Kuwait

Kuwait is quiet - not the peaceful kind, but the kind where you’re not sure if you’re supposed to be there. I walked through wide streets under a sun that didn’t let up, past malls, mosques, mirrored towers. The skyline gleamed, but the spaces between felt empty.

There was no tourism machine, no clear path to follow. And maybe that’s what made it interesting. I sat in cafés where men in dishdashas scrolled their phones in silence, wandered through souks that smelled like oud and engine oil, and watched the sea lap gently against concrete.

But there was warmth. A stranger insisting I share their meal. Conversations that started slow, then turned into something real. Nowhere else have I experienced hospitality like in Kuwait, sincere, unforgettable.

Kuwait doesn’t open its arms right away. But when it does, it is with both hands. And that’s why I love it.