Al Ahsa Intercontinental

Out of the widow Bahrain looks like lots of dust with skyscrapers on. Inside it is a strange mix of Christmas decorations lots of tour groups who look like they might be going on pilgramage, 25k rolexes in duty free, mcdonalds,costa and free internet to keep us amused. We've got 2hrs to kill - body clocks already out of sink! Am going to try and learn some nepalese from a podcast.

... I am sad to say that my mobile camera could'nt even catch one - they were much too elusive for me ( and maybe the bus went too fast at the wrong time!) A couple of times I even caught sight of a cute camel cum goat farm, but wasnt able to get them on celluloid. <br><br>Now I must tell you that after my desert ride I have my own definition for the word 'Mirage'. It is not just an illusion. It is an illusion of something you have seen earlier on in your journey. You may have ...

... to the west and Qatar to the east. We didn't know where it was until we were due to fly home via the island. It's interesting to note the road bridge (King Fahd Causeway) which links the two countries and is 17 miles long. Soon to be surpassed by the Bahrain to Qatar 'Friendship Bridge' currently under construction at 25 miles - it will be the longest bridge in the world.

Not much - just waiting at the airport for the flight! Bahrain was both nicer and more boring than I thought, the weather is a lot more forgiving but it's not worth more than about 3 days exploration tops.. Unless you like to get really nittygritty :P<br>

Apparently the Bahrain-Saudi border is on a little island [not sure if it has an official name], which hosts a rest point on either side of the border, complete with matching observation towers. The whole road, which is 45km long, is called the King Fahad Causeway on the Bahraini side, with a different Saudi name.. Interesting stuff! :) Due to it being Ramadan and us not being ...

... being Ramadan pretty much everything was shut! And it was roasting hot, if cooler than Dubai would be, so I grabbed a few provisions from the supermarket and retreated to the hotel room!<br><br>We might go explore the restaurants later tonight [will probably end up in Hard Rock Cafe.. when it comes to Arabic food we're not the most adventurous!] and we'll see what happens tomorrow! Leaving tomorrow night though.. It's a nice little country though. If a bit small and empty :)<br>

... my bank situation...<br><br>It has been five weeks and I still don't have a complete bank account set up. Citibank actually lost my account forms so I had to forgo opening an account there. The day I learned this from the gentleman at Citibank, he kindly handed me a sheet of paper with about 50 customers' names and bank account numbers on it. After that, I was relieved my papers were lost; but, left to wonder if someday ...

... an announcement.  One of the other passengers said, "They can't afford to have another crash."  The southerner's response was "Hell, I can't afford for them to have one either!"<br><br>Thus began our Yemenia hell.  The southern guy and I hung together so we could make sure we don't get lost in the shuffle and so we'd have someone to talk to during what we suspected was going to be a long night (since I don't think Yemenia has a bunch of planes laying around).  We tried going up to the ...

... less than 3)---everything was on paper and the guy was placing copies all over the place, adding things, and stapling. It was now past 9 and the taxi still wasn't here. While checking out, the admin from the local company called and said they were sending someone to pick me up. We cancelled the taxi, but this meant that I would probably get to the plant even later. Had to wait another 15-20 ...

... 1575;&#1604;&#1589;&#1585;&#1575;&#15 81;&#1607; &#1575;&#1582;&#1604;&#1575;&#1602; &#1608;&#1578;&#1608;&#1575;&#1590;&#15 93; &#1608;&#1603;&#1585;&#1605; &#1590;&#1610;&#1575;&#1601;&#1607; <br >&#1575;&#1604;&#1587;&#1601;&#1585; &#1604;&#1604;&#1576;&#1581;&#1585;&#16 10;&#1606; &#1588;&#1610; &#1605;&#1605;&#1578;&#1593; &#1608;&#1610;&#1580;&#1576; &#1593;&#1604;&#1610;&#1603;&#1605; &#1575;&#1604;&#1584;&#1607;&#1575;&#15 ...