Salmiya

There are few extraordinary sights in Kuwait City and its residential and industrial areas which really deserve lots of attention. An exceptionally fine example of modern Islamic Art and Architecture can be found at the intersection of Airport Road and Gamal Abdul Nasser St in Shuwaikh, the Arab Organizations Headquarters Building , commonly known as the Arab Fund Building. Rather plain and cubic, let’s say Bauhaus-like, when seen from the highway, Arab architectural principles of integrity of space, decoration and function are applied here in an extraordinarily balanced way. Only guided tours are possible and I had opportunities to impress my guests and friends with what Islamic Art can achieve. Already the huge entrance door with its hand carved wooden inlaid pieces fitting together without any nails and allowing expansion during extreme climate changes is absolutely amazing. When you enter, on your lefts side the marvelous Moroccan water fall with its intricate blue mosaic provides ...

Today, a friend sent me these two pictures showing the Zayandeh Rud in Esfahan and the famous Si-o-Seh Pol (literally 33 arches), one of Esfahan's Safavid bridges . The river has almost disappeared due to little rain during winter and spring this year and because a dam west to Esfahan has been closed. Farmers need more water for irrigation and even drinking water supply is endangered in the Esfahan province.

The first batch of dental students in Tromsø exercising periodontal surgery and suturing on the sheep model which had been developed in Kuwait .

In Tabriz , Dawoud told me that he had got some back problems recently which he was trying to cure in regular trips to Daryacheh Orumiyeh, a huge (6000 square kilometers) super-salty lake in the northwestern corner of Iran. It is a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, about 50 km west of the capital of the Azerbaijan province, Tabriz. There is a special worm living in the water, called Artimasalema . Its remains become over time, a sort of tar which is said to heal rheumatism and other ailing of the joints. When doing the trip twice a week or so, Dawoud always had a bucket and brought some of the tar to his home in Tabriz. Dawoud suggested that I join him and Alireza for an afternoon trip to the site when the bazaar was closed. He drove his old BMW and we had a great time. Unfortunately, the lens of my camera was a bit dirty, what I noticed only when at home. So, some of the pictures have a very old-fashioned ‘paper print touch’. We approached the lake by passing a huge white and glitzy salt dese...

Our ultimate internet carpet expert, Barry O’Connell, has informed us lately that the great bazaar of Tabriz is eventually being registered as a global heritage site. I visited Tabriz a couple of weeks after the presidential elections in the hot summer of 2005. The bazaar is very similar to others in the region, although definitely larger. Its entrance is at the Masjed-e Jomeh, a mosque dating back to the Seljuqs but has been restored in later centuries. As usual in Iran’s busy bazaars, you will quickly get lost in the labyrinthine ‘guts’ of the city. The 35 km of covered bazaar often sports brick-vaulted passages and small caravanserais. There are special areas for carpet sales and sooner or later you may end up there with chay and discussions. A young carpet dealer, Alireza, who had a small shop in the main bazaar, wanted to introduce me to his, say, in a way godfather, Mr. Dawoud, a real gentleman, as he told me, who helped him to establish his small business and educated him as a...