Sailing in Kuwait bay

Sailing in Kuwait bay

Kuwait Panorama from sea

Another fantastic Friday by the beach! Me along with my other three friends, (Manoj, Sandeep, Kiran) hired a boat to travel through the Kuwait bay. It was an amazing 5-hour trip back and forth. The journey started from Sharq port bay at 3:30 AM. The climate was little windy creating  majestic waves that will definitely catch anyone's attention.

The silk route

It was a bumpy ride for us, but we still decided to go ahead as this trip has been planned for weeks and apparently it always gets cancelled due to the weather (yes, i'm talking about the sand storms who loves visiting Kuwait mostly in weekends.)

 

Out from the city....

First fishing spot

The trip was aimed in two subjects: 1. Photography (of course!) and 2. Fishing
However, apart from the above, this sea ride had given us other different experiences that we never had before! It was an amazing day for everyone and it is indeed a very fulfilling trip.

Sunrise

After an hour of ride through the waves, the boat was anchored for fishing. Unluckily, i guess the fishes on this part of the sea are smart enough to escape our baits :P. Eventually, we end up using half of our baits wasted (not a single fish was caught!).  

Finally we left the area, decided to go further and had a chance to see an island named Umm al Namil, (location Coordinate) located near Doha-Kuwait. The group decided to visit the island and dock our boat in the closest possible location. (Special thanks to our boat guy! He is really a cool guy and very friendly.) We then started walking on the Island shore while sharing our stories and thoughts about other places we have visited in Kuwait.

Kuwait from a Captain's view

We were informed earlier that on a very low tide day, an access to this island is possible (located opposite the Doha Power plant), by walking or through a modified jeep. We originally planned visiting the Island through that passage, but we end up going by a sea ride and went in the opposite way.  

The island will be a good place to build and create a tourists spot or an amusement park, changing its current state right now which is comparable to a scrap yard. We left the island with a good hope that the government will do something in the future to promote and develop this area as one of the must-visit place in Kuwait.

Kuwait city looks very nice from the sea both day and night

From Umm al namil to Kuwait city

We went back to the same fishing spot again, and this time we caught some fishes for our lunch! (We are smarter than them now :P ) 

Some of our photos

Hints:

Boat fare is 45 KD per 6 hours trip.
8 persons can sit relax on board and 10 persons can do a good trip.

Salmi Desert - Kuwait.

Sand dunes in Kuwait

                           

It is a known fact that sand dunes are very rare in Kuwait and was never even seen in some areas. In my years of travel experiences around Kuwait, I haven't found a good sand dune place in Kuwait for a photo shoot. I have learned that sand dunes are formed by the wind and other climatic forces and we were informed that we can only find good sand dunes in Kuwait Salmi - Saudi Arabia boarder.

So today is another Friday shoot along with two of my friends to catch amazing Sand dune clicks in Salmi border. We left Salmiya in two cars at around 4 o'clock in the morning full of hopes to capture an awesome sand dune view. It was an enjoyable ride for everyone!

                           
We headed to Jahra area and took a left turn through the fly-over end of the 6th ring road. It took us another 30 minutes more to reach the Salmi boarder. (Sorry! no route maps and location provided. My phone was having some software issues)

We don't know the exact route and this is our first time to visit the area, so we  decided to go ahead and just stay few meters away from the highway. From there, i have seen an endless desert. It was a very quiet area and we are literally in the middle of nowhere!   

We were warned about the old stories of sand mines buried in ground and are suspected to be still active from the 1st gulf war and so we decided not to go further towards the middle of the desert. Luckily, we still found sand dunes area for our photo shoot.  Few macro shots of some desert species was also captured during our visit.

   

  

A lonely desert flower 

                         

A pleasant and favorable climate for a photo shoot welcomes us. Clear sky view, quiet blowing wind and fair humidity. However, after about 2 hours, we started noticing a gradual change in wind speed and temperature. We then felt that the wind was getting stronger and sands started to move slowly and then got stronger every minute.

                          

The sand storm made a great show in front of us displaying its might. It was so powerful like a raging bull and we have witnessed a river like movement of sands over the desert. We then decided to call it a day and went back to our cars and head back home. In five minutes, the whole area and the road were completely covered with sand. The road visibility had gone very low.  

                            
I had mixed emotions throughout the trip. The excitement, fear and experience are really unforgettable and i will definitely visit this place again. Well hopefully by the next time we will not have to experience and taste the wrath of Kuwait sands. :P

This blog post is specially dedicated to my friend Sandeep whom i accidentally hit by his own car during the trip. LOL  (FYI.. he ends up with few bruises in the knees)  Sorry my friend! :D

Some other days explre in to the other side of salmi desert ;