Ewa Hotel Apt Bahrain 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.

... br><br>I got myself reserved on the 07:30 PM bus, well organized, and reached the SAPTCO Bus Station early only to be told that the bus was cancelled. I coudnt figure out what the attendant was trying to tell me but I was relieved to know that there was a bus at 10:00 PM so I waited, and got on that one.<br><br>The bus started making its slow cruise out of the city and I started getting images (although night) of the desert. Well, I have been on the outskirts of ...

... 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.

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<br>

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... There's a Tree of Life I want to see since it's the only one growing for miles around in the desert. Allah considers it holy. There's also a causeway to Saudi Arabia where you can go halfway to an island and see the mainland. Absolutely no tourists are allowed into Saudi Arabia under any conditions so it's as far as you can get. Manama is a pleasant enough little place although fading a bit on the side streets ...

... mericans here and hanging out with friends, going to dinner, talking movies and politics, kind of like I wasn't backpacking around the world and just hanging out. But for travel records sake my impressions of Bahrain. It's a flat, tan, dusty desert island nation that like other nations around here had the good fortune to be located over large oil reserves. It has a fair amount of money although it has been left behind by the run away oil and ...

... was to get all four tires on our SUV replaced. Ouc-wait - this is Saudi Arabia after all. New tires for the Trooper were $150 each installed, with a wheel alignment thrown in. Not bad at all and it only took another hour. OUCH! The best part was the wheel alignment where we were jacked ten feet up in the air and Colin made jokes about changing the light bulbs hanging from sockets on the roof. Meanwhile, as the clock ticked on the tire trip, Dawn and James were ...

... and watch plenty of Premier League football. (Did you know that Argentine star Lionel Messi of FC Barcelona broke his foot the other day?) The Financial Harbor will probably look like it does in the photos when it's completed, although on the official project permit, the "completion date" was conspicuously left blank, and the windows were already looking a bit discolored from the sand in the sun. But why the need to dress everything up so completely? Now, it just seems ...

... a fried fish with the yellow-colored rice. Since there was no place to sit, we drove back to the beach (a local favorite) right across from the school which had been letting out. We sat on one of the benches right at the water's edge, ate, and mused about the place. We were staring out at the water which separated Bahrain from Kuwait, and, just beyond, Iraq. Just off to the right, across the Persian Gulf, was Iran. We were not far from one of the world's major hot spots, eating ...