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Published: January 11th 2009
Muharraq
Dhow and Shaikh Isa causeway
No, this isn't about some new sort of rain, it is about that little Gulf state, just off the coast of Saudi Arabia. And for that matter, this will be a short blog, meant as a teaser for things to come... Of course this could backfire horribly, should this turn out to be a terrible short blog!
So what do you do when you have got twelve hours to waste, don't want to spend a penny and are stuck in Bahrain? Well either you sit down and cry or you do as I do and start walking. Not recommended in the summer though, but at this time of year it was surprisingly pleasant. A walk of about eight hours takes you along a few of the sights that Manama and Muharraq have to offer.
What does Bahrain have to offer you may ask yourself? It has a its share of modern buildings, the striking sky-scrapers that are so characteristic of the other oil-rich states in this region are also known here. It has a few forts, of which I only saw one. It has a plethora of Mosques of which the grandest is the Al Fateh Mosque, which has
Muharraq
View of Manama skyline from Muharraq
grand in its name too, giving you a hint of its grandness! It has several palaces, an old one and a new one, the old one only being slightly smaller then the new one. I guess the King ran out of space and needed a bigger version of his old palace. Bahrain seemed more lively to me than for instance Dubai, which I found a bit artificial. It feels lived in, it has rumbling streets and noise and other Middle Eastern traits that I felt was missing in Dubai.
It is also one of the oldest of the states, its history going back to before Babylonian times. It was known as Dilmun in the Sumerian days, some say it is the true whereabouts of the biblical Garden of Eden. This is because it was mentioned as such in the Epic of Gilgamesh, a forerunner of many of the later stories that made it into the Bible. I wouldn't call it paradise as such, it seems to dry to be that, but maybe in those days it had a more suitable climate. The Greeks came along when Alexander the Great sent couple of ships to the island and renamed it
Muharraq
More dhow pictures
Tylos. It was finally renamed Bahrain somewhere in the 13th century. Since the beginning of the nineteenth century it has been ruled by the Al Khalifa Dynasty, who started of as Shaikhs but turned into Kings in 1999!
For a twelve hour stint of this country I am quite surprised at what I learned. Is twelve hours enough to see Bahrain? It is small, so if you rented a car, I suspect you might be able to see the whole island in that time, but realistically one day is never enough for any country. There is still a bit to explore here and there and I certainly didn't see everything. There seems to be a Tree of Life somewhere on the Island which I must visit the next time I am here. Still I can now proudly tell people I have walked the Garden of Eden!
I will be updating my blogs again regularly from now on. Next up, another island which Adam is supposed to have visited! I'll keep you guessing which!
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mirelva
non-member comment
mooooi
hee ralfie jij bent er alweer snel bij met bloggen! prachtige foto's ook weer :-) Ben blij dat ik je nog even heb gesproken voor je wegging! Liefs Mirelva