What to do with 12 hours in Bahrain.

[gdiphil]

My mother, aged 76, is currently spending her kid's inheritance by travelling alone with Gulf Air in business class from LHR to SYD in March. Her flight is overnight LHR to Bahrain where she then has 12 hours to kill. There is of course the lounge to use, and I'm sure she will but she has wondered if she can go thru immigration and take some tourist bus/tour around the place. She arrives in Bahrain at 8am and leaves for SYD at 8pm, so she really does have a full day there. She is a very experienced traveller in many parts of the world (all part of her spending our inheritance campaign) and is mobile. Any suggestions would be welcome and gratefully received.

[Monkeytoo]

Hi gdiphil, good on your mother - shame about your inheritance though!! OK - I have lived in Bahrain, what can your Mum do for 12 hours? They do have tours but she would probably be better to arrange that through her Travel Agent before she leaves the UK (I presume it's the UK) - I have never seen tourist buses like they have in London for example. They have a large Mosque that they do guided tours through. Ummm there are a couple of shopping malls. There is the Bahrain Souk - but probably not somewhere for her to go on her own and they are likely to be closed between 1/2pm to 4pm. Not being much help but there really isn't a lot to see. On a UK passport she should just be able to go through immigration with no visa needed.
My best suggestion would be for her to get a Hotel room - get a taxi driver to take her on a bit of a tour on the way there (and rip her off with the price) and get her feet up for a bit - it's a big trip for a 76 year old - even if she is flying in Business Class!
Hope this is of some use to you.

[gdiphil]

Monkeytoo.
Brilliant, thank you very much indeed. I'll pass this on to her. She's always travelling and frankly thinks nothing of such a long trip, so I agree, good for her. Cheers.

[left_to_first_class]

Check if GF will provide Hotel accommodation for the day.
Usual rules is that if a connection is over 8hrs, the airline should provide accommodation.
As she is flying business, the even more of a case !

If she has a hotac, advise is to get some rest (the overnight flight is only 6hrs) and head for the tourist sites (2 hrs in a taxi is more than enough), before a afternoon tea at the Ritz Carlton and then back to the airport for the flight.

[eibun]

My wife and I are also about to take a 'SKI' trip to OZ - next wednesday 14th Feb in fact.

Using GF from DUB/BAH/SYD (via SIN).
Returning in April on same route will mean a 16 hours stopover in BAH.
Also travelling Business class - we will be accommodated in a 5* hotel in BAH for the 16 hour stopover duration. Thanks Gulf Air.

'Mother' should have the same Gulf Air hospitality. Just ask to be sure.
Enjoy your 'SKI' trip 'Mother'

[gulfboy]

I live and work in BAH.
Mum will be able to see the whole country in 3 to 5 hours. All that is of any interest to the tourist at least. I am guessing the local shopping malls etc are of no interest.
The easiest thing for you / her to arrange would be the following.
Call "Bahrain Limousines" on +973 17-266 266 and arrange for a car and driver for a few hours. (Not expensive! Arrange for an hourly rate (should be around BD 6 to 8) and tell them you would like to do some sightseeing. All their drivers speak English quite well and their cars are in top shape.
The driver will meet Mum at the airport or hotel.
Gulf Air should provide her with a day-room (especially if she is paying a full-fare F or J class fare). Usually this will be the "Movenpick Hotel" (lovely, new, great food and just 300 meters from the airport) or the "Gulf Hotel" (also not bad, but closer to town).
A 24-hour transit visa is issued without any fuss at the airport and may cost BD 3 to 5.I say "may" as sometimes GF pays for this.
Sights to see are -in no particular order- "Bahrain Fort" in Seef (near all the shopping malls, "Riffa Fort" -aka Shaik Salman bin Ahmed Al Fateh Fort- in Riffa (lovely, very Lawrance of Arabia), Al Jazzra Handicraft Center (where traditional arts and crafts are demonstrated) and the nearby Al Jazzra House (where the current King was born) bothe very, very close to the causeway/border to Saudi Arabia. (you can drive half way over the bridge (small toll) to the little island where the border crossing is, have your picture taken and come back to BAH).
Arad Fort, only 1 or 2 kms from the airport can also be of passing interest.
The Grand Mosque is also open to visitiors and the folks there are very kind and conduct guided tours on an on-demand base. (they will provide "suitble coverings for the ladies" and give you a free copy of the Holy Quoran in your choice of language.
The Bahrain National Museum is also interesting and cheap as chips to get into. If it is a hot (or rainy) day, it can pass an hour or 2.
The Manma Souqu (bazaar) in town at "Bab Al BAhrain" (gate of bahrain) is OK, but do not expect anything like in Cairo or Istambul. And you might want to go there with your driver. Otherwise you might get lost.
Then there is the Bahrain International Circuit where the F1 races are held and the nearby Al reen wildlike park - a bit basic, but quite cute. Definately not a priority, unless you want to see a camel.
And then of course there is the NUMBER ONE "attraction" of Bahrain, THE TREE OF LIFE, out in the desert (or shall I say gravel fields and scrap yards) near Riffa (combine with Riffa Fort, if you go). It is, well, a tree. That's it. It stands quite alone in the barren landscape, is vandalized and graffity-ed all over and usually surrounded by quite a bit of garbage. I think Bahraini boys take their dates out here to go "parking", ifyou get my drift...
Over all, a few hours should be fine for Mum. And tell her to get some rest, before the 17 1/2 hour flight to Sydney. (She can get off the plane in Singapore for about 1/2 hour the stretch her legs and buy some decent coffee...
The people here are friendly and it is a safe place. Nothing to worry about (unles George Bush decides to invade Irak, in which case we will have some trouble here....:bored: )

[gdiphil]

My thanks for all your advice. We were unaware about the hotel possibility in this instance and will enquire about it. All replies have been most helpful and very much appreciated. And gulfboy, yours is over and above the call of duty, thanks very much indeed.

[chippy63]

You also get a visa onlinecwww.evisa.gov.bh

[Regular Cappuccino]

GulfBoy - Is the Adari Pool still there? Used to be a bit 'out in the bundu' in the 1970s, but when I last looked on Google Earth it appeared to be in the middle of a housing estate.
Or the 'zoo' at Budaia? Or the burial mounds? Or have they all disappeared in the tide of development?
RC

[gulfboy]

Yep, the Burrial mounts are still there. - more or less...

Haven't heard of an "Adari pool".

A zoo in Budaya? Not that I know of. There is the "Al Areen wildlife park", BJ's and JJ's (clubs) that are deffinately zoos (lots of birds there) and any flight on any airline to Beirut, Cairo and Casablanca.;)

[surely not]

Gulfboy has given a very full account of the joys of Bahrain, though his account of the Tree of Life hardly does justice to just how underwhelming it is!!

The exhibition house at the Durrat Al Bahrain development is interesting for showing the grandiose scheme planned for this southern part of Bahrain, and it is only 90-120 mins round trip from the airport.

The Museum is supposed to be very good value, and the Grand Mosque also has a good write up.

Failing that just lounge by the pool at the Movenpick.............there isn't anything else to do at this hotel.

The Visa for a Brit to enter BAH costs 5.00 BD if GF do not pay it for you, and there is a Bureau de Change just before Immigration.

On arrival if your mother contacts the BAS Handling Agent staff at the Transfer desk they will advise and arrange any free hotel accomodation etc.

[Regular Cappuccino]

Haven't heard of an "Adari pool".

Look on Google Earth - follow the old road out of Manama towards Isa Town. Just past Jidhafs, on the left hand side is a grove of (trees?) and then a narrow lane terminating in a blue pool (at N26 11 57.76 E50 32 38.43) just north of the 'new' dual carriageway. Maybe it's not accessible now, but it used to be very popular with the locals for a swim at 'weekends'. Very quiet during the week, when you could see some very large fish swimming about in the very clear water. I'd guess it was a natural artesian well, which had been encased in concrete steps for access, but below the waterline you could see the sandstone sides very clearly.

The 'zoo' was the old 'Government Farm', which was on the right hand side (north side) of the Budaia road, just before the road fell away down the slipway. Looking at Google earth, it's changed out of all recognition since I was there, but I would guess the old zoo / farm was in the 'green' area just north of the large roundabout very near the end of the current dual carriageway.
Think I picked out our old house a bit north east of there though - used to be right on the beach - not any more!
Thanks for the quick nostalgia trip.:)
RC

[gdiphil]

Thank you all again for your help. My mother found the hotel with the help of the transfer desk and had a very nice day in Bahrain. After a business class trip to Las Vegas over Christmas and now this business class trip to Oz and back she has assured me that she will never travel "cattle class" as she puts it, ever again. So, there goes her kid's inheritance alright.
You may be interested to know she travelled to Las Vegas with Maxjet and was impressed with the seating, service and help given by the staff. She travelled with Gulf Air to Sydney, (and of course will return with them in a months time), and she is over the moon with the quality of business class with that airline.
One word of warning to you all however. She says on the Bahrain - Singapore sector there was a young man seated next to her who started snoring. It would appear he was poked and woken by her and told in no uncertain terms she had not paid £1742 to listen to him snoring. She leaves SYD on the 28th March. You have been warned!

[Gravox]

I was a kid in Bahrain in the 80s, and remember the Budaia zoo. They had a camel that would drink fanta from the bottle. The tree off life always amazed me, and the Jebel was always a great hill to climb and hide in its many caves. Is the jebel still accessable? Will have to jump on google earth for a trip down nostalga lane.

Couldn't mum do the Dhow trip out to one of the islands? Can't remember the name, but suppose she'll miss the boat if she arrives in at 8am.

[gulfboy]

Hey, gdiphil,

"private message" me Mum's name.
I'll see who is on the crew and we may be able to give her some TLC...