InfinityLimited

Kuwait: a city that is part Mad Max, part Wild West but mostly Bombay slum. People disagree with me on that last bit, pointing to all the wealth, but all you need to do is point at all the unfinished civil works in return.

No alcohol, therefore no DUI laws, but plenty of drinking going on, and plenty of drunk driving accordingly.

A lot of people who like it there seem to running from something, hence the wild west kind of atmosphere.

The wealth is obvious: high end cars, well dressed people, expensive adornments, but it is all set against the backdrop of a country whose civil infrastructure is barely hanging on.
We drove by roadworks that started years ago, and haven't progressed further than a hole in the ground. Sidewalks out the front of buildings that just end in mid-air because no-one thought to make sure that the next building's ground level was the same.

The war was a long time ago now, there was no evidence of it. It was long enough ago that things should be back to normal by now.

The apartment we stayed at was not connected to city water. A water tanker came every night to fill the building's tank on the roof, which incidentally gets so hot in the summer, that you use the cold water as hot, turn off your hot water system and use it as cold, because it is inside the air conditioning.

The parking lot was filled with luxury vehicles, but the road leading up to the parking lot was dirt, and filled with rubbish.

The flight in over the tank farm lasted minutes, and the dessert just behind it looked like someone had dropped pickup-sticks everywhere: the pipelines were all randomly crisscrossing the dessert.

Mobile phone towers were all of the temporary, trailer kind. All fenced in, and burning diesel to keep the and equipment running inside an air-conditioned mobile hut.

A confusing mix of swaggering and excessive wealth, utterly wasteful use of resources, and all still trying to catch up to the rapid growth of the country.