Well it’s here now. It’s similar to throwing darts except you throw an axe.
I tried it out and it wasn’t as much fun as smashing a printer, but maybe if you’re with a group of friends it’s more enjoyable. Also maybe with lots of beer and loud music.
So lets talk prices. They currently have launch prices which are as follows:
Smash’n’nGo: 6KD for a dozen glassware or a dozen axe throws
Specials:
Smash Special (for 2 people): 35kd = Therapy Box + Smaxe (50% off yard sale)
Smash Hero: Hit Bullseye 3x in a row = Free TV (valid when purchasing a Therapy pack)
Yard Sale:
Glass pack = 5KD
Small electronic = 10KD (receiver/printer)
Glass panel = 10kd
TV = 20KD
I went with the Troublemaker and Axe Pack so my total came out to KD20. In hindsight, I would have taken the Troublemaker pack and added a TV to it for an additional 20KD. And maybe a glass pack on top of that as well. In case you want to bring your own items to smash you can, but they would have to approve it first.
If you want to try out Smash Hub they’re located inside Sirbb Circuit in Shuwaikh (go all the way to the left once you walk in). They’re open daily from 6PM to 10PM and you can check them out on instagram @smashhubkw
This past weekend I picked up a Mercedes GLE to review for the blog and since it was a pretty comfortable car to drive, I decided I needed to go on a long road trip. So I headed to Al Bohayra Farm on Friday to check it out.
Getting there was a bit dramatic. Other than the fact it was a long drive (around an hour and a half) but Google Maps took me on a strange route. I took the causeway bridge to the other side and everything was great for a while after the bridge but then suddenly the highway ended with barriers and was diverted to a small pothole-ridden road (pictured above). The remaining highway was still under construction but oddly some cars were going through the barrier and driving on the semi-finished highway. I drove for a while on the pothole-ridden road but it just got really bad and even though I was in an SUV it was still really bad. So I got off the small road and drove down onto the unfinished highway which was pretty finished actually not sure why they had it closed off. But, after a while, even the unfinished highway ended with barriers diverting all the cars onto the adjacent road going against the flow of traffic. Some cars drove through the barriers into the even more unfinished highway while the rest of us were suddenly driving on a highway with cars coming towards us. It was super confusing and after a few minutes, we found a way to enter the unfinished side of the highway where we continued driving until we got back to normal roads. There definitely must be an easier way of getting there but it must have been one of those days where Google Maps wanted to mess with me.
Once we got to Al Bohayra Farm I was surprised at how busy it was. There were tour buses parked on the main road and their huge parking was pretty full. There is no entrance fee, you just walk in through the main gates and explore the farm. There are various things to do on the farm including renting bicycles, picking strawberries, exploring the farm, shopping at the farmers market and having delicious corn on the cob or lunch at one of the many fast-food restaurants like Burger King, Applebees, Pizza Hut and a few more (no farm to table restaurant if you’re wondering). There are various play areas for the kids, pony rides and lots of farm animals to see.
Even though there were so many people on the farm it never felt too crowded. The farm is large and the facilities there are made to handle a large number of people. Even some of the restaurants like Burger King had two branches on the farm. I really had a good time and I want to start checking out some of the other farms now that are also open to the public.
Al Bohayra Farm is located in Abdali which I had never been to before. I drove around the area a bit after visiting the farm and it felt like I was driving through one of those random towns while doing a U.S. road trip. There was also a bit of a wild west feeling which I kinda liked.
Al Bohayra Farm is worth checking out if you’ve never been. The farm is open every Friday and Saturday from 10AM to 9PM. Their instagram account is @albohayra and here is their location on Google Maps.
Not a lot going on this weekend but there s the ABBA tribute concert taking place on Saturday which should be good. Check out the full list of this weekends events below:
