When I finished work in Bahrain in 2011 I was given a variety of gifts by my colleagues- a watch, photographs, a toy mobile phone and money to by my vlogging equipment. The photos , by Gaye Bentham, I had framed and they hang in my kitchen in Palawan. The one above is amongst them and when I looked at it the other day I remembered my many friends who visited me in my 11 years in Bahrain and who I took to many of the places in the photos. Then I thought, that will make a good blog in my series called....
Jeboy, who was working in Kuwait back in 2013 , was one of my first visitors in Bahrain and we went to many of Bahrain's Forts and restaurants.
Jeboy smiling as he climbs back from the cellars at Bahrain Fort- I wonder if Carl Max smiles when he sees this picture as he wanted to go down to the cellar too.
One of my other favourite places to take people was the Pearling Trail in Muhrraq which had many historic buildings and in the collection of pictures Miss Andrea gave me was one of Sheikh Isa House. I visited here several times, once on a photo walk with Adam and we met up with Gaye taking photos there for her cards and calendars and prints. One of my other favourite buildings on the walk was the one below , where we paused out of the hot sun for a photo ( by Jeyboy) when Jay , I and Jeboy did the pearling trail.
Jay and I on the pearling trail in 2013- sadly I do not have many photos left of him since he died a few years ago.
Another place I loved to visit to get a good slice of the history of Bahrain was the National Museum. One of the halls had the story of Bahraini family life from the teacher in the school ( Thang was scared of the cane when I took him there) to marriage and birth, another had a pearling ship and a third area had an old Burial Mound sliced open for all to see.
Thang at the National Museum , seeing how kids were disciplined in Bahrain
Before anyone says " Did you only have male visitors?" my friend Jane Frost visited twice , in 2010 and 2012. Jane took many photos of me and some I had enlarged and framed. This one is still on my wall here in Palawan taken in 2010 on one of the rare occasions we found La Fontaine, supposedly Bahrain's most romantic restaurant. I was a lot younger and slimmer then and when people see it now they usually say " Is that you?"
TBK at La Fontaine, Bahrain in 2010 by Jane Frost
Jane and I went to Al Dar Island and the Pottery in Al Ali and she took a picture of me making a small pot which I still have today along with one of two pottery lanterns which I still have on my doorstep ( a cat accidentally broke the other one in Bahrain)
TBK at Al Ali Pottery in 2012
Looking back now through my visitors photos I can also see the development of my garden and compost in Awali over my 11 years there. The one below, by Jane, shows the early days of the compost in 2012- it ended up being three times that size. No, I still have not started my compost here in Puerto! I discussed my plans with the landlord one day and he was very negative ("We tried that before and it did not work")
The Awali Compost in 2012
Another visitor to Bahrain was Pav ( Now in Canada, then in Dubai) who went to college in the UK with a lady from Bahrain.
Not sure where this is!
This was definitely my garden in 2015
2015 was also the second time my brother , Richard, visited Bahrain for my 55th Birthday which we celebrated at the Sofitel with our Chauffeur, Steve Lever, who took this rare photo of the two of us together, drinking Champagne.
I will never forget as the violinist and singer approached to play Happy Birthday my brother threatened to walk out! In the end he stayed!
Back in 2012 when he visited there was a boat show on
We also completed a part of the Pearling trail before me getting lost and the heat made us decide to abandon the walk and get a cold drink and food. We did make it to the hanging garden which always amazed me in the heat and sand of Bahrain how anything could grow so green and up a wall!
Richard took this picture at Sheikh Isa House and the windows later appeared in a Bapco Calendar!
He enjoyed wandering the old streets around the Souq and taking photos- this is another of my favourites:
Finally Phil and Di came to stay in 2016. They were going to return in 2020 for my 60th Birthday and my farewell to Bahrain but that got messed up by COV 19 , British airways and my hip replacement. We did all the touristy things, like the Pearling trail, and stayed overnight on Al Dar Island , and so on . These are my favourite pictures of Phil's and , of course, there is a story behind every one!
We were just starting out on the Pearling Trail and visited Bahrain's oldest Coffee house. Phil asked if it was ok to take this guys photo and he was happy . Phil asked to pay for his coffee only to find out he had already paid for his coffee and our drinks- Bahraini Hospitality at it's best!
When my brother left Bahrain the first time I asked what he thought of it and he said:
"It will be nice when it's finished"
Bahrain was constantly being enlarged with reclaimed land and with new tower blocks being built and so I liked this one of Phil's with all the cranes as the sun sets.
Back then they had a restaurant at the top of a tower in a park opposite the capital Manama skyline- and so we went there for coffee to get some photos as the sun went down- Phil got this great shot of the old fashioned fishing boat ( Dhow) coming home!
Finally on Al Dar ( a small Island about 15 minutes by boat from Sitra Fishermen's port) Phil took this lovely shot of his wife , Di.
A lot of people go from Bahrain and Saudi to Al Dar for the day or overnight. It's fun to go on the boat, sometimes you see Dolphins, you can fish, they have a restaurant and Bar. If you stay overnight you get great sunset shots and sunrise in the morning. However when it's fully day light you realise you are not in the Maldives but just opposite the T head where they load the Oil Tankers with the Petrol that the company I worked for , Bapco, produced at its refinery- which you can also see!
I hope you have enjoyed my walk down memory lane with all my visitors photos and as usual, if you want me to remember anywhere else let me know
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