Manama - I'm Pinky in Bahrain

So we have now officially left Europe and are on our way to Delhi with a nice little layover in Bahrain.

Cool art

Why Bahrain? Why not?

Prior to coming to Bahrain I really had no idea about the place - a tiny island off of Saudi Arabia is basically it (ok - maybe I didn't even know that...). But now I know it has so much more - and fortunately, that much of it can seen in about a day.

We arrived in Bahrain last night after spending the flight trying to come up with funny blog titles ("Dancing in Bahrain" almost won out). As you need a Visa to get to the country, and as most (including us) just buy one when they land, passport control took some time. We were introduced to the local currency at this point as a Bahrainian visa cost 5 Bahrainian dinar. Of course we, and all those around us, had no Dinar. Fortunately, the passport control people were glad enough to accept basically 15 of whatever currency you had on you at the time; dollars, euro, pounds... It's no wonder that current currency markets are so volatile - what with them changing each time someone new arrives to this island.

Cool building

Stepping out of the airport we were immediately hit with some quite formidable heat as well as humidity thick enough to push-back as you walked through it. Really, you could just feel the water starting to cling to you with any given movement. And this in a practical dessert. Fortunately, we did not have to ride with the plebs on public transit (not even sure there is any here...transit, not plebs) as a representative from the Delmon hotel (that Tania was able to arrange using her Travel Agent super powers) was there, sign and all, to pick us up. Lovely.

The hotel was great - clean, air-conditioned, good beds - which was nice as it may be some time before we have that luxury again. I have heard that in India one must "change their definition of white" when it comes to bedding... Ah well, who wants luxury all the time...

So we spent the morning lazing and getting room service (though we did manage to hit the gym for a bit) and in the afternoon visited the Tourist Info office. They were actually quite helpful, giving us good direction as to what to do, and also informing us of the world's longest palindrome - Malayalam - the language they speak from their area of India. It 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 obnoxiously drunk) expats in the other (well, the drunk expats usually don't just confine themselves to a corner).

But I digress...

We spent the rest of the day wandering around the city, checking out some of the incredible architecture and new buildings being constructed, being upset about not making it to the drag races (ok - maybe that was just me), feeling better after a Dairy Queen Blizzard (I love Oreo blizzards) and visiting the Bahrain National Museum.

The museum was great. 0.500 (the smaller bits that make up the Bahrainian Dinar are measured in thousands - still not quite used to it) dinar to get in, interesting exhibits, air-conditioned, and best of all, practically empty. We spent the entire afternoon learning about Bahrainian culture (when a boy is born, the umbilical cord is buried in the mosque, for girls, the cord is buried in the kitchen...), Bahrainian history (the prophet Mohammed actually wrote a letter to the Sultan to tell him his people should convert to Islam), and modern art (some really cool stuff - check out the pictures once I find a place with a decent Internet connection).

Bahrain has been fun, though I am looking forward to moving on to India. Who knows though, as more and more money floods into the country, I may be back some day (then I can be one of the loud and obnoxious expats!).