L'Hotel 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.

... I am sad to say that my mobile camera could'nt even catch one - they were much too elusive for me ( and maybe the bus went too fast at the wrong time!) A couple of times I even caught sight of a cute camel cum goat farm, but wasnt able to get them on celluloid. <br><br>Now I must tell you that after my desert ride I have my own definition for the word 'Mirage'. It is not just an illusion. It is an illusion of something you have seen earlier on in your journey. You may have ...

... 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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... first glance you see and expect one thing but you scratch the surface and look closer and what is advertised is definitely not what you get. Take Dubai. From what you have heard about the place, isn't it somewhere you would love to see because of all it's hype? Probably so. On the surface you see the tallest building in the world and islands built out of nothing in the shape of a giant palm tree. A mega airport that ...

Visa in Qatar is painfull. Business visa valid for 14 days, extendable to 90 days. Tourist visa validity is 1 month. People said that it can be extended to another extra month without travelling. A round trip outside and to get a new visa period. Qatar might sponsor airways companies.

... really seems like very few people here are actually from Bahrain, but brought here due to the increasing importance the country is gaining due to its oil. The flight attendants on Gulf Air were of all nationalities, and the airline boasted that it could serve you in 7 different languages. The hotel staff was a mix of Chinese, Indian and Arabic. And in most of the bars we've peaked into, you'll see shiek-like people in one corner, and loud (usually ...

... case a pottery maker. It carries on an ancient tradition of Sumerian pots (updated as banks) made from Bahraini clay from just west of town. The pots are made by hand (and foot, to turn the potters wheel); three guys turned out three very consistent types of pots as we watched. Today's generation has no interest in carrying on what many generations of this family have done, so the factory has imported potters from Asia. They mix the clay, make the pots, fire them (in gas-fired kilns ...

We did several port stops here while in the Persian Gulf. We were also supposed to go to Kuwait City, but because of an assignation attempt upon then President George H W Bush, the port stop was canceled and we sat about 5 miles away from Kuwait on the ship.