Fehaheel: The Wild West
Well, really, the wild south. When we came to Kuwait, we were told Fehaheel and Jahra are “off limits” due to the high crime rate and high accident rate and non-law-abiding behaviors. We’re not very good at obeying the rules, especially when we want to visit Tanureen a time or two before it closes, so we make the long drive and brave the lawlessness.
As you get close to the Al Kout / Manshar Mall complexes, there is one last stoplight, and a very narrow – just two lanes – road. There is a very clear NO U TURN sign, indicating cars may turn left, but not make a U-Turn, there just isn’t enough room.
We were dying laughing. Not only are they continually making left turns – the sign might was well not even be there – but they make them from both lanes. In this photo, three cars are making the U-Turn, the white station wagon is having to back up and the black car slips into the inside lane narrowly missing the backing up white car – it is hilarious:
Here is what scares me. We have lived here three years. We kinda drive like this, too. Like if you drive differently, you become part of the problem. We are not speeders, and we don’t weave narrowly between cars with millimeters to spare – but I suspect we have picked up some habits we don’t even know we have, and will have to tone our driving down once we return to a world where laws are enforced. I hope we will be able to do it without the hurt of paying big fines en route. 😦
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Here There and Everywhere 
nothin new……welcome to kuwaiti life =D
loool.
Yeah, I don’t go there often; but after being stuck in those narrow roads a year or so ago, I’m avoiding that place.
What were they thinking! They should have factored in expanding the lanes along with these large malls constructions.
Unfortunately, it’s not so fun(ny) when you lived in al Manshar apts and have to use that road almost every day. What kills me is the guys in the far right lane that make a left turn across both of the two left lanes…just because they don’t want to “wait” in line behind two or three other cars. And the yellow/black “no parking” curbs might as well be painted with invisible ink…it kills me how people stop on a three lane road to go into an ATM or take up the entire right hand lane of a two lane road (like the one in front of al Manshar Mall). And, to top it all off, there’s a two story parking garage almost directly across the street from the Tanureen that probably hasn’t seen a car in its life.
Have you noticed the pit they’re digging next to the Ghanim electronics store that “used” to be a parking area? It’s going to be a freaking 25-story complex – at least the bottom two floors (the pit) are supposed to be for parking (and maybe two above ground, don’t remember the details)…like anybody will ever use it because it’s more than 4 feet away from where they want to go….
There was a post a while back about the effectiveness of the cell phone while driving ban. As you can tell from your current post, when the old laws are continually broken new laws don’t matter.
Bo-F10 – You are right, but my friends and family back in the US and in Europe like to see how life differs here. I also wanted to capture the lights up for Liberation Day/Independence Day.
nbq – It’s a whole different world in Fehaheel.
Ken – You’re right. All of it. Parking is a nightmare and will only get worse. I used to park on that vacant lot . . . 😦 When laws are not enforced, chaos reigns. It certainly reigns in Fehaheel. You have my utter sympathy, living in those apartments – we don’t even like to be in Fehaheel after 7 or so at night, it is such gridlock.