Bahrain/Kuwait-Ramadan30Aug-8 Sept 2010

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Flying on from Singapore(after the usual hours of waiting,Meal upstairs in food court with $7 Tiger beer) we arrived in Dubai and straight on to Bahrain. It was a smooth entry into the middle East except for the warnings about eating and drinking in public during Ramadan. A quick taxi trip and we were installed in the Landmark Suites in central Manama. Very comfortable and about 5 times the size of our Vietnamese rooms-Bedroom bathroom,kitchen,living rooms. There was no one on the streets during the day because it was >43 degrees and Ramadan. Most of the shops were closed. After the fast was broken each day at sunset it was more like a soccer match-thousands on the streets and every restaurant full until about 3 AM and the Mosques bulging and the ever present call to prayer..We spent our time looking at the few sights including the excellent national museum. Wandering the streets at night was exciting and we ate every night at the "Happy Yemen" restaurant-excellent Yemeni Food spicy chicken with unknown rice variety-eaten with the fingers of course(right hand only) from a central single plate. No alcohol in this country however.
We hired a car for a day and drove all over the country. There is some history here including oil wells from the 1930's,old forts and the Burial mounds which dot the whole place. These are remnants of a pre islamic civilization. The Tree of life is a single tree in the middle of the desert which is about 7 metres high and mysteriously survives -mildly interesting. All in all it was a relaxing 3 days. We flew on to Kuwait and it was even hotter. This is a city state basically because outside Kuwait city is desert virtually nothing else except oil wells. Inside KC are miles of fast food joints, shoe and clothes shops and neatly manicured trees and grass tended by guest workers from the Subcontinent. As well as being hotter,Kuwait is more expensive and more Islamic than Bahrain. We wandered the conniche at sunset and enjoyed window shopping.We are staying in a very nice business hotel overlooking the sea which is good considering we must spend lots of time inside because of the heat,closed shops and nothing much to see. The room is about the size of our bathroom in Bahrain and is the cheapest room in the country at $90+USD. Anyway we have had a restful time in both countries,seen what has to be seen ,eaten good food and prepared ourselves for more difficult destinations

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