Day 1 - LAX-DXB
Day 2 - DXB-KWI
Day 3 - Kuwait
Day 4 - Kuwait
Day 5 - KWI-BAH
Day 6 - Bahrain
Day 7 - Bahrain
Day 8 - BAH-DXB
Day 9 - Return
Middle East
Sam's better half gave him a free pass to go play, so he messages me and asked what countries do you have yet to go to? Not quite sure how we went down both our lists and settled on Kuwait and Bahrain, but United's newly-added flights to Dubai definitely made visiting the Middle East a great deal more convenient for me.
Day 1 - flight delay hell ended up saved by United and Emirates' new partnership, got to experience Emirates' A380 economy class at least for Los Angeles to Dubai.
Day 2 - long day of flying to Dubai, surprisingly long trek from Terminal 3 to Terminal 2, then a quick flight to Kuwait.
Day 3 - late night/early morning arrival in Kuwait plus Sam's arrival and dinner after sunset (after Iftar) in deference to Ramadan.
Day 4 - exploring Kuwait City after sunset.
Day 5 - flying from Kuwait to Bahrain, and an unplanned meal of Japanese food for dinner.
Day 6 - more hotel meals during the day, then the best meal of the trip at Al Kwar before exploring the markets and shopping malls in Bahrain.
Day 7 - braving the heat for some daytime exploration, then celebrating Iftar with more Japanese food.
Day 8 - visiting Al Fateh Grand Mosque and Issa Cultural Center before a setting off to the airport right around sunset for a late-evening flight to Dubai.
Day 9 - late-night layover in Dubai, then two more flights including United's less-than-two-weeks old DXB-EWR (UA 163) flight, finally to the snow-capped mountains back home.