Aradous Manama

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

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 ...

... old was about the same height as me! They were very cute though :)

We then drove on the Causeway to the Bahrain - Saudi Arabia border [that road in the middle of the sea on the map]. We couldn't cross the border [you need a visa in advance, which is tricky during pilgrimage and they don't just give out visas to lone women anyway.. too much red tape for our likings!] so we went to an observation tower and looked at Saudi looming on the horizon. There was a huge jam of ...

... place I wanted didn't speak English [I learned this by calling, speaking in English, getting hung up on, calling back, asking "titkallum ingleezi" (do you speak English?), and getting a "laa, laa" (no, no)].  Guess I would wing the car/driver AND hotel when I got to Seiyun.  Since I wasn't sure when I'd have the next chance to get food, I grabbed some quick McDonald's, which I think was probably about the same a in U.S. airports on price.  I ordered the #1 (Big Mac) so that I could ...

... rush to tie up loose end at the plant, package some things to send back to the U.S., and give away some of the small gifts I had bought in Atlanta for the people I’d be working with. The taxi driver got lost in the Industrial City that the plant was in, so I spent about 10 minutes standing in the sweltering heat and sun during the peak of the day, sweating my butt of in my business clothes.

... are just about the nicest people I have encountered in my travels and they have treated me so well. This is definitely one part of the world where being an airline pilot really gets you some respect. I am definitely not used to it, and it's awfully strange to be at the top of society because of a job of all things rather than just an everyday worker like in the US. Airline jobs in this part of the world are hard to come by, pay ...

... 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)

... others. I don't think the simplicity hurt the space as a place of worship, though. My guide was quite charming and engaging, although our tour was cut short by the call for the noon prayer -- which saw done inside the main mosque, by a caller of some skill and melodic ability. The fourth stop, or stops I guess, was a set of frenzied efforts running around the Bab al Bahrain, with the ultimate goal -- as I realized later to my chagrin -- of mailing garbage to Canada ...

... and poorly marked. He offered to take me to anywhere in the country for a fairly good price. Since he was illegal and as I later found out, unemployed, he was just doing any odd job he could to make money at the time. We road though a myriad of small towns and suburbs of Manama. Only when you get out into the country do you realize how small the country really is. Don't let the maps fool you, towns that are halfway across the island are only a ...

... need to spend at least 10 minutes outside just to thaw out! So the two jumpers I brought over have come in handy. I have been hear for 2 months now and time is flying, I'm getting use to the little differences you notice when you spend enough time in a country, some are great others a bit strange, so to keep you entertained I have listed my top ten things to look out for in Doha: - Crazy Driving with no indicators whilst talking on the phone (police included) - The fact ...