Panorama 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.

... 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.

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Bahrain is a strange place, everything seems so new and yet artificial. This may sound odd but in my opinion the city has no soul. It reminded me of LA in that respect. There is no down town, no street life, no old monuments or particular sights to see. The new commercial areas with soaring tower blocks are certainly impressive. But maybe my opinion is biased I didn't have a very welcoming start. Anyway we should start at the beggining. You may remember that I had ...

... albums/mm29 1/petepaccione/IMG_0178.jpg http://i299.photobucket.com/albums/mm29 1/petepaccione/IMG_0179.jpg http://i299.photobucket.com/albums/mm29 1/petepaccione/IMG_0180.jpg The above links are of my hotel. I went to the front desk to check into the hotel when they told me I needed a credit card to reserve the room. I told them that my company (ATR) had paid in advance. The hotel advised me that I needed another ...

Saturday, September 22, 2007 Y...a...w...n! Needless to say, after our exceptionally late night last night, we weren't up with the roosters today. In fact, it was around 10 that we started moving, and not until 11 that we phoned James and found we had woke him up. Oops! (sorry James) Yet another wonderful breakfast full of yummy good food and we were on our way to...well. It was 1:00 and we had a movie to see at 2:00 P.M ...

... and arrived early. Overall impression: Bahrain was the first of the Gulf States to "westernize". Now left behind by Dubai and Qatar. It needs another injection of funds. Might get some more tourists when they build the causeway between Bahrain and Qatar. Good for young people who wish to go out for the nightlife. 5 star resorts would be good for a relaxing break but costly. If you have a choice, do Dubai or Doha. Not for tourist sigtht seeing like Jordan.

... very friendly, even though it was a busy, working market. Most shopkeepers were Indian or Pakistani, although there were certainly numerous Arabs, Afghanis, and Saudis. They let us photography freely, and were usually amused to see the photos on the digital camera. With some effort, we also found the fish market in another building. Although not huge, there was still quite a range of fish and seafood, including grouper, tuna, octopus, blue crabs, catfish, anchovies, squid, parrot ...

... the women wearing long robes in the less conservative style is that most seemed to be carrying designer handbags and wearing expensive shoes. In any case, the airline I was on (Gulf Air) was fantastic. They had everything available to you even in economy, good food, nice stewardesses (yes, all of them were women) and they even had a "Sky Nanny" for those traveling with small children.