TBK Travels- My staycations in Bahrain - Part one - Ramadan 2020

Back in 2020 the world was hit by a pandemic, COV 19. Bahrain, where I live, acted very fast and won praise from the World Health Organisation. The Airport and Saudi Causeway were closed, schools, cinemas and gyms shut. Non essential shops were shut, opened and shut again over a three month period . So there was only one option for my two planned vacations in Ramadan and Eid 2020- say at home. But for a change of scenery I found two very cheap hotels and stayed there instead and set about exploring Bahrain all over again!

My home for a week, Ramada  Bahrain

The first day of my vacation was the start of the Holy Month of Ramadan when the followers of Islam fast from sunrise to sunset, which is marked by a cannon. I arrived in my hotel, the Ramada by Wyndham in Adilya on the Thursday night after work. 

There are three signs a hotel is empty, from my long experience in the industry.

First they offer low rates and upgrade  your room! So I had a Suite for 7 nights for two people Bed and Breakfast for 136 bd (that's 290 GBP or $359 or 18,263 Philippine peso). That's cheap for Bahrain , although my anak ( daughter) in Palawan pointed out I pay that for 9 months accommodation in a boarding house while she is at Palawan State University!

Sign two is there are only 3 cars in the car park and one of those is the hotel car!

Sign three is when you walk into reception they say, "ahh you must be Mr. Porter!"

My plant

Having dumped my suitcase I walked to Singapore Florists to meet my friend Lee and buy a plant to make my hotel suite look a little more "Lived in!". We then walked to a nearby Lebanese restaurant and collected a take away mixed grill ( 6 bd for two people) . We walked back to the hotel where we ate and chatted until Lee got a call to go and meet some friends of his, and I retired to bed exhausted at 8 pm after a busy week at work running 7 on line ILM sessions. 

Walking around Gudabiya Palace

The bedroom was really quite ( no kids playing football and shouting outside like in Awali) , the bed was comfortable and I slept soundly until 4 am when I unpacked and chatted to my friends in the Philippines on line. At 7 am I headed out for a walk around Gudabiya Palace which is opposite the hotel, taking photos as I went,  of the Place and the Grand Mosque behind it.

 

The Grand Mosque, Juffair

The whole walk took an hour and when I got back at 8 am Room service delivered two cooked breakfasts! I had booked the room for two people and the rate included breakfast! I ate one and at 9 am drove to Al Ali to collect my houseboy Jake. He ate the second breakfast and then we walked around the restaurant district in Adilya, Block 338. 

The British Kubayan in Adilya, Bahrain

Being Ramada, and with the COV 19 regulations it was deserted and we got some more great photos before returning at 2 pm for lunch in the suite ( Greek Salad for me and Tuna Salad for Jake with two Perrier waters). There are three great advantages to staying in a hotel in Ramadan- 24 hr. room service, no cooking and no washing up!

Jake  in Adilya

At 3 pm my adopted brother in Bahrain, Kuya Coco, turned up with a wonderful Fruit sponge cake. Chef Coco told me his restaurant had closed due to COV19 and Ramadan and he was bored and penniless at home so I paid him to make a cake for my guests. It was Sarap ( delicious!) 

Kuya Coco

Chef Coco's Cake

In the afternoon Jake , Coco and I watched videos and listened to my favourite choir , PS22 Chorus . We worked as team and cut up various snippets from the newspapers and magazines I had saved in 2019 showing life in Bahrain. We then stuck them in my scrapbooks together with photos, birthday cards, air tickets and receipts. I now have 134 scrapbooks covering my 10 years here and one day will share them with my grandchildren in the Philippines!

At 5 pm Coco had to go and so Jake and I drove to the Avenues mall where it had been advertised you could watch the Ramadan canon at sunset. I knew from Anis the mall was closed but they also shut the car park so we could not get in. Instead we headed south to Riffa Fort and eventually found the cannon and got some great pics, as did all the Bahraini families who came to see this great Tradition. They use 3 cannons at 3 locations across Bahrain ( Arad Fort in the north, Avenues in the capital, Manama and Riffa fort in the south) so that everyone can hear the cannon and can start eating and drinking water after not doing so since sunrise.

Just before the Cannon went

When the cannon went , it was so loud , and the three Mosques started the call to prayer at the same time behind us that I jumped, like all the other people watching, and blurred the photo I had waited so long to take. Luckily a local newspaper ( Gulf Daily News) was there and I later saw the video of me and the cannon on line! FAME at last!

I took Jake home and collected a take away from one of my favourite Restaurants, Café Dome and headed back to the hotel to eat alone and then crashed out in bed at 8 pm.

I will tell you about the rest of my stay-cation and life in Ramadan and my life in the Middle East in my next Blog!

Until then this is the British Kubayan signing out!