Coming home from Europe via Kuwait, UAE & Ethiopia

[Mattg]

I've been travelling between Australia and Europe quite regularly over the past decade. It's a long trip, so I usually try to break it up and enjoy a stopover (or four) along the way. I also love getting the chance to visit more unusual places. The journey is just as important as the destination!

After spending New Year's Eve in Vienna last year, I spent the first couple of weeks of 2023 travelling back to Australia with a few stops along the way.

This was the full routing:



And this is how I booked it:

• EgyptAir Business Class from Vienna-Cairo-Kuwait, booked using KrisFlyer miles
• Etihad Economy Class from Kuwait to Abu Dhabi, paid airfare
• Emirates Economy Class from Dubai to Addis Ababa, booked using Qantas points
• Ethiopian Airlines & Air India Business Class from Addis Ababa-Delhi-Singapore, booked using KrisFlyer miles
• British Airways Economy Class from Singapore to Sydney, booked using Qantas points
• Virgin Australia (Link Airways) Economy Class from Sydney to Canberra, booked using Velocity points

I'm sure there would have been a cheaper way to get back to Australia in January, but this was much more interesting as far as I'm concerned! I was especially looking forward to visiting Ethiopia as I'd never been anywhere in East Africa before.

The hardest part of booking all of this was just finding award availability (or a reasonably-priced airfare) from Singapore to anywhere in Australia in the middle of January. I was very lucky to find even a Y award seat on BA. At the time that I booked that seat, around two months out, my flight (and most others that week) were showing as Y1.

I did have a bit of "fun" explaining my return journey back to Australia to the German border guard when I first arrived in Europe on this trip. He wanted to see my return ticket, so I handed him a large pile of papers. But once he could see that all the different tickets lined up, and I ended up back in Australia, he was satisfied everything was in order.

 

[Mattg]

Before I get started with the return journey, here are a few photos from around Europe in December last year. Despite the weather, I enjoy being in Europe in December because things aren't too crowded - and of course, there are the excellent Christmas markets!

Lisbon






Utrecht




Christmas market in Cologne



Milan



Lucerne



And Vienna - this was taken in the Augarten just before I headed off to the airport to catch my EgyptAir flight.

 

[Mattg]

On New Year's Day, I flew from Vienna to Kuwait via Cairo on EgyptAir. The first leg was a leisurely afternoon departure on a Boeing 737-800. I then had about a five hour layover in Cairo before taking a redeye onwards to Kuwait.

I've covered the EgyptAir 737 flight from Vienna to Cairo here, so I won't repeat myself in this trip report. But the TL;DR version is that it was like flying in Qantas 737 business class with more legroom, better food, no alcohol and less warmth in the service. It's a dry airline but overall, it was probably better than I expected.

Here are a couple of photos:





On arrival in Cairo, there was a separate bus waiting to take the five J passengers into the terminal. I already received my boarding pass for the CAI-KWI leg when checking in, so headed through transit security and upstairs into the international departures area.

Now, I can't speak to the other terminals at CAI but the EgyptAir international terminal really wasn't great. I had access to both of the EgyptAir lounges, but neither was particularly nice. The food selection was poor, there was no privacy as you were basically just sitting in a large room, and the wifi only lasted an hour before running out.



There were a few drinks available in the lounge including bottled water, Sprite, juice or coffee from a machine that looked like it needed a good clean. That's about it.

Bizarrely, the staff at the EgyptAir lounge desks also had no access to the airline's systems. I enquired about changing my seat and was told they couldn't do this.

The one thing I did like about the MS lounges though was that the toilets were immaculately clean. There was an employee whose only job was to maintain the men's toilets, and he was extremely attentive - even turning on the tap and handing me paper towels etc. when I wanted to wash my hands.

The next flight, MS612, was on a newer Airbus A320neo with newer business class seats. The IFE system was a bit more modern and the plane felt newer, but I think I actually found the 738 seats more comfortable. Both had great legroom.




This was a relatively short 2.5 hour flight leaving just before midnight and landing at 3.15am. Although a lie-flat bed would have been nice, the reality was that the flight was never going to be long enough to get a decent sleep anyway - so I didn’t bother trying and enjoyed the dinner service.

For the pre-departure drink, there was a choice of fruit juices served in plastic bottles. I tried the strawberry juice.



The two female flight attendants looking after the J cabin on this flight worked really hard and were friendly. Before takeoff, they gave out these stickers to place on the seat if you didn’t want to be disturbed etc.



Dinner was served after takeoff.

 

[Mattg]

I had applied and paid for an tourist eVisa for Kuwait in advance. On arrival at KWI, I headed over to the visa issuance counter where there were no other passengers. Apparently, I was the only tourist arriving on this flight (or any of the others that landed around the same time).

My eVisa was processed quickly and I headed down to baggage claim where some of the passengers were crowding around the carousel, forming a blockade to prevent anyone else from getting anywhere near their luggage. My bag was one of the first off but I had to wait for some of the crowd to clear before I could actually retrieve it.

There is no Uber in Kuwait (nor did the airport have free wifi to be able to order one). To get from Kuwait's airport into the city centre, your two main options are to take public bus number 16 or a taxi. The bus costs only KWD0.25 (about AUD1.25), but takes longer and I don't believe it was running in the middle of the night when I arrived.

My taxi cost KWD10, although on the way back to the airport the hotel staff negotiated the price with my driver down to KWD8. You need cash to pay for the taxi and a meter was not used - you need to agree to a price before starting the trip. Luckily, I had withdrawn some Dinars from an ATM in the arrivals hall. If you do need a taxi, there's no need to look for a rank - as is often the case, the drivers will find you.

I arrived to check in at Ibis Sharq around 5am (I had booked the room from the night before and informed them I'd be arriving late so that wasn't a problem). The receptionist was a very friendly man called Mohamed, who was from Egypt. We chatted for quite a while, and he mentioned that in the five months he'd been working at that hotel, I was the first tourist he'd ever met!

In fairness, Kuwait is not exactly a tourist destination. Most people travel there for business or to visit friends & relatives. I was just interested to see what this small country was like.

Mohamed mentioned that the majority of people living in Kuwait are foreign nationals who came for work, rather than Kuwaitis. He also gave me some tips for my stay. I asked him what people in Kuwait did for fun, and he told me they meet friends at a coffee shop or smoke shisha.

Indeed, there were a LOT of coffee shops around! But, as I'd expected, no bars. I don't recall whether my hotel had alcohol available on request, but I don't remember seeing any and didn't ask.

Mohamed seemed genuinely happy that someone was interested in coming to Kuwait for a holiday and wanted to make sure I had a great stay. Since I'm also Accor Gold, he also upgraded me to the best available room and gave me a big discount on breakfast. He told me that when I woke up, I'd have a great view of Kuwait’s tallest building. Indeed, the view wasn't bad!

 

[Mattg]

I had one full day in Kuwait before flying out the following day. After sleeping for a few hours, I planned a bit of a self-guided walking tour circuit around the waterfront that would pass by some of the city's main tourist attractions.

The city is not really designed for pedestrians and I did have to walk on the street at times, but there were enough footpaths to make it work. Since there aren't that many attractions, this was achievable in one day.

Mercifully, as I was travelling during the coldest time of the year for the Middle East, it was actually quite pleasant to walk around outside and not sweltering. I walked around 30,000 steps that day.

Here are a few pictures from my self-guided tour...







My first stop was the Kuwait Towers. Right next to the tours were some quality local restaurants including TGI Fridays, The Cheesecake Factory and McDonalds.





Although that last comment was a joke, there was actually a huge variety of food from many different cuisines available in Kuwait. I guess that's one of the advantages of having so many foreign workers. The quality of the food was generally very good, too.

From there, I continued along the waterfront towards Souq Sharq Mall.




For some reason, I was expecting this to be a more traditional market. But it was really just a fancy shopping mall with a collection of American chain stores and very few customers. This was one of many similar shopping malls that I found around the city.

The nearby fish market, however was bustling. This wasn't a tourist market - it was the real deal. The fishing boats would unload right by the market, and lots of seafood was getting sold in there. I wandered around inside but was too self-conscious to take any photos in there because I stood out like a sore thumb and a lot of people were staring at me.

 

[Mattg]

I made it to Harbor Walk in time to watch the sunset.



Harbor Walk is apparently a popular place to watch the sunset, although I found more stray cats than people here. From here, you could see the very long Sheikh Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah Causeway over Kuwait Bay.




The Kuwait National Museum closes during the middle of the day, opening only in the morning and the evening. Once it opened for the evening, I headed in. Entry was free but you had to fill in your details including passport details into the visitor book.

The national museum is in a huge, modern building which has the potential to be a great museum. Unfortunately, most of the building was closed to the public and there were just a few random exhibits.

I had been hoping to learn a bit about the history of Kuwait, of which I know very little. But the first room was basically an archaeological exhibition with a random collection of coins - and many were not from Kuwait. There were even some Australian ones.

There was one exhibition, the Kuwaiti Cultural Centre which had many dioramas depicting scenes from historic Kuwait. I found that quite interesting, although I often felt a bit short-changed when reading the English descriptions.






To be honest, I left that museum wondering if I'd missed something. Maybe there was a great exhibit on the Gulf War that I completely missed?

Although the city hadn't been very lively during the day, the Mubarakiya Old Market seemed to be a popular hangout spot for locals in the evening.





Overall, I have to say that I felt extremely safe in Kuwait. The people seemed friendly too, and I was treated well.

Would I go back? Well, if I had a reason to, I would not hesitate. I found it to be quite a pleasant place. However, I don't see any particular reason to go out of my way to return as a tourist. This is still very much an emerging tourism destination and, to be honest, there weren't that many interesting things to do.

 

[Mattg]

The next day I flew to Abu Dhabi on Etihad. You can read about that flight here.

Here are a few photos of the view en-route. Firstly, after takeoff from Kuwait:




The causeway from the air:



And Failaka Island, around 20km off the coast from Kuwait City:




And this was the view approaching Abu Dhabi:

 

[Mattg]

I met a few friends in Abu Dhabi and we all stayed at the Sofitel Corniche. It was a nice hotel, despite a few service failures.

This was one of the “water view” rooms.






They left this for me on the first evening:

 

[Mattg]

We headed out the following day to visit the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque, arguably the most famous and popular attraction in Abu Dhabi. It's seriously impressive, although it's not an ancient wonder - it was opened in 2007.

You needed a timed reservation ticket to get into the mosque, and there was a basic dress code. They were able to get lots of people in & out quite efficiently - it's a well-oiled machine.

 

[Mattg]

To get into the mosque, you needed to walk through an underground shopping mall.



Rather than stopping there for lunch, I was excited to find that Abu Dhabi has several Jollibee outlets. For those unfamiliar, it's a Filipino fried chicken chain with (in my opinion) absolutely delicious food.





We also visited the Marina Mall, where you'll find the iconic Rixos Marina hotel.

 

[Mattg]

In my opinion, Abu Dhabi felt more like a "real city" than Dubai, which was my next stop. My friend and I took a bus to Dubai, which worked out fine although you couldn't use the Abu Dhabi HAFILAT card to pay the fare. You needed the Dubai "nol" card which is a separate card and only works in Dubai. The trip took just under two hours.

Compared to Abu Dhabi, Dubai was a bit easier to get around thanks to the metro. And I have to say, some of the shopping malls in Dubai are incredible. They aren't just for shopping, they're a place to go for entertainment or to hang out on the weekend with your family and friends.

The enormous Dubai Mall, for example, has a giant aquarium, a giant water feature, an ice skating rink and an Airbus A380 flight simulator... among many other things.






There's also an airport-themed amusement centre for children called "KidZania" - I would have absolutely loved this as a kid. (And to be honest, I think I probably would still love it as an adult...)



Next to KidZania is an official Emirates store with all sorts of merchandise including Emirates aircraft models.



Close to Dubai Mall is the world's tallest building, the Burj Khalifa.



And the Souk Al Bahar, home to some very high-end luxury retailers.



In the middle of all of this is a park with a fountain that hosts an hourly sound & light show. This was clearly very popular, and there was a huge crowd here filming the entire show every hour.



There's clearly a huge amount of wealth concentrated in Dubai, and they're not afraid to hide it!

The first time I visited Dubai, I wondered if the city was even real. While I can definitely appreciate all the glamorous things it has to offer, I still wonder about this. I do worry about some of the questionable labour practices regarding migrant workers and environmental damage caused by some of the large-scale constructions. That said, the vast majority of people I spoke to who were living in Dubai seemed to be happy there.

 

[sqrt()]

I was excited to find that Abu Dhabi has several Jollibee outlets.

No Jolibee spaghetti?

 

[Mattg]

We also visited Ibn Battuta Mall, which felt almost as much like an art gallery as a shopping centre. Different sections of the mall had different themes such as ancient China or Egypt.






And we visited The Mall of the Emirates, which is famously home to an indoor ski run.



On the day we visited Mall of the Emirates, it was raining. Apparently the mall wasn't built with rain in mind, as there were quite a lot of leaks and parts of the mall had to be closed off due to flooding.

The problems caused by the rain weren't isolated to this shopping mall. Apparently, most of Dubai's roads don't have drains and many of the roads were flooded from a bit of rain. It was bizarre to see this because in most other ways, Dubai is a highly developed first-world city.

 

[Mattg]

No Jolibee spaghetti?

Haha - not on this particular occasion. But the sweet spaghetti is pretty good too!

 

[Mattg]

We went for a drive out to Palm Jumeirah, home to some ridiculously luxurious hotels including Atlantis The Royal - which recently paid Beyoncé a reported USD24 million to sing for an hour at its opening party.



(Even that hotel doesn't really compare though to the glitzy "7-star" Burj Al Arab. I had a bit of a laugh reading Ben Schlappig's recent review of that place.)

Dubai hosted the 2020 expo. While the expo is over, you can still visit the grounds and check out the awe-inspiring architecture of the exhibition halls.





This was the Australian exhibit:



At the expo site was also perhaps the saddest Christmas/winter market I've ever seen.



I enjoyed being able to try lots of Middle Eastern food in Dubai, including several Persian restaurants.




One of my favourite foods is a Persian dish called tahchin. I tried very hard to find a restaurant that was serving this, but in every case we turned up either on the wrong day or after they'd already sold out for the day.

 

[Mattg]

A final note about Dubai - this is probably the only city I've seen where any individual or company can buy the rights to naming a metro station after themselves?

 

[craven morehead]

I've been travelling between Australia and Europe quite regularly over the past decade. It's a long trip, so I usually try to break it up and enjoy a stopover (or four) along the way. I also love getting the chance to visit more unusual places. The journey is just as important as the destination!

After spending New Year's Eve in Vienna last year, I spent the first couple of weeks of 2023 travelling back to Australia with a few stops along the way.

This was the full routing:

View attachment 326099

And this is how I booked it:

• EgyptAir Business Class from Vienna-Cairo-Kuwait, booked using KrisFlyer miles
• Etihad Economy Class from Kuwait to Abu Dhabi, paid airfare
• Emirates Economy Class from Dubai to Addis Ababa, booked using Qantas points
• Ethiopian Airlines & Air India Business Class from Addis Ababa-Delhi-Singapore, booked using KrisFlyer miles
• British Airways Economy Class from Singapore to Sydney, booked using Qantas points
• Virgin Australia (Link Airways) Economy Class from Sydney to Canberra, booked using Velocity points

I'm sure there would have been a cheaper way to get back to Australia in January, but this was much more interesting as far as I'm concerned! I was especially looking forward to visiting Ethiopia as I'd never been anywhere in East Africa before.

The hardest part of booking all of this was just finding award availability (or a reasonably-priced airfare) from Singapore to anywhere in Australia in the middle of January. I was very lucky to find even a Y award seat on BA. At the time that I booked that seat, around two months out, my flight (and most others that week) were showing as Y1.

I did have a bit of "fun" explaining my return journey back to Australia to the German border guard when I first arrived in Europe on this trip. He wanted to see my return ticket, so I handed him a large pile of papers. But once he could see that all the different tickets lined up, and I ended up back in Australia, he was satisfied everything was in order.

Sounds very interesting

 

[Mattg]

From Dubai, I flew Emirates in Economy to Addis Ababa. This was a morning departure on a Boeing 777.

There was actually First Class award availability on this flight, but I couldn't justify paying the very high carrier charges for a 4-hour flight.

Thanks to my Qantas Platinum status, I was still able to use the First Class check-in area and separate security clearance. This was quite busy during the morning peak, but I still got through quickly.



My flight was departing from Concourse C. I first visited the Emirates First Lounge in Concourse B, which was considerably larger, and enjoyed a nice breakfast.





I then headed over to the Concourse C lounge closer to the boarding time.



At this point, I had a look at the seat map for my flight. I was in the second row of economy, which was completely full. I noticed that the last 5 or so rows on the flight were completely empty, so enquired at the lounge if they could change my seat to a window seat at the back where I'd have more space. They said that normally they could, but as it was now 59 minutes until departure, it was too late. The cutoff was 60 minutes and there was no wiggle-room.

So, I boarded soon after and setting into 18A.



This row has a misaligned window, but you can still see out by leaning forward a bit.

It was lucky that I had priority boarding, as it soon became apparent that there wasn't going to be enough space in the overhead lockers for everyone's luggage. Many passengers were bringing on 3, 4 or even 5 bags, including lots of duty-free shopping.

The cabin crew were visibly annoyed by this. At one point, the guy in my section snapped at a passenger struggling to fit his bag in the locker saying "everyone's bringing on like five bags". Well, he wasn't wrong.

I much prefer the Emirates A380 over the 777 due to the wider Economy seats. That said, my seat was comfortable enough for the short-ish flight. There was a pillow, blanket and headphones on every seat. (The used blankets and headphones were collected 25 minutes before landing - something that would annoy me if I hadn't brought my own noise-cancelling headphones.)

Before takeoff, the purser welcomed me back as a QF Plat member and asked if he could get me anything. At the start of the flight, the PA also welcomed back Air Canada followed by Qantas frequent flyers.

We had some nice views after take-off from DXB.



The IFE on Emirates is excellent, with a huge range of content. It seems like they use advertising to fund all that great content, as the first 3.5 minutes of any TV show or movie seemed to be ads. Wifi was available for a fee, or free for Emirates Skywards members.

A very substantial breakfast was served. I find airline breakfasts to be generally disappointing, but this one was very decent.



Before I knew it, we were descending towards the Ethiopian capital and landed on-time.

 

[WilsonM]

It was lucky that I had priority boarding, as it soon became apparent that there wasn't going to be enough space in the overhead lockers for everyone's luggage. Many passengers were bringing on 3, 4 or even 5 bags, including lots of duty-free shopping.

The cabin crew were visibly annoyed by this. At one point, the guy in my section snapped at a passenger struggling to fit his bag in the locker saying "everyone's bringing on like five bags". Well, he wasn't wrong.

Do they not check everyone's cabin baggage when boarding passes are scanned/as you're lining up - maybe JQ could fly out some experts?

 

[Mattg]

Do they not check everyone's cabin baggage when boarding passes are scanned/as you're lining up - maybe JQ could fly out some experts?

You'd think so, but apparently not. FWIW most of the extra bags being brought on were duty-free shopping, so they wouldn't have been picked up at check-in.

As I later learned, the large amount of duty-free purchases reflected the high cost and lack of availability of quality goods like electronics in Ethiopia.