Outside Bahrain's magnificent Grand Mosque we pass the sign advertising Guided tours, and check we comply with the clothing requirements ( long sleeve shirt and long trousers and mask ) and proceed to the visitor's entrance to find this sign:
I was immediately reminded of a popular saying I learnt in the UK:
“
”As he told Hill, he was
simply following the “Eight ‘P’s,” a mnemonic that had been drummed into them
in the military: “Proper prior planning and preparation prevents piss-poor
performance.” The Real Heroes Are Dead Article from The New Yorker.”
James B.
Stewart
Source: https://nichequotes.com/piss-poor-planning-quotes (
accessed 12.11.21)
Not deterred we headed south from Juffair to East Ekker to
pay my car rental- but, even though they had washed my car at 7 am and taken it
to the Traffic Directorate, the office was closed until Saturday!
By then we were hungry so we headed to Pizza Hutt on the way to
the BIC - my how that area has been developed since I last visited! My friend
Francis used to work at Costa Coffee there and I used to visit when there was
only Costa Coffee and Fuddruckers. Now there are all types of restaurants and
most are drive thru and open 24/7 . There was a group of boys from Riffa Views
International school just leaving as we arrived so we took their seats and had
the meal deal for 2 for 6 bd ( 12 GBP/ 797.40
Philippine Peso) which was excellent. There was more than we could eat!
Bernie Ecclestone, former F1 chief and the Crown Prince
Next stop was the Bahrain International Circuit, the home of
Motorsport in the Middle East, just not on Thursday as it too was closed. By
way of consolation I managed to persuade the man on the gate to let us into
the International Karting circuit next door. I gave my
friend a guided tour of the deserted building and explained who all
the famous people were in the pictures and told him stories of when I
used to take my friends Salman, Nini and Adam Karting there annually as their
birthday treat.
Some of the karts at the
Bahrain International Karting circuit
I also told him how the son of a friend's boss is one of Bahrain's
young Karting stars:
"The quartet
of Fahad Alkhaled, Fahad Almuqla, Shaikh Rashid bin Salman Al Khalifa and Luca
Houghton all emerged triumphant for the second consecutive round in the 2021
Bahrain Rotax Max Challenge (BRMC), held as part of this year’s Bahrain Karting
Sprint Championship (BKSC) at Bahrain International Circuit (BIC) in
Sakhir."
Source: https://www.bahraingp.com/blog/news/repeat-winners-emerge-in-bahrain-rotax-max-karting-sprints-at-bikc/ (
accessed 12.11.21)
Next stop was a brand new site that was only
opened last week with it's inaugural concert- The Al Dana Amphitheatre. This
amazing 10,000 seat venue, just behind the BIC , is part of several
developments in the Sakhir dessert.
Source : https://www.aldana.com.bh/our-story (
accessed 12.11.21)
According to their PR People :
"Carved from the rock of the spectacular
Sahkir desert, Al Dana Amphitheatre is Bahrain’s newest and most
exciting
live entertainment destination. Driven by a vision to create globally
recognized entertainment experiences
in the Kingdom of Bahrain, our extraordinary venue merges the desert landscape
with state-of-the-art technology.
A place where imagination comes to life, we offer four dynamic event spaces -
the breath-taking open-air Amphitheatre,
the extraordinary Quarry Lounge, the refreshing Desert Garden and the spacious
open-air Plaza. Catering for everything
from iconic star-studded concerts to special indoor celebrations, we seek to
ignite the imaginations of guests and
artists alike, creating magical and unforgettable moments in a one-of-a-kind
setting."
Recently at a Braai ( South African BBQ) I was telling the tragic story of the Al Dana, after which the Amphitheatre is named:
"The al-Dana was a motorised Arabic dhow or passenger ferry. It was sailing off Manama, Bahrain, when it capsized in the Persian Gulf on March 30, 2006. As of March 31, 67 out of the 150 people on board had been rescued, and 58 have been confirmed dead. Around 40 more are missing. The confirmed dead include 17 Indians and 12 Britons. Most of the passengers were foreigners from the Nass-Murray & Roberts joint venture construction company who were celebrating completion of part of the Bahrain World Trade Centre towers. Ten of the dead were employed by the South African construction company Murray & Roberts Limited; four of these were South African employees, two were Indian, one was from Pakistan and another was a South African partner. SABC has reported that a sixth South African died in the tragedy.
Bahrain's coastguard service was involved in an immediate rescue operation, reaching minutes after the disaster. The United States Navy's Fifth Fleet helped with the rescue effort with divers and small naval craft."
Source : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Dana_(vessel) ( accessed 12.11.21)
I will not go into the investigation into the tragedy in detail here but the Captain and the owners were prosecuted for Manslaughter for not keeping proper watch and drinking on duty and a local newspaper , The Gulf Daily News reported that the vessel was licensed as a floating restaurant and that it was supposed to remain berthed at the quay.
It was Bahrain's worst ever maritime disaster and the court case took a long time to come and then to reach its verdict ( several years after the tragedy). It only took place one mile off the coast of Bahrain as reported by BBC News:
The Al Dana Tragedy ( accessed 12.11.21)
The American Navy and Bahrain Coastguard at the scene of the tragedy in 2006
I hope that everyone that visits the Al Dana Amphitheatre will remember those that died that fateful night on the Al Dana:
CONFIRMED DEAD
17 Indians
12 Britons
4 South Africans
4 Singaporeans
3 Pakistanis
3 Filipinos
1 Irish
1 German
11 others
I am sure you have already guessed it but the Al Dana Amphitheatre was closed! Next we headed to the beach- after all Bahrain is on the green level for COV 19 which means everything is open to everyone .
WRONG!!!
This beach was one of three beaches open to the public when I arrived in Bahrain in 2010 but became abused by those that used it as this 2018 Trip advisor review explains:
I3493BMbrianp
Manama, Bahrain
Filthy Beach
Reviewed July 31, 2019Absolutely filthy place!
Public beach in need of some serious TLC! This, amongst so many other public places in Bahrain just baffle me. The public flocks to it to enjoy their time, then trash it for the next person.
Glass, plastic, left over food, left over BBQ, dirty nappies, food wrappers and containers etc strewn all over the place.
Packed at the weekends with families and huge groups of young men having fun, playing football, cricket and unwinding. No lifeguards on duty, jet skis racing very close to swimmers (I've called the police for this before) and I'm surprised that there have been no deaths due to this.
The water level is very shallow and you can walk for ages before it even reaches your knees but has a very steep drop off further out which could maybe catch you off guard if you go that far.
Brilliant place for sunset photography but I would not suggest you walk on the beach unless you have shoes on as lots of broken glass and rubbish strewn about.
For an Island Bahrain should be ashamed at the lack of clean public beaches. Why is littering is so common here, everywhere you go people are chucking stuff out of their car windows, food wrappers dropped at their feet, park the dar and throw your tissues out of the window etc?
Date of experience: October 2018
They eventually closed the beach, cleaned it, added new toilets and shower rooms and cafes and footpaths, a life guard and then mysteriously a security guard and a barrier appeared and they started charging 2 bd a person. I find that incredible that here in Bahrain we live on an island and we have to pay to use the beach at Aljazayer Marisai and Water Garden city. The hotel beach clubs are also ludicrously expensive ( around 500 bd a year at the Sofitel, Ritz Carlton and Four Seasons for example) . There are now only three public beaches that are free to the public- Bussatein, Seef ( Karbabad) and Malkiya . When I say beach I do not mean beaches like I am moving two in Palawan where we have a 14 km white sand beach:
The 14 km white sand beach at St Vicente on Palawan - my new home
This is the brochure for the new development at what will be called Bilal Aljazayer by Edamah :
However , yes you guessed it, on the day of our visit the security guard told us it was closed - "Come back on 17th November". Somehow I think their grand plans in the brochure will take a little longer- I also think that's another beach to take off my tour of free places to go in Bahrain!
An artist's impression of what the beach at Aljazayer may look like one day!
Just past Aljazayer the road has been given a make over and suddenly becomes a 4 lane highway with adjoining cycle track and jogging track. For those that know the area this is very weird as the old two lane road just went to a run down hotel and royal palaces, the falcon hospital and a few other places and was very quiet. It still never ceases to amaze me in Bahrain how they have some very congested stretches of road like outside my apartment from Juffair to Hidd and Asry, and at Al Fateh Mosque . Then you stumble across a deserted for lane highway in the middle of nowhere like on the way to Durat Al Bahrain or along the coast past Aljazayer beach.
Another thing about Bahrain is the lack of publicity - the only way we found out about the Al Dana Amphitheatre was by seeing signs to it all over Bahrain ! Likewise on this new road there are signs to " Jumeirah Gulf of Bahrain Hotel" so we followed the road for many kilometers hoping to be among the first to see the new hotel and have a much needed cup pf tea after our grand tour of Bahrain !
At the end of the road, having passed many signs to the new hotel, we found a building site! Back home we did some research and found that:
"Dubai hotel group Jumeirah is set to manage a five-star resort on Bahrain’s southwest coast after signing a deal with Al Sahel Resorts.
The hotel project is part of the first phase of the Al Sahel development along a 1.25km stretch of coastline.
Al Sahel said the resort would feature 207 hotel rooms and villas, restaurants, water features and sports, a cinema, teen and kid’s rooms, meeting and conference spaces and a gym and spa.
“The unique location, as well as high degree of privacy, enable us to serve regional audiences looking for exclusivity. Being the first of its kind in Bahrain, coupled with the high quality and variety of services and amenities on offer, it will allow us to capture the ‘longer-stay’ segment of visitors.” said Khalid Al Rumaihi, chairman of Al Sahel Resorts.
The wider Al Sahel development is set to include a mixture of leisure, retail, entertainment and dining options. The first phase is scheduled for completion within two years."
Source: https://gulfbusiness.com/dubais-jumeirah-manage-bahrain-hotel-resort/
( accessed 12.11.21)
In case you did not know Bahrain, like Dubai, is trying to reduce its reliance on Oil and Gas ( currently about 85%) by increasing tourism ( currently about 40%, with 35% annual occupancy and 85% of Bahrain's tourists coming from Saudi Arabia) . However whereas Dubai has world leading tourist attractions like Expo 2020 ( 3 million visitors in the first 5 weeks) , Miracle Gardens, Global village, the biggest wheel in the world at Ain Dubai etc. Bahrain's strategy seems to revolve around building new hotels and hoping people turn up.
"Bahrain is expecting 15 new four- and five-star hotels and resort opening over the next two years."
As a great Orator once said about the Bapco bus stops:
" They built Vagas and the people came"
The reality is the opposite in Bahrain. They built hotels and restaurants and malls and no one came so they closed. On our tour we called in to Seef Mall Muhurraq to get my other laptop repaired for the second time under warranty at Sharaf DG. At least half the stores were closed and restaurants such as TGI Friday's ( which I have complained about so many times) has closed down. It's the same in City Centre Mall and Thai Mart - the more new malls they open like Mall of Dilmunia, Marisai Galleria and Souq etc. the more stores shut as the customers move elsewhere. On Wednesday night we visited Mall of Dilmunia and found the same sign over and over:
We even went up to the third floor where they advertised a "Food court" to be told by the security guard , once we walked all the way there, that it was closed! The good news was that the ice skating ring was now open and the climbing walls etc. . However to have a major mall where the only food outlets are ones selling popcorn and tea is disgraceful.
I did laugh at their huge display screen in the roof when this appeared:
To be honest it would be great to have a shopping experience where all the outlets are open, food is available and there are customers!
Next stop on our tour after the abortive trip to the new Jumeirah Gulf of Bahrain Hotel was to one of the few hotels in Bahrain to survive, despite constant change of operator , over my 11 years in Bahrain. It started life as the Banyan tree hotel and was very popular in spite of it's distance from the capital Manama. However the service was appalling and eventually Franchisor Banyan tree removed their name from the property and it became the Al Areen Palace and spa. the service remained as bad ( I have walked out several times when taking friends and family there ) and they teamed up with my former employers Accor ( operators of the Sofitel, Mercure and Ibis Brands in Bahrain) to form the Al Areen Palace & Spa by Accor (https://alareenpalace.bh-bahrain.com/) ( accessed 12.11.21)
To quote from their website:
"located across 131,000 square metres along bahrain's largest water park, the dalmon lost paradise water park and the bahrain international formula 1 circuit, guests can enjoy views from the picturesque outdoor pool and tranquility in the indoor pool. guests can also enjoy free wi-fi throughout the property.
featuring 78 luxuriously equipped villas including 22 two-bedroom royal villas, 18 one-bedroom family villas and 38 one-bedroom desert villas, each includes a private swimming pool and a heated outdoor pool, as well as modern entertainment facilities including a high definition led tv, boss sound systems and cd and dvd players.
offering an award-winning spa, spread over 10,000 square metres, the lair also features the largest traditional swimming pool with a garden and hydrotherapy garden, as well as a wellness and health centre, offering a full body wellness program, including 16 suites including 12 deluxe suites, 4 royal spa suites, a lively swimming pool, an ice hut and a foot spa. the resort also offers state-of-the-art relaxation and sports facilities, as well as a children's club, 2 tennis courts, an squash court and indoor and outdoor pools." ( sic)
Having driven to the hotel past the Al Areen wildlife park ( either closed or the animals were asleep) , the failed Al Areen development ( still not complete after 10 years, like Marina West) , we finally reached the Al Areen hotel to find.... guess what?
Yes, it was closed for redevelopment , and will reopen one day as a Raffles hotel ( one of the most iconic hotel brands in the world- I hope they do some staff training first). When we asked if we could go to the lounge for tea a staff member offered us a take away cup of tea, which we politely declined!
The iconic Raffles in Singapore which I visited for Afternoon tea and the legendary Singapore Sling in the way to Australia in 2010
Once I got home I did some research into the new Raffles and found more PR speak:
"The debut Raffles hotel in the Kingdom of Bahrain is a monumental transformation of the current Al Areen Palace and Spa by Accor into Raffles Al Areen Palace. The property is slated for a soft opening this summer. "
( accessed 12.11.21)
An artists impression of the new Raffles Al Areen Bahrain
Seems like they missed their soft opening as we are now mid November and the place is covered with scaffolding with the security guard turning potential guests away. Why don't the PR people give the guards brochures and a voucher to come back to the new property and get a free beverage or 10 % off a meal. This is what we did in the restaurant chain I worked for whenever we refurbished a property back in 1986!
On the way back we passed the Gravity Village and Carl asked to visit the so we made a quick detour for him to take more photos, but it was closed and we were asked to leave by a security guard!
After visiting the beach and failing, and trying to get a cup of tea in two of Bahrain's finest hotels, and failing, we headed back to Awali and old favourite Esquires where we had tea in the outdoor seating area next to the beautiful Princess Sabeeka Park. They had a new ice cream sundae on offer so I tried that along with a cup of Earl Grey Tea and read the paper while Carl took photos!
Refreshed we headed north and west to Budaiyah beach and on the Budaiyah Highway we saw a sign to the Barbar temple and so we visited to find the place deserted and a lone security guard on the gate. Fearing the worst I sent Carl to ask him if we could go in and he said YES!
It is a long time since I visited the Barbar temple but little has changed- they have a visitor centre with the history of the site in English and Arabic and some old photos and then a path to take you around the excavations.
After a long day touring Bahrain, most of which appeared to be closed, we headed for the sun set at Budaiyah beach, which was crowded and very definitely open. The kids were roller skating, riding bikes, playing football and a large group was practicing their marching drills for some event. We strolled up and down, watched the jet ski's and I took some great photos of the sun setting.
We ended our tour having dinner at old favourite Lanterns on Amwaj Island and when we chatted to the Manager he was explaining that they are now only busy at the weekends when the Saudi' s arrive, and that Lanterns had closed their restaurant at Riffa Palms due to a lack of customers. He explained that when Cov19 came and the restaurants were closed as part of the lockdown customers switched to eating at home ( with the help of the food delivery companies like Talibat) and to the proliferation of food trucks around Bahrain ( Bussatein, Al Najma, Seef etc. ) and have never returned to the restaurants. I have seen so many restaurants close down in my time in Bahrain like Plaza food hall, Lanterns, Mooyah, Cocoa Lounge, Lilou, Sultan of Meat and others at RWU Corner, Elevation Burger, Gusto, Hong Kong at Riffa Palms and so on.
Our meal at Lanterns Amwaj- Chicken Tikka Masala, Garlic Naan , Paratha, Raita and Lemon Mint
I was telling one of my Bahraini Delegates that when I arrived in Bahrain in 2010 I bought a book called " 101 things to do in Bahrain" and he laughed and said " Are there that many?" . Actually as you have seen in this series of Blogs there are more, with new ones opening all the time. You just have to hunt them out.
On our tour I was telling Carl after being turned away from yet another building site that after my brother's visit to Bahrain in 2010 I asked him what he thought of Bahrain. He said:
"It will be nice when it's finished"
I responded:
"That's the problem , Richard, it never will be"
11 years on how right I was!
However the more they build the more places we have to visit and we already have a long list for next week ....
Until then this is The British Kabayan signing out wishing you :
Ingat Palagi- stay safe
Kita Kits- see you soon
and do not forget it you would like to go on one of Neil's tours of Bahrain just let me know....
Hello, I am The British Kabayan! Feel free to read my stories.
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