Kuwait-Bahrain-Qatar

As many of you know, I sometimes like a challenge. This time, it was to see how a gay Jew travels around the Gulf as a single male on a US passport. I'm pleased to report that it was none too eventful. First, I think the American passport is still worth a heck of a lot when passing through various immigration posts. Second, I don't usually speak about my background to people I don't know so I'm not really trying to test the waters on either an ethnic/religious front or, for that matter, on sexual orientation. So maybe it wasn't that gutsy after all. And now that I think about it, it's probably pretty common for business men to be on their own and in Arab culture men travel in groups and on their own quite often. The way women socialize and move through society is really more interesting. Let's just say that 95% of the people you see socializing (in the hotels where westerners gather) are men.

So you might ask what exactly I did in these countries. A few quick highlights:

-- in Kuwait there is a private collection of Islamic art that is really quite wonderful. It is nicely curated and has good English language placards. Next time you're in Kuwait stop by the Tareq Rajab museum which is a bit out of the center of downtown Kuwait. I'm having trouble getting a working link at the moment but this article refers to it. http://www.asiarooms.com/travel-guide/kuwait/museums-in-kuwait/tareq-rajab-museum-in-kuwait.html

-- in Bahrain there are two worthwhile destinations including the Portuguese fort and the National Museum. Definitely see the national museum first and pick up the guide of 101 Things to Do in Bahrain. I think Bahrain's geography -- protruding into the Arabian Gulf-- put Bahrain in a strategic position that various invading and colonizing forces found enticing. The fort is actually a world heritage site and there is a decent museum and audio guides you can rent. http://www.worldheritagesite.org/sites/qalatalbahrain.html


-- Qatar feels calm and "steady as you go" relative to its Gulf neighbors. It's booming but in some type of contolled fashion. I asked one person who said that the economy is simply (or better stated intentionally) more diversified than many of the other Gulf states. They have oil, of course, but they also are making a play for tourism, consulting services and media. For example, Al Jazeera, the media outlet, is based in Qatar. And while they have their biases, they are making a run at open debate. In fact, I saw a debate between Hamas and Fatah in front of a young audience of Palestinians. In the end, I felt like it was a standoff with neither side winning the day. Interestingly, when they polled the audience, close to 90% voted "no confidence" in either side of the Palestinian leadership. For an interesting re-cap of this debate, you might want to check out this link to an op-ed written by the Chairman of the Doha Debates which sponsored the dialogue. The sidebar at the beginning of the article summarized the outcome by saying: "Face to face in a congenial setting, Hamas and Fatah agreed -- on nothing." It's an interesting read. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/03/opinion/03iht-edsebastian.html

And not to leave out a recommendation for a museum in Qatar, I can enthusiastically recommend the Museum of Islamic Art. Both the building and the collection are exquisite.

http://www.qma.com.qa/eng/index.php/qma/collections/1

That's it fow now...the next post is Turkey.