Manama Souks

Hi Bloggers,

People tend to think of the Gulf region as being one purely of oil-rich affluence. But actually there is quite a significant amount of poverty, and not just amongst the immigrant workers, but also the indigenous Bahrainis. One of the nicer reflections of this, however, is the general central Manama area and its sizeable souk area. This part of town is simply teeming with life and character with lots of winding alley ways and rows of traditional houses, etc.
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So, me and my friend Dave, a fellow BC teacher, took a stroll around and decided to get a few pics earlier in the month, as he was just about to depart back to the cooler climes of the UK. And make no mistake about it, the midday temperatures here really are something else. 40C plus, and high humidity. You only need to walk for about five minutes and you're dripping! We're both keen joggers, but in the end had to abandon any projects to keep fit that way! Even at night it's still 35C.

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The part I liked the most was the tree covered square, where people just seem to sit and hang out for long periods of time. There aren't many green shady places in Bahrain, but this is certainly one! There are also a couple of open-air cafes where locals don't seem to do anything special other than just chill and drink their tea or coffee. Tea seems to be more popular, actually. It's a pity, though, you can't have a nice cool beer in a public place! OK, I'll let the pics do the talking from here.

After this we went out to the Tree of Life, which despite my initial misgivings turned out to be well worth the effort (see next blog).
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Cheers,

Robert