Category: Travel

This is just a follow up to my post from a few weeks ago about the Ricoh GRIII. If you missed that post, basically I got the GRIII camera to use as a travel cam since I’ve been finding my Fuji X100V a bit cumbersome when traveling.

I took the Ricoh with me to Athens a couple of weeks ago and during the week trip I took 121 photos with my iPhone, and 304 photos with my Ricoh. That is crazy.

The fact I took more photos with the GRIII than my iPhone goes to show how great a travel camera is it. I carried the iPhone in one pocket in my shorts and the GRIII in the other and I always found it easier to pull out the GRIII snap a photo and put it back. It slips in and out of my pocket easier than the iPhone because my iPhone has the silicone cover. But also the iPhone is bigger so harder to pull out of my pocket while the GRIII is smaller so easier. Also it’s a lot easier to pull the camera out and press the power button to turn it on and start taking photos than it is to pull out the iPhone, tap to turn the screen on and then tap again to open the camera and then reposition my hand on the phone to take a photo.

I love the GRIII so much, if I wasn’t a camera hoarder I would sell my Fuji because I can’t think of a situation now where I would pick it over the GRIII.

Oh and another thing, I usually run my iPhone photos or Fuji photos through RNI afterwards to apply a filter, I wasn’t applying any filters to the Rioch photos, they all looked great as is straight out of the camera. I also enjoyed shooting with the 28mm lens over the 35mm lens of the Fuji. Especially when traveling, I feel a wider lens works better.

I do have one big complaint about the Ricoh though and one I’m surprised they haven’t solved yet with a firmware update. You can’t shoot photos in the 16:9 ratio! They only give you the option of 3:2 and 1:1. I appreciate 1:1 since that’s a square and what I use for my Instagram posts, but 16:9 is crucial for me since that’s the ratio of Instagram stories and how I share my photos.

Other than that the camera is perfect, I can’t recommend it enough. I got mine from BHPhoto for around $1,000. They’re usually out of stock but you can just buy it and once they restock they ship right away and straight to Kuwait. Link

Starting September 1st, Wizz Air has suspended flights to Kuwait. Although I’ve never flown with them, they did have some really great prices and from what I read, it really wasn’t that bad of an experience flying with them.

It’s not clear yet if this is a permanent or just temporary suspension, but right now you can no longer book any Wizz Air flights from Kuwait for the foreseeable future. source

Lufthansa has decided to cancel the Kuwait – Frankfurt route with the last flight scheduled for September 15, 2024.

Lufthansa has been landing in Kuwait since 1963, over 60 years. They’re blaming the lack of carrying capacity caused by late delivery of new aircrafts from the manufacturer. They’re also planning to reevaluate and improving its network of routes, so they might eventually fly from Kuwait again.

Last year KLM suspended flights to Kuwait blaming lack of profitability. I personally stopped flying both KLM and Lufthansa since Kuwait Airways got the new planes. I just find the Kuwait Airways timings so much better since they fly out in the morning instead of the middle of the night. I’m assuming other people are doing the same.

Update: Seems the Times Kuwait article might be wrong. According to another article, Lufthansa is temporarily suspending flights until September 15 due to the situation in the region. I don’t trust newspapers in Kuwait so I’d believe this website over Times Kuwait. Link

Update2: A reader sent me the screenshot above which was a mid August update that was sent to travel agencies. According to Lufthansa in the screenshot, they decided to discontinue the Frankfurt Kuwait connection from September 16 onwards. Lufthansa currently suspended flights to the region till September 15 due to the situation in the region. This notice is basically saying that even after the 15th they won’t be operating out of Kuwait.

So many places have closed down in T4, in fact, once you pass security the only places with food still left open are Raising Cane’s, Shake Shack, Starbucks, McDonalds and Al Rifai nuts. So if you’re boycotting brands, your only option for food and coffee is basically Al Rifai.

Last month I did a road trip from Amsterdam to Copenhagen and below is a quick guide of all my favorite spots in Copenhagen. They are not touristic, nor are they TikToky, so you won’t find long lines, although some of the places do require booking ahead of time:

Eat
Krogs Fiskerestaurant and Kodbyens Fiskebar were my favorite seafood spots. I might have actually had the best fish dish I’ve ever had at Krogs (it was their catch of the day). Tokyo Restaurant for authentic Shabu-shabu, it’s also the oldest Japanese restaurant in Scandinavia. Jah Izakaya & Sake Bar for a less traditional and more hip Japanese spot. Oysters & Grill and Rouge Oysters for your more typical seafood and lots of oysters. Andersen & Maillard and Skipper Bageri for your baked goods and pastries. Slurp for Ramen, although it might be a bit TikToky, and finally, Osterberg for delicious ice cream.

Drink
Prolog was by far my favorite coffee spot and their bread, butter and cheese sandwich is top notch as well. Bread, butter and cheese was my favorite thing about Copenhagen, it’s like a staple over there. Orsa was my second favorite coffee shop and it also happens to be in a very cool neighborhood. HANS was also good and the more accessible coffee shop since they have multiple locations.

See
For furniture and accessories you have to visit Frama, Ferm Living and HAY House. For fashion, Another Aspect, Samsøe Samsøe and The Girl & The Diamond. For art supplies (don’t ask) Tutein & Koch. For a day trip out of the city, head to the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art followed by Frederiksborg Castle and exploring the nature around it.

Sleep
I had a few hotels I looked at but eventually booked at Zuko. It’s a new hotel and their rooms looked like one of those small apartments in an episode of “Never too small”. It was very practical, spacious and the location was great, right outside the city center with the metro a 2 minute walk away. The hotel rooftop was a nice spot to chill at the end of the day and there was underground parking which I needed for my rental. Audo Residence and Manon les Suites were my plan B’s.

To see my previous lists, click here.

Yesterday in the comments, I was having a discussion with a reader about the whole practicality of flying to UAE and back just to use the pool there and I found out from him that a return flight to Abu Dhabi is now just 6.750 KD!

Turns out Wizz Air are having a summer sale right now and if your dates are flexible, you can get tickets as cheap at 6.750 KD this summer. I tried it now and it’s real. As long as you don’t add any options like checked-in luggage and other extras, you can get your ticket for $21.98.

I’ve never flown Wizz Air but I have heard both positive and negative comments about it. As long as you manage your expectations it seems like an OK experience. wizzair.com

If you haven’t gotten your biometric scanning done yet and can’t find an appointment, here is a tip, if you’re traveling soon do it on the way out.

I got my biometrics done last year at the Saudi/Kuwait border but my wife hadn’t done hers yet and was worried we’d have to get stuck in line on the way back to get it done. But, a friend who recently traveled from Terminal 1 told me she got her biometric scan done after passport control on the way out, and she didn’t have to wait. So this morning while leaving from Terminal 4 we asked passport control if my wife could get her biometrics done and he pointed towards a blue booth in the corner. We went to it, no line, no appointment and no waiting. She got her biometrics scanned and now she’s done with it.

If you try getting your biometrics scanned on arrival, good luck cuz I’ve heard the lines are a nightmare.

A hacker is claiming to have 600,000 passenger data for Kuwait Airways customers which supposedly contains the following information:

Member title, first name, middle name, surname, marital status, job title, dob, gender, e-mail address, nationality, Kuwait national ID, passport, passport validity period, primary telephone, second telephone, address, city, state, zip code, country, award mile, next card, qualify miles, quality sector, tier, total award miles, total qualify miles, valid from, valid till, contents.

Kuwait Airways have responded to the claim stating:

The security and privacy of our passengers’ information are paramount to us. We are investigating the claims made on social media and have engaged leading cybersecurity experts to assess and mitigate the situation. source

🇰🇼 Alleged Sale of 600,000 Passenger Data of Kuwait Airways

A threat actor claimed to have 600,000 passenger data belonging to Kuwait Airways and was putting it up for sale. Allegedly in the database: member title, first name, middle name, surname, marital status, job title,… pic.twitter.com/PRndsOe5ce

— ThreatMon (@MonThreat) March 25, 2024

I’m a Kuwait Airways customer so I originally was concerned my credit card details might have been part of the security breach. But, I checked and I don’t have my credit card details saved, and don’t think there is a way to save them anyway. So one positive I guess. For more details, check this article out on cybersecuritynews.com

Just a quick update on my previous post on a new rule requiring a triptik for your car if you’re planning on driving out of Kuwait. Yesterday I had a day trip to Khafji and I didn’t get triptik for my car and nobody asked for it at the border.

The only issue I had actually was a 5KD parking fine. They wouldn’t let me leave Kuwait without settling the fine, luckily the border was empty due to the rain storm, so the guy just let me pay the fine while still at the window using the Sahel app.

So lesson of the day, always check to see if you have any fines before traveling. This applies only for expats.

Update: So it seems it could depend on what border you exit Kuwait from. The Salmi border are supposedly asking for triptik, the khafji border isn’t.

Kuwait Airways is currently celebrating their 70 year anniversary, so I decided to share some old photos my mum took back when she was a Kuwait Airways flight attendant.

Back in the early 70s, my mum traveled to Iran via Kuwait Airways from Lebanon. On the way back while transiting at the Kuwait Airport, she saw a Kuwait Airways ad looking for flight attendants. So once she got back to Lebanon, she applied, got the job, and ended up moving to Kuwait a few months later.

Anytime my mum brings up her experience as a Kuwait Airways flight attendant, she always mentions how great it was, and how she got to travel to so many places and meet a lot of people.

Some of the photos I’ve shared here, I previously posted on the blog around 18 years ago, but in low res. I’ve now rescanned all the photos including new ones I hadn’t shared before, and then tried to restore and recover as much of the details and colors as possible without over editing the images.

Just to add a bit more context, the photos here range from 1974 to 1976, with the oldest being the one of my mum in the orange colored uniform. The uniforms in the photos were also designed by Dior, except for the orange one which was designed by Nina Ricci. Finally, the last photos which look like they were taken on a private jet were in fact taken onboard the Emir’s plane (Emir Sabah al-Salim Al Sabah) which she served on during the last period of her career.

I’ve uploaded all 16 photos to my Flickr account, to check them out click here.

I’m currently in London for the week and I haven’t been here since 2022, before we got Apple Pay in Kuwait.

One cool benefit I realized I now have on this trip is that I can use the London Underground by just tapping my phone on the yellow card readers. I don’t even need to double tap the side button or even activate Face ID, I just take my phone out of my pocket, touch the yellow card reader and it automatically takes the money from my account and lets me through. It also works if you have Google Pay but I haven’t tried that.

Another cool thing I got to try on this trip is the eGate at the airport. Because I have the Canadian passport and I was alone, I was able to use the egate at passport control which meant I didn’t have to wait in any line and was through passport control in under a minute. Anyone who’s had to wait in line for an hour at LHR knows going through in under a minute is just insane.

Other than that its freezing and wet over here right now. I keep forgetting how cold it really gets outside of Kuwait and so I never pack enough winter clothes.

According to an article on Arab Times, Kuwait Airport is ranked the 7th worst airport in the world according to Skytrax, the airline and airport review and ranking site. I tried to figure out how Arab Times got their top 10 list but I couldn’t figure it out, on another list also by Skytrax, Kuwait is ranked the 6th worst airport.

6th or 7th, it doesn’t matter really. Previously another airport and airline review site, AirHelp, had ranked Kuwait Airport the 2nd worst in the world, but suspiciously after that ranking, Kuwait stopped appearing on their list.

I’m traveling tomorrow with British Airways from Terminal 1 and not really looking forward to it, although truthfully, since Terminal 4 and the Jazeera terminal opened, Terminal 1 has been pretty chill. It’s just visually an ugly terminal with nothing to do once inside.

While on the subject of airports, I remember reading online somewhere that the fee for long term parking at Terminal 1 got increased from 2KD per day to 5KD per day, can anyone confirm that?

I recently heard that any expat wishing to travel by car outside Kuwait now requires a car “TripTik”. No idea why they announced this new rule but it basically means you need to get an additional paper now for your car before traveling.

A reader recently had to get this paper done at KIAC and this is what he shared:

There are 2 options for the TripTik, 1 month & 12 months validity. 1 Month was recently introduced by KIAC on announcement of this new rule to make it more affordable for expats, but if you travel a lot you should get the 12 months validity. The TripTik will be stamped entering and exiting the border similar to a passport.

Here is what’s required:

For 1 Month
Fee: 20KD
Deposit: 50KD that you’ll get back when you’re back from your trip
Paperwork Required: Civil ID, passport, and car registration

For 1 Year
Fee: 50KD
Deposit: 50KD that you’ll get back when you’re back from your trip
Paperwork Required: Civil ID, passport, and car registration. In addition to that you also need a Kuwaiti guarantor as well. The Kuwaiti guarantor needs to have their Civil ID as well as salary certificate.

Issuing the TripTik takes a few minutes after submitting all the correct paperwork.

In case you’re traveling by car, please double check the above information since it might change over time. You can contact KIAC on 24827524 if you have any questions or visit their website kiac.com.kw

As someone that travels often by car I’m personally really annoyed by this.

Thanks Uzair

UPDATE: According to a number of readers, they were able to travel to Saudi without requiring the TripTik. So looks like it might not be required or they haven’t started requesting them yet.

UPDATE2: I just went to Saudi yesterday and came back, didn’t require TripTik and nobody asked me about it either.

The Henley Passport Index is released every year and is based on data from the International Air Transport Association (IATA). A passport is considered powerful based on how many countries people from that country can visit without needing a visa.

For 2024, Kuwait ranks 55 on the list with 102 visa-free destinations (check image below). Compared to neighboring GCC countries, Kuwait has the 3rd best passport coming in behind the UAE and Qatar.

Here are how some other countries ranked compared to Kuwait:

1 – France
4 – United Kingdom
7 – United States / Canada
11 – United Arab Emirates
53 – Qatar
55 – Kuwait
59 – Bahrain
60 – Oman
61 – Saudi Arabia
80 – India
87 – Egypt
95 – Lebanon

If you want to check out the full list, click here.

Starting February, if you have a Kuwaiti passport you no longer require a visa to travel to the UK. Instead of the traditional visit visa, you will require an Electronic Travel Authorization (ETA) which costs £10 (4KD) and is valid for two years.

The UK ETA application process is straight forward and you should be able to complete the online form in a matter of minutes with the following information:

• Personal details
• Passport data
• Travel information
• Answers to some basic security questions

The only other requirements are:

• A valid Kuwaiti passport
• Credit or debit card to pay the UK ETA fee
• An email address to receive notifications

Most applications will be processed within 3 days, so you can apply for it right before you trip. This move is part of the UK plan to digitize their border by 2025 and applies to Kuwaitis, GCC citizens and Jordanians.

To stay posted or for more information, follow @ukinkuwait