Somerset Al Fateh 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!]

... old was about the same height as me! They were very cute though :)

We then drove on the Causeway to the Bahrain - Saudi Arabia border [that road in the middle of the sea on the map]. We couldn't cross the border [you need a visa in advance, which is tricky during pilgrimage and they don't just give out visas to lone women anyway.. too much red tape for our likings!] so we went to an observation tower and looked at Saudi looming on the horizon. There was a huge jam of ...

... in Yemen and was also using it as hiding places for members coming back from fighting in Iraq, etc.  They were probably more responsible for the increase violence and executions against Westerners.

So this had worried me quite a bit, and everyone I had talked to advised against going to Yemen, but I had gathered enough information through research and talking to people to be able to make a semi-informed decision.  Basically the deal was this:  my odds were still good of ...

... rush to tie up loose end at the plant, package some things to send back to the U.S., and give away some of the small gifts I had bought in Atlanta for the people I’d be working with. The taxi driver got lost in the Industrial City that the plant was in, so I spent about 10 minutes standing in the sweltering heat and sun during the peak of the day, sweating my butt of in my business clothes.

... mm29 1/petepaccione/IMG_0194.jpg Tim, the guy I was with began bargening with the guy and argueing. I realized that the government had no set way of doing things here, you had to improvise and do things on your own to get them done. After we had a barge set up, we went back to the beach where we set up the FACTAR lab. http://i299.photobucket.com/albums/mm29 1/petepaccione/IMG_0209.jpg The site: http://i299 ...

... So Bahrain it is...the carribean-ish jewel of the middle east...close to our closest friend and some wicked family members! It's going to take a bit of work sorting out the house here and stuff...but I can't wait! Curtis thinks we'll be there by Jan.08! Crazy! At least we're going in the winter time there...haha...get used to the 30 degree winter before trying to get used to the 45 degree summer....ahhhh bliss. Hopefully Zandar will be able to ...

... the upscale villas (750 square meters) were sold, leaving only the 1000 and 1500 square meter villas left for some 600,000 dollars! Whoa - it was very nice but out of our price range. Upon finishing our tour, we headed for the movies. Bahrain has some thirty to thirty-five movie theaters, which, coincidentally, is thirty to thirty-five more movie theaters than are found in the whole of Saudi Arabia! Needless to say, movie-going ...

... up on the King Fahad Causeway that links Bahrain to Saudi Arabia. Luckily I was able to find a way back. We did go to Gold City but it is not as good as Dubai or Doha. Would be okay if this is your first one. I was more interested in watching the Indians playing cricket in the vacant blocks. Went to swee the burial mounds at A'ali. Intersting - they are just beside the road - no fences, gates... Walk over them, dig them, whatever. We didn't ...

... another "international" restaurant with good Arabic food. Not touristy at all, it was decorated with benches, coarse tapestries, and rich colors. Arabs (men and women) were reclining and smoking Shisha from huge polished hookahs, with smells of pineapple and cherry smoke in the air. We had a mixed salad (not on the menu) of hummus, baba ganoush, tomato sauce, tabouleh, and olive salad, and a mixed grill with lamb, kebabs, chicken, onions, peppers, and cucumbers. We ate with our hands ...