Bahrain

We wanted to visit the tiny island nation of Bahrain, and Sal who was living in Doha, Qatar, was also keen to spend a weekend there. And although Bahrain used to be a real island, it is now connected to mainland Saudi Arabia with a 25km long bridge with an artificial Passport Island in the middle for all the formalities of the 50,000 people per day who cross it. Bahrain swapped from driving on the left to driving on the right-hand side of the road in 1967 to make this bridge possible, but it wasn’t until the end of 1986 that the King Fahd Causeway was finally opened.

Sal drove from Doha across the Causeway, and we flew over on a Friday evening. Again the mismatch of our weekend days meant we would only have the Friday evening and Saturday together, as Sal had to start driving back on Saturday afternoon to start work on Sunday morning.

We went for a few drinks in the local Irish pub, followed by an interesting local dinner. The pubs are what Bahrain is known for amongst the expat population in Dammam in Saudi Arabia. Dammam is located just an hour’s drive from Bahrain across the bridge, and has many expats living there, working in the oil and gas industry. These expats from Dammam visit Bahrain on the weekend to have a drink, as this is not possible in Saudi Arabia. Bahrain is quite the party town it seemed.

The next day we explored Bahrain, with Sal being the chauffeur. We drove to the Tree of Life, a 400 year-old tree in the middle of a barren stretch of the Arabian Desert. And checked out the nearby Dragon Rocks, both of these places are surrounded by nodding donkeys, Bahrain’s source of oil income.

it was very windy at the Tree of Life in the Arabian Desert

Sal, Jude and Jon in front of one of many nodding donkeys in Bahrain

Sal, Jon and Jude at the Dragon Rocks in Bahrain

Bahrain also has an F1 track, and we decided to have a look. In the souvenir shop next to the entrance, we asked if we could do a tour of the circuit. We weren’t expecting a positive answer as you normally need to book and there are set times of the day for the tours. But we were in luck. They made a phonecall, and not long afterwards we were picked up by a lady in a minivan.

With the minivan we made stops at the tower next to the entrance where we had a great view of the track from the roof terrace, the press room, and even in the race control room where we played around with the cameras on the track and pretended we were the race officials. And then we even did a hot lap around the full circuit with the minivan, she was loving it and really racing around. We even had time for a photo at the finish line. That had been an excellent, unexpected stop and we can highly recommend a tour if you are an F1 fan.

Jude, Sal and Jon in the control room of the Bahrain F1 track

and taking control of the race track cameras and decisions

Sal, Jude and Jon on the finishing line of the Bahrain F1 track

We also explored the ancient burial mounds and visited several locations as they are dotted throughout Bahrain. The Dilmun Burial Mounds are actually a UNESCO world heritage site nobody seems to have heard of. They come in different shapes and sizes and cover a long period, with estimates thinking originally there would have been around 350,000 mounds. Most are for an individual, although some had multiple chambers. Bahrain is struggling to preserve them, as some of the locals want to flatten them and build houses on them, as this is not part of their Islamic roots. But we thought they were fascinating, although truthfully there is not much to see, as they literally are mounds of pebbles in various shapes and sizes. It is possibly one of the largest cemeteries of the ancient world.

these are some of the smaller burial mounds in Bahrain

and some of the larger burial mounds, most likely royal ones

Bahrain has another UNESCO world heritage site, and after an early breakfast in the souq, we explored the Pearl Path on Sunday, which tells the story of Bahrain’s pearling history as it meanders through parts of town. Some of the ancient houses and other buildings have been restored and you can enter them along the way.

Jon at the start of the Pearl Path, another UNESCO heritage site in Bahrain

Jude on the Pearl Path in Bahrain

We ended our tour of Bahrain with a long and relaxed lunch at the GB café with views over the Bahrain Fort before catching our flight back to Abu Dhabi. Another excellent weekend away spending time with a friend, and exploring different places in our region. From the local Emiratis we also hear the gold souq is worth visiting if you need another reason to check it out. We can recommend it.

Jude enjoying a lovely lunch at the BG cafe next to the Bahrain Fort

she even spotted a new bird there – a slender-billed gull