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