A short visit to the Museums of Kuwait

Made a short but quick visit to two museums last night – the Kuwait National Museum and Tareq Ragab Museum of Calligraphy.

I had been to the former once before (yes, once despite having lived here for 20 years!) but just read about the latter yesterday. While the ethnic heritage of Kuwait was exotically demonstrated in the National Museum, what really struck me was the visit to the Calligraphy Museum. I had read online that there were scriptures collected from as early as the 7th century in there.

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As a student, during my school days I had been taught the basics of the Arabic language. Calligraphic depiction of different timelines, from different parts of the Arab world as well as South East Asia left me awestruck. Numerous old scriptures, the paper having turned brown with jagged edges, fine architectural designs around the holy verses of the Quran was brilliant to absorb. My ignorance of the Holy Ka’aba was evident, but got a completely different perspective of it after last night. To be an arm’s distance away from the gold embroidered carpets that adorned the Ka’aba in the 19th century was totally worth it.

I was not shocked that the whole Museum was at the service of just me and my friend. People prefer to flock to the Malls here on a Saturday evening!

Some traveler tips:

Tareq Ragab Museum: http://www.trmkt.com/ Visit the official website for the history, location and timings if you want to pay a visit. Being a Hindu myself, I was in awe at what I saw. A must visit for Muslims visiting the country. It is exactly opposite the New English School in Block 12, Jabriya. Evening timings: 4pm – 7pm. Entry fee: 2K.D per person.

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Kuwait National Museum: I would recommend visiting it later on when the renovation work is done. I visited this place 18 months ago, whilst there is progress it is still a construction site from the outside and is not very appealing to visit right now. It is located on the Arabian Gulf Street beside the Seif Palace and the National Library of Kuwait.

Wound up the evening with a nice veggie dinner at Saravana Bhavan. (coffee in pic). 

 

 

 

 

Coming soon, posts on my recent visit to Singapura

Back..

It’s been a fun, frolicking and romantic time for me for the last month and more as I got married to the love of my life. A new job, a new life and settling into a new place all together is what’s been keeping me away from here but slowly I am settling down. There are plenty of photographs waiting to be processed from my recent visit to the Maldives.. more coming soon 🙂

 

The road trip..

Its been so long since I blogged that I actually need to check the page to see when was the last time. Restarting after a long break with my snaps from my last road trip to the southern most tip of India. A trip that was born out of nowhere in the middle of a hectic work routine and when a mini break seemed ideal.

We set off early in the morning before day break, within 2 hours reached the Kerala Tamil Nadu border. As soon as we entered the latter state, the road was full of gigantic potholes!

The landscape with the sun rising behind the mountains was simply gorgeous and we stepped out to grab in the fresh air.

From there we headed with much difficulty on pot hole ridden road to Thirparappu Falls. We took the luxury of having a nice shower and also enjoying some of the kids rides 😀 Though the water falls is artificial, there was no mad rush and we enjoyed the mood.

Then we packed off to Kanyakumari. En route we decided to visit the famed Padmanabhapuram palace. Here are a few shots from there. Clearly the kids visiting the place had only one word popping up in their mouth.. the blockbuster Manichitrathaaru!

After exploring the humongous palace with innumerous hallways and unbelievable wood craft, we settled for a small hotel for lunch and then drove over to Kanyakumari. Decided to first visit the Vivekananda Fort.

sunset shot off the ferry returning from Vivekananda fort

After watching the sunset at sunset point, we returned next day via Ponmudi. It was my first trip to the place. The drive uphill is crazzy to say the least. But once you get there you just don’t feel like coming back. Simply loved it. Next time I hope to plan out a solo trip to Ponmudi. If you haven’t been there, you are missing a lot!

mesemerized by the beauty of nature.

when you cross the limit 😀

As much as a dry routine we have in our PG life, these sort of escapades help rejuvenate big time 🙂

Veega Land aka Wonder la

Finally managed to visit the adventure theme park in Cochin. Years ago I ‘d been to its bangalore counterpart, recently had the opportunity to spend some time with my cousins.

discrimination?

midday siesta

pure joy!