November in the Gulf

Hi Bloggers,
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November really is the most fantastic month imaginable here in the Gulf region. Temperatures have dropped to a comfortable mid 20's Celsius. Sunny days with cloudless skies and that terrible humidity now replaced by a lovely fresh breeze. You couldn't think up better weather even if you tried. It's in strong contrast to the crushing heat of the summer. I arrived here in April and haven't really known anything else but 40+ day-time temperatures. Let's hope this continues through the "winter"!

I've taken a few shots of Manama from Muharraq (above). I've tried to get the traditional fishing boats into the same picture as the skyscrapers and, of course, the bridge itself. Funnily enough, I always think the Financial Harbour Towers (middle right) look like a giant V-sign on the skyline. But that probably says more about me than actual reality! Interestingly, there are all these old fishing boats or dows, as they're called, dotted in stategic places around the sea front parts of Manama. At first, I thought they'd got stranded, but it is in fact a genuine and successful effort to be artistic.
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Meanwhile, busy planning my trip to Africa at Christmas!

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Cheers,

Rob

Bahrain Marathon Relay

Hi Bloggers,
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Just ran in the Relay Marathon for the British Council team. We came placed a wretched 150 out of 157 teams, but it was great fun, nevertheless. Surprisingly, it took place from 10.00 am to 3.00 pm, which meant that a lot of us were running in the midday heat, which is still quite strong at this time of the year. Luckily, though, it had cooled down considerably from the really hot summer months, when temperatures reach as high as 45 C. I think people would have collapsed if they'd tried it then!

Anyway, I was quite pleased with my own times, 17.34 for an uphill 3.3 km stretch and then 15.34 for the home straight of exactly 3 km. Yes, I felt honoured to be selected for that role! Mind you, I was the only person in the team to run two stretches, so maybe I earned that privilege. Anyway, enjoy looking at the video (below) and pics. Hope it inspires you to take up running!

Cheers,

Robert

Tree of Life

Hi Bloggers,

Following our tour of the souks and a fantastic lunch at a local Thai restaurant, we proceeded to the highlight of the day - the Tree of Life. Basically, it's a solitary tree in the middle of the desert. No-one's fully sure where it gets its water from, but presumeably there's an underground table or resevoir there. Anyway, this tree is reputed to be hundreds of years old. To be quite honest, I was expecting to be disappointed, but actually was pleasantly surprised, as, in fact, the place is quite atmospheric and there's a great view around.

The biggest problem was actually finding the place! You would have thought the authorities would have gone to the trouble of making sure there were decent signposts for what is, after all, one of the country's main attractions. Anyway, after several circular detours and requests for directions, we did finally get there - just before sunset. As it turned out, that was probably the best time as the setting sun gives the place a distinctly reddish hue.

A lot of the tree had graffitti on it, which some people say spoils it. But actually I thought it rather enhanced the experience, giving it an extra historical dimension. Many of the signatures have even changed shape over time and are now really an integral part of the tree.

I'll let you judge for yourselves from the pictures.

Cheers,
Robert

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

Abu Dhabi

Hi Bloggers,

Lovey dovey in Abu Dhabi? Well, not quite, but anyway just had a great couple of days there. It's interesting to compare it to Dubai, its illustrous neighbour. Abu Dhabi is much more like a normal town than Dubai. For example, it actually has high streets with shops, and lots of them, whole blocks in fact. That's not to say that Abu Dhabi hasn't been hit by shopping mall mania too, but it's much less at the forefront. Interestingly, I also stumbled across some quite slummy areas, where a lot of the immigrant population live. Most seem to be Filipinos. In fact, almost every shop assistant or cashier seems to be Filipina.

From a touristic point of view, the real highlight was the fabulous Sheik Zayed mosque, which is almost on a par with the Taj Mahal (see pic). There's also a park all along the "beach" front, which is great for jogging and cycling. The beach is mostly corniche, though, i.e. reclaimed land. And, unfortunately almost everywhere in the Gulf, there's a distinct lack of surf, probably because the water here is so shallow.

I was also surprised to find that the Emirates is actually cheaper than Bahrain. I did an experimental shopping run and it came out cheaper than the equivalent in Manama. The Emirates General Store is the place! Abu Dhabi would definitely be a nice place to live. Just a pity about the heat and absence of rain in this region!

Cheers,
Rob

City Centre

Wotsup Bloggers?

I've been here now just over a month, so I'm beginning to get a good idea what makes Manama tick. I've also got my cargo arriving next week, which includes my mountain bike and guitars. The bike'll make me much more mobile and enable me to explore deeper into the island. Some people say I'll be crazy to ride a bike in the summer heat, but I've always been a keen cyclist, so I'm confident I can handle it, provided I have the appropriate headware!

Anyway, for this blog I've decided to focus on the main shopping mall in Manama. It's called City Centre. In fact, it's sister to the one in Dubai, probably bigger too. The reason it's important is because this is the place most people seem to end up on their days off. It represents shopping in the Gulf at its most state of the art, particularly if you're a Westerner. And apart from anything, it's a great place to be just to cool off during the summer heat!

Practically every shop you could imagine is here, not disimilar in scale to the impressive Central World in Bangkok, where I've just come from (what a tragedy Central World got burned down during the recent turmoil in Bangkok). It's set slightly outside the main drag in a land reclamation area. In fact, coming from a distance it looks almost like it's in the middle of the desert, surrounded by nothing but sand. Land reclamation's a big thing here, and is one of the reasons there are no decent beaches to speak of, just these strips they call corniches.

As usual, I'll let the pics do the talking. hopefully in my next blog I'll cover something more cultural.

Cheers,
Robb

Manama

Hi Bloggers,

I've been in Manama (that's the capital of Bahrain, if you didn't know!) for nearly a month now and am getting quite settled in. It's much more sedate than I expected, but that's quite nice actually. It's a bit like a watered down Dubai, much smaller and less stressful, but basically the same kind of things going on.

I was out taking some pics yesterday, but it was a bit hazy for some reason. Surprising, 'cos actually the humidity here is pretty low. It's starting to get pretty hot now. A lot, of course, depends on where you put the thermometer, but I've had one reading of 43 C up to now. Anyway, for this blog I'm just focussing on skyline pics. I'll get better ones up in due course.

One doesn't have that much contact with Arabs on the whole, or if one does it's probably a taxi driver. I must say, they've all been pretty affable so far. However, most workers here seem to be from Kerala, India. Clearly there's some ancient trading connection between the two regions, which still continues through to today. Most waitresses and shop assistants seem to be Filipinas.

The picture on the right is the spectacular Financial Harbour Towers. What I like about them is the way their juxtaposition changes depending on what part of town you're looking from!

Will say more in my forthcoming blogs.

Cheers,
Rob

London and Bahrain

Hi Bloggers,

Well, I've finally arrived in Bahrain after a long delay in London due to the volcanic ash. And what a palava that was (no pun intended)! Surely it was obvious that by the time the ash was over the UK and Europe it would have dispersed enough to have little effect on plane engines. But I suppose they were correct to err on the side of caution.

Anyway, I had a few extra days in London. The BC put me in the Strand Palace Hotel, which quite frankly was rather disappointing. I've had better facilities and services in Thailand. But at least it had a decent view. See pic above.

My first impressions of Bahrain are pretty positive. Apart from the financial area, it's relatively low rise and everything is in shades of beige or sand colour, making things look like they have come out of the ground itself. So far it seems pretty unstressful and laid back. It's very different from Thailand in that not much happens outside on the street. It's all behind closed doors. In fact, there's an element of that glassed off feel like in Dubai. Apparently 49% of the population here are foreigners, cf Dubai, where it's a whopping 80%. Anyway, now I'm focussed primarily on looking for a flat before starting work on Tuesday.

Will update as soon as I've got more to say.

Cheers,
Robert

Chiang Rai and the Golden Triangle

Hi Bloggers,

Yes, I've been inactive rather a while, mostly due to being bogged down with logistical things related to my upcoming move to Bahrain next month. Another reason is that I haven't really been anywhere of special note recently. Of course, there have been more red shirt demonstrations here in Bangkok just this week, but frankly I've lost interest in Thai politics of late. And I don't honestly see any real change occuring here. In my opinion, Taksin's main legacy will ultimately be that he has made the masses aware of their political power.

More interesting was my return to Chiang Rai and the Golden Triangle earlier this week. Unfortunately the weather was a bit hazy, slightly dampening the normally stupendous views. Nevertheless, it was stil a great experience. I went with my Thai girlfriend, Ooy, who lives in Chiang Mai. We rented a motorbike and rode around using Chiang Rai as our base. I'll let the pictures do the talking for themselves.

For me one of the highlights was Wat Chedi Luang in Chiang Saen. It's one of the oldest in the area, dating back several hundred years. A lot of it is in ruins. Nevertheless, it still functions as a living temple. I dutifully did a few rounds of the stupa, reciting my favourite mantra.














The white temple, Wat Rong Khun, just outside Chiang Rai was also pretty spectacular.













My next blog will probably be from Bahrain. I'm going to be sad to leave SE Asia, but being in a gulf state should be a genuinely interesting experience.

Talk again soon.

Cheers,
Robert