Aradous Manama

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 ...

17/10<br>Time to be honest. We're heading home.<br>The last country is a stop-over in Bahrain (for 2 hours) as we fly through the night back to England<br>We wanted to surprise a few folks so have sneaked home quietly.<br><br>Never the less, Bahrain International Airport looked very nice at midnight, all lit up. This small island state lies in the Persion Gulf alongside saudi ...

Bahrain!<br><br>Got here yesterday, the flight in was only an hour and you got a really good view of all of Qatar from the air! [stupid wing blocked photo ops though]. No problems so far, immigration was a breeze, found the hotel OK and after relaxing some more [yes, we're lazy!] my mum and I hunted down a taxi to see the few sights in the built up north of the island<br><br>Firstly we drove through the big banking district, and I was reminded of a less-trafficy, shorter ...

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... with really cool shapes. I will upload some pics of the place as soon as I can. Have I mentioned before how hot it is here? It is truly 2 feet from hell. You can't be outside more than a few minutes without getting drenched in sweat, and I am curious about something. How can a place be on the ocean, have really high humidity nearing 90% but not have any thunderstorms. It's a sandbox here with nothing but desert. I just don't know ...

... while it does it is really impressive. That is the only thing impressive about the sun up here. By 7am each day it is already 40 degrees and they say it will get even hotter as we reach the height of summer. It is like a Townsville Christmas but without the mango trees to sit under. Well as I said earlier, we are now in Abu Dhabi but I will leave that for the next tale. From Melbourne to London and from Wangaratta to the USA I hope all of you are well and safe. My love to all, Bruce (Jock) (Daddy)

... of the Beit Al Qu'ran, a museum containing mostly, well, Qu'rans, of all shapes and sizes. There was a small display of a contemporary Bahraini artist, and a larger one on (mostly) contemporary Afghan calligraphy -- this one was quite impressive, indeed. The bulk of the exhibit was impressive, but after a while, something written in squiggles or an ornate book starts to look like every other. Highlights included a number of first editions of printed copies, including ...

... cat's meow" of the Middle East. Or better put, as one Bahraini told me "Manama is the Las Vegas of the Middle East" and he further claimed that citizens of Dubai are always coming to Bahrain for its great shopping... I refused to argue with this man, when your in such delirium there is no point in trying to convince them otherwise. My second day in Manama I decided to go scope out the country side and the many touristy attractions it had to offer ...

... meet up again in Bahrain a few weeks down the line! Anyway, they were on the same flight to Delhi, which ended up being cancelled for that day. The airline put us up in a nice hotel for the night and thanks to the work of some disgruntled Indian businessmen, we were also provided 3 square meals. The only downside was that they refused to give us an entry stamp to Bahrain, so there's no official proof besides this entry.