Sunday 12^th October – Kuwait City

• Arrive at your convenience into Kuwait City – the capital city of Kuwait which is well connected from many countries within the Middle East, most of Europe and Asia.
• For those coming from our Saudi Arabia tour will be arriving at 2:45pm on Kuwait Airways flight from Jeddah, and transfer to our centrally located hotel.
• Group members meet at the lobby of our hotel at 5:00pm
• Head out for a stroll near the harbour for dinner
• Overnight at hotel

Monday 13^th October – Failaka Island

Morning

• Breakfast at hotel and pick up in our private transport to the ferry dock
• 9:00am departure on ferry for an hour cruising along the harbour front of Kuwait before reaching the forgotten Failaka island
• Prior to the 1990 Iraqi Invasion, Failaka Island was a popular holiday destination, but the Iraqis expelling all of its residents to the mainland. They then mined the beaches and used the island’s facilities and buildings for target practice. It is now abandoned.
• Visit the Sheikh Abdullah Al-Salem Palace – the eleventh ruler of Kuwait, built out of sea rocks and mud. Portraits of all the former rulers of Kuwait are displayed in the majestic foyer.
• Explore around an old resort on the island damaged during the war and completely abandoned

Afternoon

• We’ll have lunch on the island at a nearby cafe
• Visit what remains of the former Bank al Watani – one of the most war damaged yet standing buildings on the island
• Head to the tank graveyard. Discarded Soviet tanks, APCs, artilleries, military trucks and vehicles left behind by Saddam’s military.
• Drop by the heritage village to see how villagers lived on the island before the invasion
• Board the 4:00pm ferry back to mainland and dropped off at hotel
• Head out downtown for dinner
• Overnight at hotel

Tuesday 14^th October – Kuwait City

Morning

• Our first stop of the day is Kuwait’s Grand Mosque – a dress code is required for women visiting which can be borrowed from the gatehouse. This enormous mosque is fairly unique in the region for its Andalusian architectural influence.
• Visit Sadu House – a traditional Bedouin Kuwaiti house and culture
• Visit the National Museum which houses the knowledge of the Arabian peninsula, the geography, history and civilization.
• Stop by the Al-Qalalif Diwaniyah – the most important craft and profession in Kuwait of the past, manufacturing wooden sailing ships. This was taught down by generations. With over 450 members, most of whom are elderly.

Afternoon

• Lunch in the city
• Visit the must-see museum of Kuwait, which is not for the faint-hearted, the Al-Qurain Martyrs House which depicts the Iraqi invasion during the Gulf War. One of the documents on display is an official order found in an Iraqi vehicle instructing troops to “burn and destroy all homes on which there were slogans hostile to our leadership.”
• Make a special visit to the Ahmad Al Jaber Oil & Gas Exhibition – named after Kuwait’s 10th ruler from 1921 to 1950, it was during his reign that the birth of Kuwait’s oil industry began. The exhibition explains and shows in great detail the formation of oil, to its discovery and all of the ways that oil products are produced today.
• Watch the sunset from the top of Kuwait Towers with great views over the city
• Visit the old Souq Al Mubarakeya – one of the oldest souqs in Kuwait, and was the centre of trade prior to the discovery of oil.
• Explore Kuwait’s central fish market and Dhow Harbour
• Dinner in town
• Overnight at hotel

Wednesday 15^th October– Kuwait City

• Breakfast at hotel
• Tour concludes – YPT can help arrange airport transfers or travel to your next destination. Group members apart of our Iraq tour can book and board FlyDubai flight, with a transit stop in Dubai, arriving in Baghdad.

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