A few hours later I was heading back to the Sharjah airport. I had a cab waiting at 6:00 a.m. for me at the Fairway. The trip again only took twenty minutes or so, though compare to the three minutes to the Dubai airport, which we drove by on the way to Sharjah.

On the way the taxi driver complained about the serious looking traffic lining up coming into Dubai from Sharjah, at least two hours worth at that point -- traffic really is ridiculous in the city.

The Sharjah airport was much more crowded in the morning. I again went through security screening, checked in, and proceeded through immigration. The whole process took about 5 minutes.

Having skipped the VIP lounge rip-off, I proceeded to the food court in the terminal, part of which is under construction and a little unsightly. I had a choice between Chinese food, McDonald's (serving only hamburgers etc., no breakfast) or a Cafe Med or such. I chose the latter. I passed some time watching a lot of scantily clad eastern european gals and the spillover of people from the very small smoking area off to one side.

I set out to find the loo and look around a bit. Unfortunately the two loos in the terminal were overtaken by hordes of Indian Army soldiers working on a U.N. mission; lines were at least 5 deep at all urinals and stalls! I decided to wait for the plane. As I walked around I realized my gate was at the far end of the terminal, through another security screening (I think Gate 8). Once through that extra security, there was a blissfully empty bathroom to use!

Boarding was a bit late. The gate area was fairly empty, which gave me hope since I had been pre-coffee at check-in and had neglected to police the seat assignment; as such I was rewarded with a middle seat. I asked the FA onboard whether it was a full flight, and she replied yes, very full. I sighed. However, after 15 minutes the plane was maybe 1/3 full. The cabin door closed with plenty of empty rows. Made me wonder why a middle seat was assigned at all in this circumstance.

I was on the DEF side of the plane so mostly had a view of the Gulf on the way up to Kuwait. We flew past Kuwait City, then did a 180 before a nice easy descent into the airport.

I had only gotten word of mouth confirmation from a friend that a U.S. citizen didn't need an advance visa, and I wondered at the last minute upon deboarding if that was foolish. Entering the airport I saw a sign for "Visa Issuing". The deal apparently was to take a number, as one would at a deli, and wait. Approx wait time on my ticket, #775, was 25 minutes. I headed over to a cafe, dealt with the almost inevitable queue-cutter-attempter, and had a double espresso. Heading back to the visa counter, a nice guy who had somehow gotten fast tracked through the process gave me his ticket, so I was now #767. I eventually got called, paid my small fee, waited for the guy to hand back my passport, and proceeded to arrivals hall.

I looked around once outside, located the taxis, and headed out. The taxi driver spoke no English and I couldn't understand his Arabic with my limited ability. God-willing we got to my destination, though I still have no idea how.

After a brief drive through the city to see the sites with a friend we had lunch at a mall, the same mall Saddam had apparently bombed during the U.S. invasion in 2003. We had a nice lunch with a view of a marina and the whole city skyline behind.

I had a few hours after lunch before heading back to the airport. I walked around the mall, and was surprised to see a lot of the Kuwaiti girls only wearing a headscarf and not the abaya -- showing off some very fashionable outfits. I passed some time at the Starbucks checking email, then decided to get to the airport early and look around.

To be continued...