Good Day Travelers!
Welcome to the second and final part of my little Bahrain series! As the country is so small I will combine all walks/trips around Bahrain in this final post and try to show you the beauty of this little place.
In total I spend around 10 days in Bahrain but because of the crazy heat I was only able to take 2-3 hour walks each day (And that was already tough as hell!) :D - The max. temperature it had during my stay was 48°C and I can promise you, that this is not a comfortable weather to do crazy activities. I probably couldn't even hydrate as much as I sweated on the average day, ha!
During June/July/August its pretty rare that the temperature drops below 40°C during the day. And the most crazy thing is - It only rains around 3x a year!!
How to get around Bahrain?
To begin with - Yes, Bahrain is very small. People mostly stay around the Northern part of the country as the Mid/Southern part is basically just pure desert. To give you a bit of a better picture and help you to imagine what I mean by small I'll show you the Google-Maps layout:
Goole Maps
The absolute mayoralty of the Bahrain people live in the capital Manama, which was also the location where I spend my time during my stay.
Regarding the small size there aren't many options to get around Bahrain. The most common way of transportation is taking Ubers (Which are also Bahrain's taxis) or buses. As of 2023 there are no trains or metro lines available (Although, there are currently constructions for the first Bahrainian Metro line!)
Current Transportation Methods of Baharain:
- Uber (Taxi) - Easy to order but quiet expensive
- Busses - A bit confusing but a cheap alternative to Ubers
- Renting your own car
What to do in Bahrain?
So, the first question would be - Why would you ever consider going to Bahrain? Well.. the only reason I went to Bahrain was the simple fact, that I had no idea about this country! I mean, I knew the geographical location and the name of it but really nothing else (it turned out that Bahrain has quite a bit to offer for all kinds of travelers!).
The first thing I did was taking a walk around the center of the City where also my last post about the Al Fateh Grand Mosque was located. On the first two images you can also see the massive islamic library which is right beside the Mosque.
City Center, Islamic Center
There is everything in walkable distance in this District. Just make sure to wear a cap or what ever to cover your head from the heat. There aren't a lot of places with shadow!
Bahrain Bay Walkway
The Bahrain Bay walkway is especially at night a must do activity! It leads you around the cost line and financial district of the city. There are massive walkways everywhere with good lightning at night. Before I forget to mention it - Bahrain is extremely safe! Crime is almost not existing in this country and you can freely walk around by day and night without ever having to worry about anything!
Central Business District of Manama
This is probably the most busy district of the capital Manama. You can find a lot of gold and jewellery shops there, some smaller bazaars and a bunch of good restaurants. Also the countries popular historical building Bab Al Bahrain is located there.
Not far off from the Bab Al Bahrain you can also find the Indian district of this location. As there are loooots of Indian people living in Bahrain, they have their own area with also quite an impressive Hindu Temple which I visited.
The temple allows access to everyone and I even got invited watching their praying ceremony while I was there. That was something I haven't seen before, not even while I traveled through India! There was a lot of singing, praying and music combined from all different kinds of people. Such a interesting experience and they even gave me some fruits and coconut after the ceremony! :))
Beside my activities from basically just walking around the entire city, taking pictures and explore as much as I can without melting are the 33 artificial islands around the country. I've heard that some of them have stunning beaches and places to dive or snorkel. Something I would have liked to experience but at this heat I honestly had 0 feelings about going to swim :D
Food & Drinks
Well.. You may already know me - I feel mostly to awkward taking pictures in restaurants of my food :D .. But I can guarantee you - Bahrain Food is amazing - especially the BBQ! Meals you definitely should try when you are there:
- Samboosa (Fried triangles filled with beef or vegetables)
- Majboos (Rice with Chicken)
- Shawarma (Seomthing like Wraps, really popular in Arabic countries)
These 3 dishes where definitely my favorites and I kept ordering them in multiple locations as I just couldn't get enough of it! :))
Beside drinking tons of water I really recommend you to also drink some hot tea during the day. There are tiny tea houses everywhere and it really helps you to balance your body temperature. There is a reason why people love hot tea in hot countries!
From what I've been told - Bahrain has also a pretty good nightlife with lots of music bars and even clubs. As this is not really in my interest I didn't join any of them but if you are a traveler who likes a good nightlife you are definitely not in a wrong place!
Would I recommend a visit to Bahrain?
Well, if you live very far away from Bahrain probably not, but if you are already traveling in the golf regions or the middle east then absolutely! People in Bahrain are super polite, speak perfect english and are super helpful and talkative!
The country is extremely safe, the food is amazing, the infrastructure works great and overall it's just a super clean environment with some great activities to do.
I would just recommend everyone to not go there in summer - Trust me, it's crazy hot!!! :D - Just go there in winter, like in January and I think the country will be even more enjoyable!
Thanks for joining my little virtual tour!
Best,
Chris