Bahrain Hilton 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.

... a camel. Later on you might see a mirage of a camel. You may have seen the outskirts of a desert town. Later you might see a mirage of the desert town.<br><br>Well, we chugged along, and at around 1:00 PM, we made an entrance into the beautiful town of Al Taif. I was a bit awed. We had just entered, it was just after mid-day and there wasnt a soul on the mainstreets. Later it reminded me of some town in Austria (minus the greenery), with the feel of hills sloping down into the ...

... 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.

... in came down.  All the people re-booked onto Gulf Air had been canceled because they were sending a new plane that would be arriving at 4:30 with a 5AM departure!  Since we learned a bit about Yemenia in the past hours, we were pretty sure this one would be later too.  She gave a bunch of excuses about how "this happens to all airlines" and "what is Yemenia to do?"  It was pretty clear Yemenia had canceled the Gulf Air tickets to save themselves money.  It was interesting watching some ...

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... have subscribed. All commands must be sent to the "LISTSERV address," xxxxx. It is very important to understand the difference between the two, but fortunately it is not complicated. The LISTSERV address is like a FAX number that connects you to a machine, whereas the list address is like a normal voice line connecting you to a person. If you make a mistake and dial the FAX number when you wanted to talk to someone on the phone, you will quickly realize that you used the wrong ...

... as they fast all day. It was an elaborate tent, and very elegantly decorated, right down to the coffee &amp; tea cups. They had a Lebanese band playing in the background and from 9:30pm until 1:00am we feasted on everything from lamb brains to baklava. We had a couple of Shesha's. Funny to be sitting in this foreign environment taking a toke of apple from time to time. We had a lovely evening and then came home to christen Paullies' new ...

To quell everyone's fears, no I have not gone to Iraq haha. But I have taken a quick side trip to another Shia Muslim dominated country, Bahrain. Look closely at your maps for this one, its a TINY island just off the coast of Saudi Arabia, to the west of Qatar. It is actually a Kingdom and it evident through the myriad of posters and photos of the king that are displayed around the city and countryside. It is a quint little place, but let me start from ...

... yes I have been spit on by people when I walked by. One afternoon, I stepped in to a little kiosk to buy some smokes. I indicated my brand to the casher, and while he turned to get them I noticed one of those lighter displays that are on every mini-mart counter in the world. You know the ones with the cheep and often cheesy "theme lighters". Well folks, this particular group of lighters depicted the world trade centers on them. I picked up a lighter and gave it a closer look ...