Bahrain Bits and Bobs
Some musings…
Bahrain is a beautiful city and the people are friendly and very accomodating of tourists who don’t know what they are doing i.e. us! I want to jot down some observations that I have had so far!
Taxi’s – very expensive. every time we walk out the door it costs us $50 to go anywhere and back. There is one thing I have noticed… the taxis are all metered but the drivers are keen to not use the meter ( for obvious reasons). Also, the taxi drivers double up as Uber drivers, there are no dedicated Uber drivers. Bahrain has no public transport and no pavements to walk on! Being a pedestrian is actively discouraged. The thing I have observed is that this has a huge influence on the driving of the driver:
With meter – the driver drives like a bat out of hell, horn blowing every two seconds , weaving and lane changing all over the place, gesticulating and shouting at other drivers, accelerating to top speed at the traffic lights , braking at the last minute (just like at the GP). This is straight outta Whacky Races and a little bit scary! Put on the seat belts – if they work!!
Without meter – a serene and gentle drive with minimum or no horn blowing and lots of chatting with us about places to go, where we are from, petrol prices and our experience so far!
UBER comes to the rescue….
After lots of angst we finally use Uber! The same drivers come and collect us but under the Uber banner!
Toilets
The toilets are very clean and tidy. At the GP event I even noted men washing their forearms, faces and even their feet in the toilet washing area. I paused for second as to why this would be occurring. The men were well dressed in suits or their police uniforms. What is going on? It then dawned on me that they were washing before going to prayers at the temporary mosque while at the GP. The Bahrain people are very religious and even those at the F1 races were taking time out to go to prayers. It would be strange in NZ but in Bahrain quite normal.
Another innovation from Bahrain…
I am loving the videos! Mom you look so pretty 🙂 Great idea they had re the booklet comparing it to religion! Good insight Dave
hahaha good to have you on board Genevieve 🙂
Interesting that they don’t have footpaths over there.. how do people get around?
Hi Perry, we didn’t see many pedestrians at all, I honestly think it’s too hot to walk around. And we weren’t staying in upmarket area’s, local vans/taxi’s were used with a few folk on bicycles. But it did seem like everyone had a car, there were a lot of old battered cars on the road amongst the expensive ones too. Guess petrol is cheap!