Elite Four - Luxury Apartments 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!]

Bahrain!

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

Firstly we drove through the big banking district, and I was reminded of a less-trafficy, shorter ...

... Te gusta los ojos ajules?  Un bon bon, no?").  Boarding was late, so I could tell the plane was going to be late too.  Eventually we got on a bus and were taxied to our plane.  Oddly enough  I had the only other white guy on the plan sitting next to me-a guy with a pretty southern accent---from South Carolina, but now in Oklahoma.  I slowly stopped caring about using English, figuring I wasn't going to fool anyone who would try to do me harm anyway. We were delayed because of ...

Last day in Saudi…woke up, showered, packed, and headed up to the usual breakfast. I called the front desk before I left and asked for a 9AM taxi. Breakfast was the same as before except this time there was mango juice. Was really good and reminded me of the stuff I had in Korea. Brushed my teeth and packed the last few items and went to check out. It took like 15 minutes to check out (U.S ...

... the temperature hits 50 degrees Celsius or above (122 degrees Fahrenheit). In the mad rush to develop, it behooves some to give the official temperature readers a little bakshish to keep the workers working. If you are ever in Kuwait in the summer, turn on the radio. I bet you hear that the official temperature is 49.5 degrees Celsius. C - Camels. They are charming and true marvels of nature. Also, cars. I can't get over the way people spray-paint them (see pictures). D - Dhow ...

... from backpacker to business traveller before I went in). I stop in the lobby cafe for the most expensive Diet Coke I've ever had, and then decide -- for reasons not entirely understandable, but probably heat and dehydration related -- to not get a cab to go to the Bab al Bahrain; a landmark in the middle of the city. So I walk, through the diplomatic area and past the new commercial district rising rapidly -- the Bahrain World Trade Center is a really neat two-tower ...

... coolest thing EVER, there's nothing like riding an Abra across the creek listening to a guy singing some odd foreign thing, or walking through a ghetto with a soundtrack of the middle east being played for all to hear It is possible to see woman covered from head to toe in black, wearing black gloves, talking on there cell phones and standing beside a woman in a short skirt and tank top Shawarma is a genius invention and definitely ...

... drink at home Edwina and I headed off to the airport ready for the weekend ahead. After looking in the one duty free shop at Doha International Airport we boarded our flight and with an air time of about 29 minutes we arrived in Bahrain, it would have to have been the quickest flight I have ever been on, seems very odd to be on an international flight that last only 29 minutes! Takes me longer to get to work back home!! I didn't realised how accustomed I had become ...

... very Western attire to the full abaya (full-length overgarment), hajib (head scarf), and niqab (veil). This covered everything so you could only see their eyes. One of the flight attendants told me that Bahrain is more liberal compared to some other middle eastern countries although many women still wear it when they leave their homes.