Super early start in Abu Dhabi to catch our flight to Manama, the capital of Bahrain. Were ready to start exploring the city by noon. Taxied across the causeway to the oldest part of the city called Muharraq. Bahrain was known for its pearl diving and trading, it made the city quite rich. The introduction of cultured pearls from Japan in the early 30s, decimated Bahrain ‘s industry. As a result, this whole area devoted to pearling fell into ruin. Tried to visit some of the old pearling houses but all were closed or under restoration. Attempted to visit the Quoran Museum, but it too was closed (just when our guide book said it would be open).
In general, Bahrain is not doing very well in promoting its cultural history. Many historical sites provide little or no information. Touring is made more difficult by the fact that sites are very far apart so are tough to visit without a car. Consequently, we hired a car and guide for the following day. Maher gave us an excellent and informative tour of all Bahrain’s tourist highlights.
First stop, the Grand Mosque. Women tourists are forced to gear up in a full abaya and headscarf or no entry. Mosque was architecturally beautiful. Inside, had a guided tour with a woman who was devoutly Muslim and did her best to convince us that Islam is best.
Next stop, the National Museum. Displays were well laid out and attractively presented. Content was on the light side but interesting info about the ancient Dilman, Macedonian and Greek occupants of Bahrain.
Had a photo opportunity of the city towers; did a walkabout around the Bahrain Fort (Qua’lat); tromped through the main Souq; ate lunch in a local cafe; visited the Royal Camel Farm (His Majesty’s son collects them); checked out the official Formula 1 race track; saw the first oil well drilled in all of Arabia ; visited the “Tree of Life”, a 400 year old tree all on its own in the desert with no obvious water source; and finally at dusk, browsed in a pottery workshop next to a Dilman burial mound. Turned out to be a long but surprisingly interesting day.
Early the next morning, it was time to move on to our next country, Qatar. Had to spend the whole day flying and transiting via Abu Dhabi as Bahrain and Qatar are not on good terms. Took about 10 hours to go 173km between hotels!
For shots of Bahrain, see this Flickr link:
27 photos
All but 4 of the photos in the gallery were taken on our guided tour with Maher. Read our review on TripAdvisor. (All reviews or contributions to TripAdvisor that we’ve made over the years will be under our TA username: 100countries_info )
More than just a review site, TripAdvisor has now become a valuable resource for booking hotels, vehicles, and even complete tours. 
Manama, Kingdom of Bahrain