I’m watching Bahrain from a plane, a tiny island country. You get a visa at the door when you enter the country during passport control. Visa fee is about $15. They definitely want to see your return ticket at passport control.
Taxis are waiting at the exit.. There are obligations to open a taximeter. It says 12$ until our hotel. We rented a residence flat in Bahrain for 3 nights.. Landmark Suites, 55 Euros per night. It has a large living room, bedroom, kitchen and bathroom.. On the top floor of the Residence, there is a pool, a sports club and a spa center.
The first thing to do is to look at the city from above, to match what we see with the map we have and to go to the rooftop pool to draw our route.. While enjoying the view here, it draws our attention that there is a pool on all the roofs.. This is an island country.. We couldn’t understand why there is a pool on every roof when there is a beautiful sea.. But we realized later that the sea is not in a condition to enter due to the ongoing construction works in the city and the works to fill the sea with construction wastes and expand the surface area.. Now I understand why the surface area differs in every source I look before I go.
But now we’ve come to an island, can’t we swim? We immediately go down to the lobby and get some tips.. The Ritz-Carlton and Novotel had beach clubs. We ask the price of the Ritz-Carlton by phone. Only the entrance fee to the beach is around 150 TL per person.. We didn’t even think about going because it was too high.
We rent a car for 3 days by going to the nearest rent-a-car.. Toyota brand and we pay only 60$ for 3 days. We decide to tour the country by car.
The National Museum is the place where you can see the treasures of Bahrain, which has been the cradle of different cultures.. The other museum is the Muharraq Museum, which consists of a one-story building containing archaeological remains.. In the manuscript section here there are many ancient copies of the Quran written in Arabic calligraphy. Seals from the Dilmun period are also worth seeing.
When we return to the city, we visit the La Fontaine Art Center in the Hoora district, which has spas, galleries and luxury restaurants.. Then we go to a shopping mall to spend the evening, as all the people do.
“Seef Mall” is about 7-8 minutes from the city center.. It catches your eye when you go straight through the cornice.. It has a total of 250 luxury stores.. There is A’ila Shopping Center right next to it.. This place is a little more authentic. We meet a 35-year-old man from Gaza in a bookstore. He came here during the war. But he doesn’t like Bahrain very much.. We couldn’t swim in the sea, it’s stuck with us, we ask him if there is a place he knows.. Since we told you beforehand that we came from Turkey, he makes a gesture with his hand as if to say, “Are you crazy, can you swim here when there is Bodrum or Antalya?”. As we can see, he is right.. We say what else can we do, “nothing, just shopping.. “This is an artificial city,” he says.. But he loves Turks very much.. He even gave me a donut, as they say, “Surma” as a gift when he took our books and left.. When I sit in the cafe and look around, it draws my attention to how cosmopolitan it is, even though it is a Muslim country.. People from many parts of the world work here. But the difference from Qatar is that Bahrainis also work here.. It is said to be the most modern among the Middle Eastern countries, but if you ask me, it has already relinquished its crown to Qatar and Dubai.. However, among the Arab countries, the most educated people live in Bahrain.. Since education is compulsory and free, the literacy rate is 85%.. Although the official language is Arabic, everyone knows English, the main language of trade.. They even speak English among themselves.
The most important national newspaper is Al-Ayam, and the English newspaper The Gulf Daily News.. It is very easy to find not only publications in English, but also newspapers and magazines published in French and German.. Even in the hands of Arabs, it is often possible to see newspapers in English.
Another important shopping center is the “City Center”.. When I suddenly see this, I say, “Good thing we rented a car.. Otherwise, if we took a taxi again, when we said we want to go to the city center, he would bring us here again.” Also, parking lots in all shopping centers are free.
