Good Day, Sunshine

6:14AM sunrise

Earlier this week I am in Abu Dhabi which is like a giant 5 star shopping mall (Rolls Royce's newest car, the 'Wraith", advertised in the airport and on the streets : this is its natural habitat, after all). My hotel (54th floor) offers views of the Persian Gulf and .. the desert. Strangely , several towers block my vista.

From A D to Dubai, which is more of the same. Then Kuwait City which I like. Despite Kuwait's vast wealth it is still Third World and the airport a complete shambles. Visitors require a visa so I queue in three lines before my passport stamped then another line for passport control.  It is 10PM and the airport heaving. And hot. And it smells. Getting a taxi not a problem but exiting the airport like threading a needle through the traffic. I'm at the nicest hotel in town, a Sheraton, which is designed for Westerners so gauche brown marble, gold and 14th century French decoration. A trio serenades us with pop songs at the hotel Italian. No Alcohol, of course.

Despite the crumbling eye level, Kuwait has some of the world's tallest and sleekest skyscrapers in the world. They shoot up like sprouts through mold.