Bahrain Carlton Hotel 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

... and also not having any male family members with us [women are not allowed to cross solo, nor are they allowed to drive in Saudi!], we didn't even bother to attempt to cross the real border to go into Damman [although I wanted to..], so Saudi exploration will have to wait until I'm married :P [I have no brothers and my dad would much rather go anywhere else but a hot desert!]

... 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 ...

The ride to Bahrain was about the same before---about 2.5 hours, but a little less painful than the other direction due to the more relaxed Bahrain border policies (and since I took a bit of a nap to catch up some sleep). I got to the airport with plenty of time.  Before checking in, my bags had to go through an x-ray machine and they wrapped checked baggage with plastic ties, which ended up crushing my large roller. I checked into Yemenia airlines for my flight to Yemen---Sana'a and onto ...

... before I got picked up, but I got to straighten things out for my transport to the Bahrain airport later that day.

The guy that picked me up was a quiet Indian guy that worked in maintenance. I threw my bags in the bed of his truck and jumped in. The guy’s English was decent, but he wasn’t a natural conversationalist, and I didn’t force it much.

The shortened day ...

... day. I was doing one of those things where you dose off for a split second and then catch yourself. All of a sudden I heard a ton of rustling and it started to wake me up. I looked around and everyone (and I mean everyone) was going full blast for the food and drink in their bags. People were lighting up cigarettes in the no smoking area, too like there was no tomorrow. I have never seen anything like it. The noise level got really ...

... a souq, with stalls for all of the traditional trades, but most of them just had a plaque reading "carpenter". Well, duh. I think I'm just spoiled by the wonderful reveal of the Dubai museum. So that completes my time in Bahrain; a small country that's nice enough, I guess, but not a real metropolis like Dubai. It's trying hard, and there's plenty of construction (I have to remember the whole country has fewer residents than Calgary), but it feels like a second-class ...

... full of small rooms, cathedral like rooms, and random passage ways. I could have easily spent the day just walking through the fort itself. Unfortunately, this is when my camera's battery decided to die, so the photos I have of the fort are limited. It sat on an oceanside hill that overlooked all of Manama and was truly a great experience. Only a handful of people were there, so I was able to McGuiver my way around the fort, climbing all over the ...

... order. They clearly did not like the soup or Fajitas. A taxi took us over to Muharraq island to the Sheikh Isa Bin Ali house, which was built around 1800. It has been nicely restored, showing beautiful wood and wall carvings. A walkway goes along the full top of the building, which is constructed like a fortress. The house also features a wind tower, which is a large vertical scoop facing 4 ways that will capture the wind coming from any direction and circulate it into the house ...