Of all our cruising destinations for this trip, I am most excited about exploring the Kingdom of Bahrain. It’s also the place I feel I need to make the most of as this is the least likely port that I’ll get a chance to return to, at least in the foreseeable future.
I hear the ship churning and know that means we’re docking. It’s nearly 8am, late by our standards, but we have slept unusually late and the kids’ club doesn’t open until 9am anyway. I give this a passing thought whilst trying to hold myself back from the “let’s go!” frenzy that I usually get myself worked up into when there is somewhere new waiting to be explored.
I have my list, of course, and am eager to get going but, as my husband keeps reminding me, “this is our holiday too”. So I try to be patient while we get ourselves dressed and organised and head to breakfast.
Breakfast is a tempting mix of a la carte and buffet and I can’t go past an order of eggs benedict before I browse the buffet for a selection of fruit and a croissant. Luckily I’ll be doing lots of walking today.
After breakfast we deposit two happy children at the kids’ club, warning them we won’t be back for lunch today. They’re fine and it makes me feel slightly less guilty for leaving them on the boat. “It’s my holiday too” I recite to myself.
There’s always something to run back to the room for. I curse myself for forgetting my sunglasses but it’s a deal breaker and I run back to get them – nine flights of stairs there and then another nine flights back down again (the lifts are too slow!) – returning, slightly puffed, to deck 4 to disembark.
Finally we’re off the ship at least. We briefly considered a bike tour for today and it did sound good but it didn’t cover everything I wanted to see and didn’t leave the ship until 1pm. In addition we couldn’t meet it in town which means there wouldn’t have been time to get off and into town first to do anything else. So it was deemed unsuitable. I couldn’t have sat around all morning waiting to go ashore.
There is a free shuttle bus to a mall so we decide to take it, find an ATM at the mall and then catch a taxi the rest of the way into town. We’re dropped off at the mall which is really just a LuLu Hypermarket. It has the required ATM though and we can buy water at the hypermarket to break the note into change for the taxi. We have withdrawn a modest BHD20 (Bahraini Dinar – approx AED200 or AUD70) for the day to cover taxis, lunch and perhaps a few souvenirs. Back out on the street and all the taxi drivers refuse to use the meter. The first that stops wants to charge us BHD25 for the 20min ride to the old town. We’re not sure exactly how much it should be but it definitely shouldn’t be that much. We feel like we’ve been set up a bit. MSC was charging EUR15 each for transfers from the dock at Khalifa Bin Salman Port into Manama. Now we know why. We finally find a guy that is willing to use the taxi meter. As we drive off, I notice that the meter start price is significantly higher (double) what it should be – and the fares and meter prices are stated in the taxi so it’s pretty obvious. He won’t budge. We get out. Perhaps we should have let that one slide as now we’re pretty much stuck. Luckily Jason thinks outside the box and orders and Uber. For this he has had to get a daily data package on his phone. This isn’t super cheap but turns out to be a complete life saver and saves us a great deal over the course of the day. Not to mention a lot of frustrations trying to negotiate with taxi drivers.
Our Uber driver turns up and we’re on the way. Our first stop is actually Bahrain Fort (Qal’at al Bahrain). We are dropped off in front of a very modern looking Museum and I briefly wonder if this is it. But there is signage and we’re at the right spot. There is a small admission fee for the museum but entrance to the fort is free and given my list of sights for the day, I want to make sure I have seen the fort properly first, so we start there, approaching the fort, passing the mud flats on the way.
Dilmun, as it was known in ancient times, sits on the northern coast of Bahrain and was once the capital. Firstly just a settlement, it is believed to have housed occupants from as early as 2,300BC. This area became the centre of a major trading route between Mesopotamia and the Indus Valley Civilisation. The site itself is a tell (artificial mound) which has seven stratified layers of civilisation. The fort as we see it today (the top layer) is attributed to the Portuguese, having been built in the 16th Century. At that time, a busy trading port, based on pearling, still existed.
The fort itself is large, much larger than I had anticipated and we walk a lap around the (now dry) moat before going in. The port completely silted up during the latter half of the 16th Century making it impossible for the Portuguese and other vessels to dock or moor within a reasonable distance and the site was gradually abandoned in favor of Manama which remains the ‘old town’ (but not the port) still to this day.
On entering it is obvious that the site has undergone some renovation and perhaps shoring up of the ruins. Staircases, arches and towers have been reconstructed, but in a manner that adds to, rather than depletes, the experience.
We make our way up and over the fort, around, down, up again and through. There are little towers and raised areas to climb for views of the fort and surrounds all over. There are some rooms, with various uses, down steep stone staircases – a well, a storage room and a date ‘press’ where date molasses was produced for trade. One sign explains that during the 13th Century the region produced 15,000 kg of date molasses each year for export to China.
Another turn takes us to the outer wall with an excellent view of the dry moat. we climb to the top where the flag is flying and take in the views of modern day Manama in the distance. The skyline in stark contrast to the ruins left here.
I’m not finished by any stretch of the imagination but I get a gentle reminder that we have been here for a couple of hours and there is still along list of sights remaining for the day.
Reluctantly I agree to give the museum a miss and head back into Manama and the old town for a walk around the souqs and some lunch. We order another Uber and wait a while. It’s not as easy as the ride here and once again that data package comes in handy, not just for ordering the ride but for helping the driver to find us.
We arrive at Bab al Bahrain (Gateway to Bahrain). This bab (gate) was built originally in 1945 and then redesigned in 1996. It strikes me as not all that impressive but it is interesting to note is that the area in front of it is the original location of the terminus for the old customs pier – a testament to the extent of land reclamation in the area. It also highlights the extent to which the Qal’at al Qasir port must have silted to require moving the port to this site in the 16th Century.
The gateway is still the main entrance to the souqs. In this case the souqs are contained primarily in streets in little rollerdoored shops, which are lively in character and authenticity but lack the charm of the renovated ‘old souq’ areas in cities such as Dubai and Muscat and the spectacularly renovated Souq Waqif in Doha.
By now it is well and truly time for lunch and I request something traditional with somewhere to sit. We’re on foot exploring the streets of old Manamar around Bab Al Bahrain Avenue. We wander for a while longer looking for somewhere suitable and stumble across Kozhikode Star on Al Khalifa Avenue. Now I nearly refuse as it looks like a chain and is therefore deemed not traditional/authentic enough. I am so glad I am talked into staying however, as hunger gets the better of me and as soon as the banana leaf plate is laid down in front of me I am sold.
We share a dish of chicken biriani and accompanyments and it’s the best I’ve ever tasted. What’s more, I have been inspired by the local crowd and eat my entire meal with my hands. Yes, I make a bit of a mess but I thoroughly enjoy the experience.
We do a little more walking after lunch and I don’t realise until later that we didn’t walk far enough down Bab al Bahrain Avenue – we missed the central souq and gold souq. Given that we are exploring during the afternoon close between 1pm and 3:30pm, I have to hope we didn’t miss much.
So we pop back out back near the gate (Bab al Bahrain) and Jason is craving ice cream. We find a little corner store and my khulfi ice cream is good but just can’t compare to the Venchi gelato I’ve been spoiled with on the ship.
We only have a couple of hours left now and despite wanting to delve back into the narrow streets of the souqs, we make a bee line along Government Avenue to the National Museum of Bahrain.
A couple of hours here and it’s time to go back to the ship. We order an Uber and we’re back at the cruise terminal with just enough time to spare to purchase a few souvenirs. At this stage of the day I am very glad that we didn’t settle for the 4 hour bike tour – sometimes seeing the outside of something is just not enough. Besides the highlight of today really was Qal’at al Bahrain which wasn’t on the bike tour at all. I still have the Qal’at al Bahrain Site Museum which hasn’t been crossed off my list yet but it’s too late for today. And if I’m being completely honest, I’m a little tired. My phone counts 16,204 steps in total. Time to put my feet up with a cocktail.
Good To Know
Taxi drivers in Bahrain tend to try to bargain with you and if you’re not sure how much your trip is worth – you’re likely to be taken advantage of. Be sure to insist on using the meter. Uber is a good alternative if you can arrange a data package through your provider for the day.
Would I Return?
Yes. Apart from the Qal’at al Bahrain Site Museum the A’Ali burial mounds and the Sar burial chambers sound like they are worth the effort. These are out of Manama and public transport doesn’t look likely. It might be best to book a tour or negotiate with a reputable car hire company for a driver for a day. If I was making a day of it I would add Barbar and Ad-Diraz Temple (2nd & 3rd millennium BC temples) to the list as well as the Tree of Life.
There is also the Al Fateh Grand Mosque (Manama) but check beforehand for non-Muslim visiting times.