First Stop = Bahrain
BAHRAIN | Sunday, 13 April 2008 | Views [128] | Comments [3]
Arriving tired, sweaty, and possibly smelly from 19 hours of flying, I was relieved to finally disembark and make my way through immigration. Here the visit visa for two weeks costs BD5, which is about $20 NZD. The immigration guy and the customs guy were very friendly and acknowlegded my long flight. Or perhaps it was the smelliness!
Jacinta and Andrew were waiting for me at the arrivals hall and we made our way through the amazing traffic home to their apartment.
The traffic is amazing, people weaving in and out with no indication, driving requires full concentration and being aware of every idiot that may cross your path. This is excerbated during the weekend - here Friday and Saturday as Friday is the holy day, many Saudi's, Kuwaiti's and Qatar's cross the border and arrive for a weekend of shopping, drinking etc. You can tell the difference in cars by the number plates being all arabic, whereas the Bahraini number plates are both english and arabic.
Bahrain being a Muslim country, in the Middle East conjures up many images and judgements about everyday life and different restrictions a westerner may face. In particular woman. Bahrain is an islamic state, however freedom of religion is welcomed, as are the huge number of expats, making up 40% of the working population here on the island. The island has a population of around 800,000, so that is quite a signficant number. There are a minority of Bahraini's who protest the foreigners here, mainly in the form of riots or random one off acts of violence. These are largely contained by a very efficient and effective police force. Just last week, a militant threw a molotov cocktail at a police car, killing one officer. These are condemned by the King and the Interior ministry and are far and few between. These are mostly directed at the governement, as they see them for being to blame for their inability to get work or live in sub-standard conditions.
Being a woman here is really no different to anywhere else. You can wear what you like, however perhaps the short miniskirts and midtriff tops should be left for the resorts that line the beaches here. The beaches are mostly all owned by the resorts and one has to pay to use them. As a western woman though you will notice being stared at. It is actaully quite funny, as the arab men would never really talk to you. At security in the airports both here and Dubai, I was largely left alone, which is quite normal as the security guys did not want to search a western woman.
Two days of down time for me, as I got over the jet lag. This menat that by the time the weekend rolled around I was ready to explore with Jacinta and Andrew on their weekends. Thursday night we had a meal out with Andrew's workmate and his wife - Richard and Jo, expats from the UK. There are a huge number of eating places in Bahrain and leave the service of many in Queenstown to shame. I suppose that is the cost of tipping.
Bahrain is not cheap. When you convert a meal out costing BD80, it means spending $240 NZD on a really nice meal. Clothes shopping at the malls is also expensive, as are groceries. But most foods are imported and therefore cost more. Also if you wnat to buy alcohol, find an expat to tell you where the stores are - they are unmarked buildings and have signs on the door stating that by law, they cannot sell alcohol to Muslims.
Friday we did the groceries, I loved looking at all the different things available, so much more choice. There were NZ dairy and meat products there, a section for non-musilms containing the pork goods and the anchor sign has the cross taken off the anchor, as this depicts the crucifiction - not allowed. amazing! We then went to Seef Mall - huge mall still under construction with every type of store. Then off to the Ritz-Carlton resort right on the northern tip of the city and had a yummy lunch of local seafood. That evening we had the most delicious Lebanese meal for dinner - there was soo much food and we were all so tired from the night before, we left before the belly dancing started.
Yesterday we set out early to the Souq Markets - these are markets for all types of goods, set amongst alleyways, easy to get lost in. We went to a building with a door that a safe on it - these were the gold markets and the jewellery was amazing - you could take any design in, pick your gold, pick your stone and have it priced. A ring that Jacinta paid around $400 NZD for, would have been about $1500 in NZ. I am stopping there on my way home for sure - just hope I have some funds saved for it!
Following lunch we headed out to the F1 race track - huge circuit and so effeciently built. When the King wants something it is done, in 9 months nonetheless! We then headed out to the causeway which joins Bahrain to Saudi Arabia. I loved this bit, but I could hear Jacinta and Andrew take some big breaths and then sigh of relief once we had done the U-Turn before reaching passport control. That is the closest I will ever come to that country. There were trucks, 100s of them lined along the side of the road, heading to Saudi, and then onto Dubai, Qatar or Kuwait. These are heavily controlled by the police, and you could see the ones that were prepared for a long wait - they have sleeping compartments and a kitchen that hangs under the body of the truck. What a life. Most of the service workers and construction workers are Indian or Pakistani. There are tipped to be more Indians here within a couple of years, than there are Bahrainis.
The landscape is largely sandy and flat. The sand storms from Saudi often cause the sky here to appear like fog and the sun is never really directly out. The heat at this time of the year is fine, a little muggy, but not bad. Apparently the heat increases but the mugginess disappears eventually.
I like it here and could definitely do an expat stint. I may need a driver though...
Jacinta and I are feeling slightly under the weather today, She is home from work. Lets hope this is a day thing and I am back to full health by the time I arrive in London this time next week!
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