Bahrain, Bahrain, Bahrain
Friday, May 01, 2009
23 April
Manama
BAHRAIN
It was just a day trip planned with a Portuguese colleague who wanted to check the Portuguese Fort in Bahrain. So I told him I'd accompany him ONLY IF he would pay for my taxi ride. I'd buy my ticket and pay for my food but he had to shoulder the taxi rides. ;) He agreed.
We almost gave up on going because flights were full due to the F1 race. However, there were 2 seats left upon flight closure so we were able to get on the flight. At 930am, we were in Bahrain. The immigration guy was not too friendly. He even messed my passport!
We met an Indian driver at the airport's exit who offered us a tour of the city. He asked for 8BD per hour. It was a good deal considering the taxi's were not plenty and the weather was really hot.
First stop: Portuguese Fort. But, of course! We thought it best to go to the fort first so as not to be toasted by the sun. We planned to go to the museums in the afternoon so we would be covered.
When we arrived at the fort, we were told it was closed for the day because some media people were shooting something. Probably for the F1 coverage. Duhh. The museum beside the fort was closed. It was Friday, dummy! We forgot! So the Filipina at the cafe told us that there was a museum that was open even on Fridays and suggested that we go there. On our way there, we stopped at the Bab al Bahrain. I guess it was some kind of...municipal hall. There was not much to see so we left almost as soon as we arrived. Have I mentioned it was real hot outside? It was.
We proceeded to the Al Fateh Mosque. It was the only mosque in Bahrain that was open to foreigners...except on Fridays and Saturdays! Haha. What luck we had! So we just left and moved to the nearby National Library just to take some photos.
After that, we decided there's only one left to see--the museum that's open everyday. So we went there. Can you guess what happened? It's closed! They said due to maintenance but we thought maybe they're just trying to protect the museum against the crowd who might be visiting Bahrain for the F1. O well.
So we just had lunch at the mall and went to the airport to finally take the flight back to Doha. What a day, what a trip.
Manama
BAHRAIN
It was just a day trip planned with a Portuguese colleague who wanted to check the Portuguese Fort in Bahrain. So I told him I'd accompany him ONLY IF he would pay for my taxi ride. I'd buy my ticket and pay for my food but he had to shoulder the taxi rides. ;) He agreed.
We almost gave up on going because flights were full due to the F1 race. However, there were 2 seats left upon flight closure so we were able to get on the flight. At 930am, we were in Bahrain. The immigration guy was not too friendly. He even messed my passport!
We met an Indian driver at the airport's exit who offered us a tour of the city. He asked for 8BD per hour. It was a good deal considering the taxi's were not plenty and the weather was really hot.
First stop: Portuguese Fort. But, of course! We thought it best to go to the fort first so as not to be toasted by the sun. We planned to go to the museums in the afternoon so we would be covered.
When we arrived at the fort, we were told it was closed for the day because some media people were shooting something. Probably for the F1 coverage. Duhh. The museum beside the fort was closed. It was Friday, dummy! We forgot! So the Filipina at the cafe told us that there was a museum that was open even on Fridays and suggested that we go there. On our way there, we stopped at the Bab al Bahrain. I guess it was some kind of...municipal hall. There was not much to see so we left almost as soon as we arrived. Have I mentioned it was real hot outside? It was.
We proceeded to the Al Fateh Mosque. It was the only mosque in Bahrain that was open to foreigners...except on Fridays and Saturdays! Haha. What luck we had! So we just left and moved to the nearby National Library just to take some photos.
After that, we decided there's only one left to see--the museum that's open everyday. So we went there. Can you guess what happened? It's closed! They said due to maintenance but we thought maybe they're just trying to protect the museum against the crowd who might be visiting Bahrain for the F1. O well.
So we just had lunch at the mall and went to the airport to finally take the flight back to Doha. What a day, what a trip.
