Kingdom of Bahrain, Trip 1

  Last week, I climbed onto the compound bus with excitement to leave for the Kingdom of Bahrain, a small tiny island nation just off the coast of Saudi Arabia in the middle of the Arabian Gulf. This two day break from THE kingdom was organized by Don our transportation manager.

 Unaware that this country even existed a few months ago, I first heard of this place from my friend Patrick Crossman who worked here in KSA last year and who helped get me this job. With limited knowledge and more excitement than ever to travel outside of Ah-Ahsa, where I currently reside, I got aboard the bus and started reading my Lonely Planet travel guide for the hundredth time to review all of the places that I wanted to see: Manama souq, central Manama, etc..

 Bahrain, as it turns out, has a history going back more than five thousand years, being a former Empire, British protectorate, and critical trading post for the Portuguese. The island has a fascinating history and is littered with old forts, ruins of ancient civilizations, and great Arab architecture ranging from decorative mosques to Manama's modern day buildings.

                                                     Mosque in Manama souq area

                                                     Bahrain World Trade Center, side view

                                                     Some random skyscraper

  Bahrain also happens to be a popular tourist destination for expats in KSA and Saudis alike. It is considerably more liberal than KSA as it allows women to drive and vote. Furthermore, freedom of religion is a right and all nationalities were declared 'equal' by the king in the early 90's. All of these things have helped create a modern Bahrain that is not only more tolerant of diversity, but also makes it much more multicultural and interesting than anything that I have experienced in Saudi to date.

                                                     Bahraini flag in all its glory

 Being in Bahrain certainly has its appeal for me as a Westerner, the multicultural ambiance in the air is great as you walk by a Thai restaurant while there's an Indian barber next door who happens to be cutting the hair of somebody from Europe. However, as of recent, Bahrain has experienced it's own calamity with what has come to be known as the 'Arab Spring'.

 A few months ago massive violent protests took place in central Manama, the capital governorate, and the Saudi military was called in to intervene. The results were bad and to this day mild, small protests continue with tear gas and other maneuvers being deployed to suppress them. You see, Bahrain is seventy percent Shia muslim while the other thirty percent, including the ruling royal family, is Sunni. I'm not going to describe the differences between the two as I have no interest in writing an encyclopedia, but take my word when I say  that there are major rifts in beliefs and this sadly, has led to violence historically. Aside from recent events, Bahrain remains a relatively safe place to travel and I felt totally comfortable there while drinking expensive coffee and over priced Heineken.

 Admittedly, my trip to Bahrain was more of a getaway from KSA more than anything. While it is a beautiful country, I simply enjoyed the multi-ethnic feeling of the place while eating to good to be true Thai food (Pad Thai and Pad Sew). On to of this, bar hopping for a couple of nights was fun and having some good westerners to chat to is guaranteed to be a good time. While my time eating and drinking didn't result in anything crazy, thankfully, Bahrain was a great stress reliever and brought to life a sense of interest in Saudi again.

 

 During my stay in Bahrain, which is not a cheap place to stay I might add, I couchsurfed on a local expat's couch for two days which equals me not spending copious amounts of money for a hotel. Couchsurfing is an organization that connects travelers with places to stay in places all over the world. Wonderful hosts open their homes and let travelers stay with them for a specified amount of time. I did this all the time in Korea and I have found that it opens many doors and connects many people from all walks of life.

 Anyways, my host and I decided to go to the beach one afternoon which was on the northwestern edge of Bahrain outside of Manama. The Gulf was gorgeous and the air from the sea spectacular. This beach that we went to, which was located in the village of Budaiya, also housed one of the king's castles which is reminiscent of Windsor castle in the U.K. It was a great drive and one of the highlights of my two day trip.

                                           Budaiya Beach, Bahrain

                                           King Fahd Causeway linking KSA with Bahrain via the Gulf

                                           King's castle

                                           Budaiya Beach

 Overall, my Bahrain experience was one of relaxation and cultural re-connection that I don't get here in KSA. In a sense, I felt more of the Middle East in Bahrain than in Saudi, which is an odd thing to say since here it is more restrictive. KSA is kind of like an exclusive club, one few people desire to join, but if you do, there are certain rewards that you only get here. These rewards of course, are cultural interactions with people from a very conservative background that comes from being raised in one of the world's strictest Islamic states. Yet, the hospitality shown by some Saudi's can also be extraordinary. Like Bahrain, even Saudi has it's own cultural feel, even if it's difficult to find most times. I'm glad to be experiencing both as the year quickly comes to a close.

 Life continues in the Kingdom.