Impressive First IMPRESSIONS of Bahrain S06 EP.87 | MIDDLE EAST MOTORCYCLE TOUR
Assalam Alekum Everyone and Welcome Back to the Channel from Bahrain. It's my first day here in a city called Manama. This vlog is gonna be about the first impressions of Bahrain.
When you cross a border to go into another country, a lot of things change. Same is true for Bahrain. For instance it's just my first day here and as I'm walking through the market... I can already notice a number of differences from Saudi Arabia.
I'll try to give you an overview and we'll surely visit some places. I'm not alone today but accompanied by two people. Please wave at the camera. He is Daniyal. And here's Hashir.
Hashir has his own tour guide company. He is helping me out to explore this area today. Not just today but in our next couple of vlogs as well. More details to follow as we go on.
Lets start by showing you this shopping mall. We'll share what we observe here with you. So I saw something interesting here. Well not just here but I saw it in Saudi Arabia as well.
This is a traditional kind of fragrance that you find in people's homes. So there are two different types of fragrances here. Here's the first one. This one is more like wooden peel but this other one is powdered.
It's powdered but if I hold it in my hand it looks like a small candy. Hashir, will you explain it for our viewers. Is there any difference between the two? There is. This powdered fragrance that is in the shape of small coins is called Bakhoor.
And this other one is Oud. Oi see. Lets put a small piece on it. As you can see, the fragrance has started coming out instantly. This is something that you normally find in Arab homes. Whenever I visited someone's house, I found it there.
Is it also used in offices? Of course. You can say our female colleagues in Bahrain bring a box of oud to the office everyday. Nice. Just like we have incense in our part of the world. According to another tradition, when you are presented with bakhoor, you try to get a feel of it using your hands.
Just to make yourself enjoy the fragrance even more. I noticed that it's mostly done after a meal. Probably to get rid of the smell of food. Thank you very much Sir.
Bahrain is a very small country; it's just an island. However, there are many cities on this island and it's a very densely populated place. These many shopping malls in such a small area... You won't find that anywhere else in the world.
So we are in a shopping mall right now, as it is an important part of the culture here. It's very hot outside but the shopping malls are air conditioned. That's why you'll see a lot of shopping malls here.
This shopping mall is called Avenues. If you have watched my vlog from Kuwait, there is also a shopping mall there by the name of 'The Avenues'. Although it's the same company but the mall in Kuwait was a rather big one. And I really liked that. This one is quite smaller but designed in the very same way. The atmosphere makes you feel as if you are in the same shopping mall.
Due to its smaller size, it seems more crowded. Some of the main things that you notice here... When you come here from Saudi Arabia...
Well, even Saudi Arabia has opened up quite a bit now. You'll see all types of people here if you talk about dressing. From people dressed in European style to that in Middle Eastern style... This is something that you noticed in the first glance. If you spend some time in this mall, you realize that people are not here just for shopping but for going out as well. That's the main purpose of these malls.
It's such a nice place and you can really enjoy the environment. We'll just spend a little more time here before we go out. Then we'll show you the life outside the mall. When you come here from Saudi Arabia, you'll notice that there are way too many tourists here. One of the reasons could be the fact that there is only one area and everyone visits that. Also, you'll see a lot of Saudi tourists here... who have come for shopping.
I noticed that from the way people were dressed in the mall. I couldn't figure out if they were Saudis or locals. But Daniyal and Hashir told me that one can easily guess that from the dressing style.
This is the first country in the Middle East, where nobody stopped me from taking a camera inside. They are quite open in this regard. d They seem quite friendly as well. That was one of my very first observations. Right outside the mall is the Bahrain Bay. It's a rather beautiful area.
Some of the restaurants in the mall have their backs opening directly at the bay. And so they are catering the tourists not just from the mall but from outside as well. Let's explore the Bahrain Bay area now. It'd be best if we can get a boat here. Poor Hashir here had to stand in a queue for almost 40 minutes. So after standing in the queue for almost 40 minutes, we found that even after getting the ticket, we'll have to wait for another two hours...
Before we can get a boat to sail in the Bahrain Bay and reach some view point . . The evening view here, with all the lighting, is just amazing. So our tour guide is recommending us to get to the other side on a car. We'll find a nice view point there. It will save us not just the money but also two hours of waiting. So, we are gonna take a car ride to the other side and show you the bay area as well.
Because the buildings here are just too stunning. This, in fact, is the main skyline area in Bahrain. We've reached the other side of the island to see the skyline. The view from here is simply amazing. There aren't too many tourists here. With the setting sun and lights turning on, the view is becoming increasingly beautiful.
It's good that the weather is great these days. There's a cool breeze right now. I have noticed something here that I didn't notice anywhere else. Here they are giving Bedouin style tents on rent.
They rent it out for 6 hours. Families come here and enjoy the cozy atmosphere inside the tent. You have the facility to make tea here as well. Like other Middle Eastern countries, Hooqa or Sheesha is an important part of this culture. People come here with families; especially on weekends. They spend 6 to 7 hours here; coming around 6 in the evening and staying here till midnight.
They enjoy the view of the skyline. You can see that the iconic building here has its lights turned on now. Lets enjoy this experience for some time. And yes.... the rent of this tent is around 100 dollars. I feel that it's a little expensive; must be affordable for the locals due to their high incomes.
Probably that's why they are charging so much for this. There's something that I'd like to say about the local currency here. It's among the top currencies in the world. I think Kuwait has the highest ranked currency. For 1 dollar... No... Lets just do the opposite thing this time...
2.65 dollars make 1 Bahraini Dinar. I have a 100 dollars in my hand right here. While in the other hand, I have around 37 Bahraini Dinar. 37 BD is the same as 100 dollars. This is the first country where I found half a BD.
The local currency here is Bahraini Dinar or BD. So, you'll find a note of half BD here, unlike other places where they have coins for that. This is a note of half BD. The next one is of 1 BD. This one is 5 BD.
Then there's a 10 BD note and the late one is 20 BD. 20 BD is the biggest one. That's probably because of the high value of their currency. However, most of the people pay through their cards. I just thought to share this interesting tidbit with you.
We have come to Manama Souq which is a very traditional souq in Bahrain. We entered through the beautiful Bab Al Bahrain gate. I would share its history with you but I'm quite hungry right now.
So we came to this traditional looking restaurant. The food has been ordered and it's gonna be a while before it's served. So our food is here. The sizzling food is making our mouth water. Let's ask Hashir about the food.
But I think it's grilled food. Yep. It's mixed grill. You have chicken kebab, beef kebab and beef tikka. Tikka Beef is of two types. One of them is called 'tikka with yogurt' in Arabic. And the other one is chicken tikka and beef tikka with black lemon.
That one is called tikka magli... or 'tikka that has been fried with potatoes and tomatoes'. This sauce is called 'yogurt with cucumber' in Arabic. And this is the famous hummus. I have already tasted everything before except for this one.
Never tried it with potatoes before. But looks great. Hopefully you are gonna like it. This is something new. What's it called? It's called Mahyawa. It's made from fish sauce.
Looks like a pizza. And inside it has some sort of fish. That's fish sauce. And it has a topping of yogurt dressing or something. We did not order this item. They have just brought it for us.
They just saw us filming the food. And thought to let us try this dish. Quite hot at the moment.
Surprisingly very delicious. It's my first meal in Bahrain. So far I have liked the food here.
It seems to have been influenced by Iranian and Iraqi food. Even Yemeni as well. The food from these three countries are quite prominent items here. As promised we are gonna explore the souq after finishing our meal. So we are in the souq now. You'll see many shops here that are very traditional and different.
I have seen different lamps here. I've confirmed that these lamps are imported from Turkey. You'll find such lamps only in Egypt, Morocco and Turkey. Such traditional items are not produced here anymore. Mostly such items are imported. Like these Turkish lamps, there are some wooden pieces here which are from India.
There are some cloth items at the back. They are also from India. Also you can really enjoy the atmosphere here. I think most items are imported to keep the costs low. The atmosphere is amazing. Almost 90% of the shopkeepers here are either Pakistani or Indian.
Most of them are from Kerala. Also almost all the jewelery shops are owned by Indians. Within this souq, you will find the only temple of Hindu community here. This is a very historical temple; almost 200 years old. It was built by the Thathai Hindu community from Sindh, that migrated to Bahrain long ago. We could not visit the temple completely because its visiting hours are over for the day.
Nevertheless, I tried to share some clips with you. This is the only temple that I found in this region. Haven't seen any temple in any other Middle Eastern country.
Assalam Alekum Wa Alekum Salam. How are you? How are you? Alhamdulillah All good. What happened to your hand? My hand touched the gauze there while crossing the road.
All good? Yes. Alhamdulillah. Are you from India? Yes. From where in India? We are from India and Pakistan. So you are from Pakistan and he's from India? Yes. Where exactly? Delhi. What else? Everything is fine.
What about you? Your prayers keep me healthy. I sent you a message when you were in Iraq. And you replied and told me that you will come to Bahrain. See, I do reply my viewers. We were going to the meet up but instead we found you here.
I'm actually going there. Don't have much time. If you are going there, we'll meet there. Well, that's why we are going there.
At least take a photo if we have a chance. Sure. You see... You can't describe this love in words.
I consider myself very fortunate that Allah gave me the opportunity to live my dream of traveling. I'm beyond thankful for all the love that I get from you guys. This is the Bahrain Bay area.... Really wonderful. Here's the parking. Hopefully they won't stop a motorcyclist. Bahrain is famous for night life.
There are two areas for that; Juffair and Adliya. Here you'll see not just locals but many foreign tourists as well. They include a large number of Saudi tourists. You can guess it from the registration plates of their cars that they are Saudis. Also their attire and dressing tell you that. While I was crossing the border, I came to know that...
A lot of tourists come here on the weekend from Thursday to Saturday and Sunday. And I'm just noticing it here. You'll see a lot of restaurants, cafes and bars. From bar, I mean Sheesha Bar... About the other main attraction here...
I mean it's well known that Saudis and other tourists come here... to experience the things not available in other Middle East countries. These things include clubs, discos and bars. Alcohol is openly served in such places. Right now we are sitting in a cafe, sipping on our ice tea.
Because it was quite hot here today. In this vlog, I tried to explain and share everything from my first impressions here. It was good. More details to come in the next vlog. That's all for today. Remember me in your prayers. Don't forget to Like, Subscribe and Share. See you in the next one. Allah Hafiz
2022-12-21 00:41
