A weekend in Bahrain

When it comes to things to do for 3 days in Bahrain, most people’s lists begin and end at Dubai, because they don’t even have a clue about Bahrain or where it is on the global map.

I, for one, was eager to visit this 33-island archipelago in the Middle East, fondly described as the “pearl of the Gulf,” for its exquisite pearls.

I can’t quite place a finger on how I ended up having Bahrain on my must visit destination this year.

In fact, while I wouldn’t go so far as to say that visiting Bahrain was an afterthought, it most probably had to do with the fact that Bahrain is one of those countries that Kenyans passport holders can apply for a visa online if they have a B1/B2 US tourist visit visa.

But I’m glad that I visited Bahrain over a long weekend.

Best decision ever!

In a bit, I’ll share with you some of the Bahrain attractions, my 3 day Bahrain itinerary that made me feel this way, and also generally love on this country that I am now totally convinced is the most underrated party destination on this planet.

3 Days in Bahrain

As a firm believer in the adage that you either go big or go roam, I always knew that I’d slide into my 40s in style.

So aside from hosting my own 40th birthday in a memorable way, I gave myself a goal of visiting at least one international destination every month of my 40th birthday year.

That’s partly how my sister Eddy and I found ourselves in Bahrain in October.

We flew Oman Air from Nairobi to Manama via Muscat. Muscat International Airport really impressed me. It’s pretty huge and very modern as well.

I am so looking forward to visiting Muscat one of these fine days and it just made its way to my 2020 bucketlist 🙂

This is the first time in my entire flying history (20+ years) anyone ever served me chapati on a flight.

And might I add that it was soo soft and yummy 🙂 Unfortunately I didn’t take any pictures coz I was too busy enjoying it.

Other than one of the flight attendants who was super rude, it was a pretty great flight- until we started our descent into Manama, and I developed a situation commonly known as airplane ear aka ear barotrauma, barotitis media or aerotitis media.

Essentially, this is the ‘blockage’ you experience in your ears due to the stress that occurs on  your eardrum  when the air pressure in your middle ear and the air pressure in the environment are out of balance. More on that later 🙁

We left Nairobi a little after midnight and touched down in Manama at about 8:30 am on a Friday morning.

For a smooth experience at immigration, make sure you have your hotel details handy, some money and credit cards to show the immigration officer.

Took us about an hour to clear through immigration as we didn’t have the our exact location address – a village mate was coming to pick us up so we slacked a bit on this – lol 🙂

Thanks Victor for saving our a**es … Lol 🙂

So, as we were just about to leave Nairobi, we got an e-mail from Egypt Air that our flight back from Manama to Nairobi was cancelled and that we needed to contact the airline for re-scheduling.

As we didn’t have too much time to do anything by the time we got this information, we decided to sort the situation once we arrived Manama.

Anyhow, so we cleared immigration and headed straight for the Egypt Air counter at the airport. Unfortunately, we were to learn that the counters wouldn’t be opening any time before 5pm ish when the next flight would be leaving.

The kind gentleman we were referred to at some tour agency at the airport advised us that no use coming back to the airport but should instead just visit the Egypt Air offices in town the following day.

Anyhow, by now we were kinda hungry so we left the airport and head straight to Caribou Coffee for brunch. I ordered toasted bread, an spanish omelette, hash brownies, and green tea.

It was delish 🙂

By the way, brunch is such a big deal here in Bahrain so make sure to go for at least one while you’re here.

By now my ear was literally killing me and so we headed straight to our accommodation so we could get me some first aid. Unfortunately the chemist next to our hood for the next 3 days advised that there would be no need for medication and that I just keep chewing and my Eustachian tubes would eventually open on their own.

1. Contrary to the norm for most Muslim countries, Bahrain is very modern with a very open culture.
2. If your idea of a fun weekend away is parte after parte after parte, sleek cars, and bad boys, Manama is the place to be. As in the whole of Saudia (I’m exaggerating a little) literally hits King Fahd Causeway because most countries in the Middle East forbid alcohol but here they can booze until the cows come home. As in they party so hard until they’re unable to settle their bills. Bumping on someone trying to sell you their phone for near free is not unheard of. You will find all types of entertainment in most clubs on the island, including live music performances by trendy bands from all over the world. Just show up in Al Juffair Thursday through Saturday and you will be spoilt for choice.
3. Oil and US military basically run Bahrain. The US has a military base in Bahrain. There’s also several Naval forces deployed in the Persian Gulf. On a good weekend, they’ll have been granted “permission” to leave the ship. The weekend I was visiting was one of those. Let’s just say it was like spring break on steroids, if you know what I mean.
4. Bahrain in my opinion is one of the most underrated party destinations. If I was to have a destination hen’s party or bachelor’s party, I’d consider this island.
5. Bahrain is also great for history buffs. Lot’s of heritage to be explored in this island.
6. Visit Malabar Diamonds building if gold is your kind of thing
7. Bahrain is very hot. So nothing much happens during the day. So please get an accommodation with a pool. Especially with a view. You will need it.
8. If traveling solo, tripod is bae as always.
9. If you’re traveling on a Kenyan passport and have either a valid US, UK, or Schengen visa, you can apply for your Bahrain trourist visa online. It cost me 29 Bahraini Dinar (about KES 8,400) and I received my visa on e-mail in about 3 days.They will send it to your on e-mail. Most airline crew have no idea this is even an option, so be prepared ku sumbuliwa hapo kwa second security clearance inside JKIA at the boarding gates. It took me like eternity trying to convince them that a Bahrain e-visa is even a thing.
10. Other non-parte attractions I visited on the island:
    1. The Avenues mall
    2. The tree of life — nothing much to see here. Just a pic for the gram really
    3. Al Dar Island. Got here very late in the evening so just had a dinner, lounged at the beach and returned to the main land.
    4. Al Fateh Grand Mosque – it’s really beautiful. Make sure to do the free tour and Quran lesson. You will learn a lot.