Bahrain Expat Assignment

Bahrain is a collection of islands in the Arabian Gulf. It is the home of the Bahrain Formula 1 races in March or April.

The best time of year to come is October through April, while the weather is nice. December and January can be chilly, so bring a jacket. July and August are hot and humid, and are the months that locals go on vacation to escape the heat.

Bahrain has an ancient history, with ruins that date back to 3000 B.C. One of the most liberal Arab countries, it is a good place to start exploring the Arabian peninsula, and nearly everyone speaks some English. Women have more freedoms here than in most other Middle Eastern countries. Women work, drive, own property and vote. That said, I suggest you always dress modestly in public. You just get sunburned anyway. However, western swimwear is appropriate at hotel beaches and swimming pools.

Quick Tips:

Americans can get a visa on arrival at the Bahrain airport. It's about US, or 5 dinars. Make it easy and get an electronic visa online before you go.

Power is 220V, and Bahrain uses UK-style three-pronged plugs.

Best Way To Get Around:

Insist that the taxi driver use his meter. If he says it’s broken, get out of the cab. They are notorious for overcharging. If you agree to a price ahead of time, it is likely twice the metered fare. Bahrain Limo has a fleet of S-Class Mercedes, and always use their meters, while only slightly more expensive are very reasonable. Phone 801999.

Best way to get around is to rent a car. Bahrainis drive on the right as in the U.S. and road signs are in Arabic and English.

Fueling stations are not common and are not self-serve. Several are marked on the map from the car company.

Most street names are not listed on the map. So get directions if you’re unsure how to get somewhere. Street addresses don't really exist. Businesses have a P.O. box number.

The island is not that big, and if you just keep driving you'll find a sign directing you to Manama, so you'll never get lost for long.

Be very careful crossing the street. People drive very fast here. Don't enter an intersection until you’re sure that cross traffic is stopped. Stories in the paper appear weekly about accidents or injured pedestrians.

Really nice hotel. Their website has lots of information and their e-mail address. The rooms are clean and very comfortable, well air conditioned. Nice marble tile in the bathrooms. Full-size tubs with shower/hose for stand-up showers.

The staff is very nice and helpful. It is almost directly opposite the airport. If you let the hotel know what time you are arriving, they will have someone come pick you up.

It also has a bar in the lobby. They have a big party by the pool outside on Thursday nights (the weekend is Friday/Saturday here).

Several good Indian dishes at the restaurant and room service. My favorite is the Tandoori chicken sandwich served in a pita wrap.

There is onsite car hire, wireless internet access (but expensive @ 12.00 dinars a day) gym and spa. My colleagues say to ask for Carmen for a great massage.

The food is Polynesian but sufficiently varied that you'll find something good. The curries are my favorite.

The bar is a good place to have a drink and some snacks if you're travelling alone, and it has live entertainment. They have a very long list of specialty drinks. You don't need a reservation to go to the bar.

Upstairs, Downstairs looks like an exclusive British club, with dark green walls, club chairs, and white tablecloths. There is a bar area downstairs and a nice dining room upstairs. Also downstairs, there is a patio area that is actually indoors but feels outdoors with a big skylight and outdoor-style furnishings. Sort of like the Paris Las Vegas hotel or The Venetian hotel if you've been to Las Vegas.

The food was excellent, with a lot of seafood choices--I recommend the mixed seafood with rice (sort of like paella), and they do have several pork dishes, which is unusual.

So far, this is my favorite restaurant in the city. They are also open for breakfast, serving traditional English breakfast, including grilled tomatoes and baked beans.

This place serves nicely done Indian food. The decor is on the kitschy side and very casual. The tables are long, and there are some chairs and some benches.

There is live entertainment.

We ordered all our dishes spicy, and they were perfectly spiced, but in Dallas, I'm a Mexican food junkie, so I like pretty hot food.

The restaurant is just north of the flyover and shares the parking lot with a burger place that has a huge neon sign (which looks out of place). I don't remember the name of the burger place, but you can't miss it.

It has authentic Mexican decor and cuisine (not pseudo Mexican, where it looks Mexican but tastes Indian). The smoked beef burrito especial was excellent, as was the margarita. If you're looking for local Bahraini flavor, this would not be your restaurant of choice. It’s a big expat destination - I've never seen so many Americans at one time since I've been here. I could easily have been in Texas, except the staff was all Indian instead of Mexican.

The restaurant faces Adilya Avenue, but you have to access it from the side road in back. Senor Pacos is on the same side of the street as the Berlitz office. They have a nice patio for when the weather is cooler.

You really only need a reservation for Thursday and Friday nights.

Monsoon specializes in Thai, Vietnamese and Japanese food. The dining room is like the inside of a Buddhist temple, and the dining area is surrounded by a moat. There is a nice patio for when the weather is nice. They have excellent local cocktails (I like the lychee cooler - lychee plus vodka). If you're not sure what to order, stick with the house specialties. I've sampled a number of them, and they are all excellent.

Curry Country has curries from all over Asia: Indian, Sri Lankan, Thai, Indonesian, Korean, etc. You select one curry, one starch (rice, noodles, or bread), and one side sauce from the place mat/menu you write on. I've tried most of the curries on the menu and liked them all. Check out the option to get two smaller curries so you can try more kinds. The restaurant is very casual, a good place to stop for lunch, though it's not fast food. They don't make it until you order it. If you don't like curries, they have some other choices on the menu as well. This is one of my favorite everyday restaurants in Bahrain.

There are liquor stores in Manama. The signs say they will only sell to non-Muslims, so it's best to get some Anglo or Indian friends.

I'm sure there are additional outlets; these are the ones I know about first hand.

BMMI and Gulf Cellars are just south of the Pearl roundabout. These were hard to find if you don't know exactly where you're going. As you go around the roundabout, you'll see a car wash with a big sign, "Modern Car Wash". The stores are directly behind the car wash. Exit the roundabout after you pass the car wash sign, in front of the Marina Mall. Make the first right, into a parking lot between a petrol station and a market. Go through the market parking lot. At the far end of the market, turn right. Go to the end of the road, turn left to go around the Modern Car Wash. Turn left again, and BMMI is immediately to your left. There's a white sign with red letters. The two Ms are sort of superimposed on each other, so at first glance it looks like BMI. Gulf Cellars is almost directly next door as you continue down the alley toward the police station (on your right).

Gulf Cellars also lists locations at the Gulf Hotel (across from the Grand Mosque and the new palace) and the Palace Inn Hotel (same street as the Gulf, but farther south). These hotels are marked on every Manama map I've seen.

The liquor stores are closed on Friday.

But save yourself a few dinars and take advantage of the duty-free shop that is immediately after passport control in the airport. Nice selection, and it is cheaper. You can bring in one litre of liquor and a six-pack of beer.

Seef Mall is located in the Seef district near the Ritz Carlton and is marked on every map I've seen. Any taxi driver will know where it is.

If you are looking for the same things you are used to back in the U.K., head to the Seef Mall. You'll find Debinham's, Marks & Spencer, Next, and other High Street shops that are familiar.

There is also a small bookstore in the Seef Mall with a wide selection of English-language books and tons of magazines.

There are also two cineplexes in the mall, at each end. At the east end of the mall, there is a huge arcade with all sorts of games - a great place to entertain kids on a hot summer weekend.

When I compared prices, things here seemed a little more expensive than they were in London, and since the dollar is currently (May 2005) in the toilet, London was not cheap for this American (July-September 2004). Thank goodness for the expense account. So if you're just in Bahrain on holiday, I'd wait to make those purchases back in London. If you're here for an extended period, though, you can get most things you want.

Manama has tons of nightclubs, usually in hotels because of the way the liquor laws are set up. Saudis cross the causeway by the hundreds to spend the weekends (Thursday/Friday/Saturday) in Bahrain.

The hot spot of the moment moves around. Check out daily newspapers like Gulf Daily News or www.GulfWeeklyWorldwide.com to see what's going on at which hotels and where you can find music that suits your taste.

A'Ali is one of the best spots to check out Bahrain's Burial Mounds. More than 100,000 burial mounds dot the island and date back more than 3,000 years.

Driving by, you may not realize what they are. They are easily mistaken for piles of dirt left over from construction. There were new villas going up all around the burial mounds at A'Ali. The bigger mounds are the burial spots of important figures. A'Ali is marked on most maps of Bahrain and is only 15 to 20 minutes from Manama.

Al Ali Mall is next to Seef Mall, and has a couple of stores that are worth the extra stop. There is one section of the mall that is designed like an old souq.

In this section, Bateel sells all sorts of dates and date products - date cookies, chocolates, date honey and jam. They also do excellent presentation for gifts.

There is also an art gallery in the same part of the mall. A local Bahraini artist - Koheji - who does really nice landscapes has his works available for sale there.

The rest of the mall is mostly regular jewelry and clothing stores - not so interesting to me, though The One has cool home furnishings.

There are three forts in Bahrain that are interesting to visit.

The Bahrain Fort near Seef is also known as the Portuguese Fort. You can follow the brown tourist signs to the fort. It's not too hard to find. Bring a guidebook, because the local signs don't have much information on it. The fort has been largely restored, and offers some nice views of the sea and the city on clear days.

The Riffa Fort is my next favorite and functioned as a home until sometime in the 20th century. It has great views of the desert valley and the brown (sand) golf course.

The Arad Fort is in Arad on the island of Muharraq (where the airport is) and is interesting as well, but unless you have a lot of time in Bahrain, I'd make sure you do the other two first.

The Tree of Life is a 400-year-old tree (I've been told it's a Mesquite, don't know if that's true) that has no apparent source of water.

On the drive south to the Tree of Life, you will probably miss it the first time, because the sign faces the wrong direction. When you get to the air force base, you've gone too far. Then turn around and head back north and you'll see the sign. I've been down there three times and I still miss it and have to turn around and come back.