Alice has never ridden in the business end of a police car in her life, blameless as it has been. However, that is the way she got to see Failaka Island. Here is the story.
Failaka Island is a large island off the coast of Kuwait and is the site of its only classical ruins (built by the men of Alexander the Great). A combination of sea voyage to an island with remote remnants of the ancient world was irresistible to Alice and she requested this journey. Saturday we were supposed to by ferry with the entire M'hallah family and spend the day there but winds kept all boats from going. Therefore, we decided to fit it in after Alice's seminar on Sunday at the university.
Kheireddine had arranged a private boat and we gamely set off (Rym, Randy and Alice) around 2:00 PM. It was only 30 minutes by this fast small boat and it felt wonderful to be out on the water after the polluted air of Kuwait City. Rym had not been to this island before (neither had Kheireddine) so we weren't sure what to expect. That is probably just as well.
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| Rym and Randy enjoy the boat |
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| Leaving Kuwait City |
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| The small pier on Failaka Island |
Our Indian (?) captain dropped us at the pier and told us we had to get back to the city by 5:00 PM because of the tides. The island proved much bigger and much more deserted than we expected. In fact, in the warm afternoon, there was no one around. The police station was near the pier and Rym went in to ask directions to the ruins.
Like everything in that part of the world, this was not a quick and simple request. We were invited into the station (which was air conditioned) and asked to wait. The police officer there was lounging in his informal robe (it is a very remote place) and we sat around for maybe 20 minutes. Then, another robed guy came along. He spoke some English and we found out he is the police chief of the island. Moreover, he offered to be our tour guide for the afternoon. This seemed unbelievable to us but there were not good options.
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| Rym and Randy chill at the police station |
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| Our friendly police officer host |
Rym and I sat in the barred and locked back of his large police car while Randy sat up front in the shotgun seat. We took off and stopped at the ruins site. This was locked and barred. The police chief roused the caretaker but after about 15 minutes of negotiations it was no go - he was not even going to let the police chief in. He had to get permission from some unknown boss whom he could not reach on the cell phone. We were asked to return later.
The chief took us to the deserted homes of a former holiday village. Now Failaka Island was a apparently a self sufficient and well populated place up to the Iraqi invasion. Since that time the people were all relocated to the mainland and the buildings are deteriorating. The government wants to make it a resort island again but so far there has been no success.
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| Some of the ruined holiday village on Failaka Island |
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| An abandoned car - the setting is perfect - right on the beach - but it is a true ghost town |
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| Rym, the Police Chief and Alice |
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| The police SUV that proved to be our transport on the island |
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| The doorway of a deserted house - a modern ruin in a great beach setting |
Next was a royal camel farm. Here we met a wizened Camel Whisperer from Somalia who tended the large (and apparently very valuable) herd for some relatives of the Amir. He truly had a way with camels and Alice got to stroke and semi-kiss a camel but still no camel ride. We went in the enclosure with the baby camels who were anxiously waiting for their mothers who were grazing outside. The mothers were not happy about us being in with their babies and moaned loudly. Mothers were moaning and babies were moaning. It was quite an event. Apparently each evening the police chief joins the Camel Whisperer for a camel milk sundowner (reputed to cure everything including cancer).
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| The Police Chief with the Camel Whisperer |
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| The Camel Whisperer hails his charges |
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| Alice gets a camel kiss |
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| Checking out the male (father) camels |
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| This one bonded with Alice |
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| The Camel Whisperer in the pen of the babies |
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| The handsome white babies with their anxious mothers in the rear on the other side of the fence |
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| The herd of mother camels |
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| The Police Chief, the Camel Whisperer, Alice and Randy |
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| Same group with Rym instead of the Chief |
The next tourist spot on the island was an enclosure of Iraqi war machinery captured during the war. A variety of big weapons and transport are getting rusty in the Failaka sun. After seeing more deserted houses (some quite nice and big) we returned to the ruins site. This time, after protracted discussions, we were admitted. After the glories of Turkey this site was pathetic. However, its shear remoteness was impressive - thinking of the Greeks traveling so far to this desert island and settling a town there was mind boggling. The ruins are still being extensively excavated (not active when we were there) and it was capped off by a nearby old home (about 300 years old) that belonged to the Amir's family.
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| Remnants of the Iraqi invasion of the island |
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| More war left overs |
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| All of these are grouped within a fenced area (which is not locked or otherwise secured) |
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| The Chief also told us the island was extensively mined. Not welcome news and it made us nervous where we walked although the Chief assured us the mines had been cleaned up long ago |
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| The Chief and the ruins caretaker |
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| The central area with remains of a temple |
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| One of two small columns left from Alexander the Great |
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| A very pretty scallop detail from the temple area |
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| A nearby altar or some other small building |
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| Close up of one of two of the graceful scallops |
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| The extensive ruins of this Greek town in the Persian Gulf |
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| Remains of an oven |
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| The historic home near the ruins - about 300 years old - and belonging to the Amir's family |
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| Ceiling detail - the same ceiling construction is found in rural Turkey |
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| The beautiful stair case to the roof. The house walls were at least one feet thick |
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| The unusual semi-circular stairs to the house |
We thanked the chief profoundly - without him our day at Failaka Island would have been a bust. Instead it was truly interesting and more than memorable.
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| The ferry between Failaka Island and the mainland runs once a day |
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| A faded sign of the island's attractions at the pier |
The evening saw us returning to the Souk for dinner with the M'hallah's, Suja and several other faculty from Rym's department. Suja selected the restaurant which was a revelation. It was a bunch of chairs and tables set up in the souk surrounded by some kitchens and near the meat, fish and vegetable markets. The food was the best! Fish, giant shrimp, kebabs of all types, roast lamb, salads, pilav, etc. All in a crowded bustling environment that only the real locals would know about.
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| Sadok, Randy and Suja wait for dinner in the middle of the Souk |
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| Alice with the Dean, Lakdere, who is from Algeria and half Kabile (the same ethnic group of our beloved Algerian "son" Rafik) |
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| The food is cooked at a variety of kitchens which surround the table area |
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| Another view of one of the kitchens - one cooks bread, one fish, one meat, etc. |
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| The beautiful and healthy pomegranate salad |
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| The hummus in Kuwait was better than that found in Turkey - we don't know the secret but it is the best hummus |
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| Some greens - maybe grown at the local Kuwaiti farms |
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| The ubiquitous and delicious Iranian bread |
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| Suja shows off a very traditional dish of roast lamb and chick peas |
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| The kebab assortment - their version of Adana kebab was amazing |
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| The giant shrimp -this time in their shells - these are the best shrimp anywhere |
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| The pilav in Kuwait typically contains saffron |
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| The roasted fish was covered with an assortment of spices which complemented it perfectly |
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| Alice and faculty member Talal, a Kuwaiti educated in Florida |
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| Lakdere, Kheireddine and Hachemi at dinner |
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| The traditional tea arrived on a mini charcoal stove |
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| A view of our eating place - if you go to Kuwait City - forget the restaurants and eat here in the middle of the Souk! |
Take aways from the day - most times letting the place and situation take care of itself produces the best travel. If we had known what awaited at Failaka Island (a deserted place with no tourist facilities and a closed historic site) we would have never visited. As it was, life in back of the police car (perhaps the only one on the island) was the way to see this obscure but memorable piece of the earth.
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| A view from the business end of the Failaka police car |
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| Despite being barred and locked in, Alice and Rym were enjoying every minute |
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