LIFE in the Smallest Country with Amazing Modern Lifestyle S06 EP.88 | MIDDLE EAST MOTORCYCLE TOUR
Assalam Alekum Everyone and Welcome Back to the Channel from Manama, Bahrain. It's my second day here. In this vlog, we'll explore not just Manama but also the areas surrounding that. Right now I'm standing in the historical old town of Manama. Manama souq is also here. The entrance you are seeing here is Bab Al Bahrain.
I'm not alone in this vlog but accompanied by Hashir, whom you saw in the previous video. We'll explore this area together with Hashir. So, where do we go first? For breakfast. Every place that Hashir has taken me to this far, had amazing foods. Is it some traditional sort of a place? Yes.
Let's get going, then. Is it close by? Just a 2 minute walk away. So let's go and have a traditional Bahraini breakfast. Just see how our breakfast is being served in traditional Iranian style.
Thanks very much brother. Our traditional Bahraini breakfast has been served. We are at the restaurant, most famous for breakfast... Haji's Cafe Hashir told me that the forefathers of the owners of this restaurant were from Iran. That's why you'll see a lot of Iranian influence in the taste. I felt that the food is slightly on the spicier side. Exactly.
Bahrain is the only Arab country where you can ask for a spicy Arabian meal. And that can be real spicy... Close to what our taste buds are used to. Just look at this bread now.
You can see that it's very similar to how the breads are in Iran; as you saw in my Iran series. The bread is really good though. The oven is right in front of us.
We got the bread fresh from oven but now they are gradually cooling down. If you look at this... It's omelette... with noodles...
It's called Balaleet in Arabic. So this is our omelette... and underneath we have noodles. Are these sweet or salty? Sweet. Okay... so the noodles are sweet. I'll tell you how they taste after I have tasted.
What's this? It's foul. I remember having tried it in Jordan. I think it's made from beans. Yes. There's another omelette over here. It's a special omelette with cheese and chilies.
I think this is lamb? Yes. This is lamb with potatoes. What is it called? It's called Nashif Laham. And finally, there's some cheese here. Yeah. Looks like it's fresh cheese. Yeah, it's fresh local cheese. You'll find its taste to be very different from normal cheese. Let's taste it quickly.
It's very light. Normally, cheese has its own unique aroma. This one doesn't have that. Absolutely. You can eat it just like this.
It tastes like the sour stuff that is found in yogurt. Some salad. Jam? Jam. Actually jam and cheese make a really good combination.
I haven't tried the combination of jam and cheese before. Today's the day. This is very special mahyawa. This is mahyawa that you tried a few days back; made from fish sauce. So we have fish sauce too. And in the end, we have tea.
Here you will also get Sulemani tea... I mean the milk tea. But we decided to order this tea.
Thought it's better to have Arabian tea with Arabian meal. Let's say the name of Allah before we start. What should we start with? I hope you like everything. Everything is great. Alhamdulillah.
My Urdu is not so good. I'm glad that you guys are here. This is the oldest traditional restaurant in Bahrain. Haji Cafe We encourage all the people to go back to the old days and experience the old traditions. If you want to try, we have so many fresh items here.
Besides, the management and the family are always looking after our work. Enjoy your meal. The food here was really delicious.
So I highly recommend this restaurant... if you are visiting Bahrain... Do visit this restaurant to try traditional food.
We paid almost 7 - 7.5 dinars here. About 20 dollars. We are standing in front of Bab Al Bahrain now.
As you can read it up there, it was built in 1949. This used to be the immigration building in the past. These days you can see a lot of buildings here. But before that, boats were docked here.
And all the area behind that was a part of the sea. Since it's an island, a big part of it was taken from the sea. Even the section with the famous skyline used to be under sea in the past.
This is Manama souq and we'll now try to capture some shots from here. It's still quite early in the day. That's why most of the shops are closed. This is a relatively small souq but it's built in a traditional Arab manner.
You feel that it's been recently renovated. When was it renovated, Hashir? A decade ago. The shops that you see here... As I showed you in the previous vlog, these are traditional lamps that you see in Arab houses. Most of them are imported.
Besides, you will see a lot of jeweler shops here. But there's some artwork here that I haven't seen in any other souq. These are small chains made from iron with a pearl at the end. As Hashir told me, the main industry and primary source of income here is collecting pearls from the sea. The same has been tried to depict here.
Looks very nice. Gonna leave from the souq now as it's not very lively. Mostly people visit it during the second half of the day. We have finally reached the Bahrain fort.
There's a very unique view point here. Let's go to Hashir for more details. Bahrain fort is also known as Portuguese fort. When the Portuguese colonized Bahrain, they built a really big fort here. These bodies here used to be artificial mounds.
The excavation work revealed 7 different layers, dating back to 7 different generations who lived here. The deepest layers are from 5000 years ago. You also said something about the name of Bahrain. Bahrain comes from the words Bahr which means sea.
And Bahrain means two seas; sweet water and salty water. You took some shots that showed sweet water as well as salty water. Their combination is called Bahrain. This is a very interesting point of view. Looking through here, you'll see modern life style and all the skyscrapers in the background... whereas the historical old town in the foreground.
Towards this side, you'll see the sea. A bunch of palm trees and date trees at the back there. Here, you can observe the transition of an old and historical city to a rather modern one. They have maintained and preserved this place in a very good manner.
They tried to keep the old construction style intact during renovation. We are here at another location, 10 minutes drive away from Bahrain fort. This is the biggest shopping mall here, known as the City Center.
Bahrain is famous for its shopping malls. A small and congested area ... You won't find this many shopping malls in such a small area, anywhere else in the world. And there's a reason for that. It's November but the heat outside was too much for us to stand in the open.
Imagine what it must feel like during summer. So for people to socialize or go somewhere for coffee... And also for shopping, they can just visit a shopping mall. Because there you find the most suitable atmosphere. Right now we are in a place that shows ... how the Bahraini culture has been blended in this mall.
This small section is called souq and is rather beautiful. And it's designed in a very traditional style. It looks very nice when you combine your history and culture with modern architecture.
So, it's become one of my favorite places; Thanks to Hashir for bringing us here. You must have noticed the prominence of red color in this building. Really good to be here. We are gonna have coffee now. After that we'll show you some more places from the mall and the city. The biggest mosque in Bahrain is Al Fateh Grand Mosque, which was built in 1987.
It is located in Juffair. When you enter the mosque, you see the large hall behind me. The most imposing thing in the first impression is the dome.
It is a really high dome. I haven't seen such domes in many mosques. This was the largest fiber glass dome in the whole world, when the mosque was built. So the dome is made from fiber glass with beautiful windows along its sides. The glass in the windows reminds us of Iran. And that's from where it's imported. Many things in this mosque have been imported from different countries around the world.
For instance the beautiful chandelier hanging down from the dome is from Austria. Around the chandelier, there are lamps made from hand blown glass. And it was imported from France. The carpet on which I'm sitting right now is from Ireland.
As you can see, gray and light brown colored marble has been used here. This marble is from Italy. The fantastic looking woodwork is from India. In short, different items were imported from many different countries, to make this mosque look amazing.
This is not just the Jamia mosque but also a center of religious studies in Bahrain. I think some tours are still in progress right now. It's a great experience. Many non-Muslims also visit the mosque. And normally you don't get much information about Islam while you are visiting a mosque.
However, here you get a proper tour to guide the visitors. In case, there are any questions, they are also addressed. Personally I like this bit very much. What I liked most about Bahrain is how you can experience the modern side as well as their culture and history.
There are many places similar to Bahrain port. Right now I'm in Royal Camel Farm. This camel farm belongs to the royal family but it's open for visitors. Here you can see camels of different breeds. This is the first time I'm visiting a camel farm. It's a very different sort of experience.
I didn't know before that there are so many different breeds of camels. I just discovered how friendly camels are. It's a little scary for someone like me who's never been to a farm like this before.
Lets see how it goes. I get a little scared when they grunt but Hashir tried patting them. You can play with these camels when they approach you. Many people visit the farm with their families. Bahrain has a Shia population of almost 60%. Right now we are in a place called Al-Aali which is a Shia majority area.
This area is primarily famous for its traditional pottery. You can still see many factories here, making pottery. As soon as you enter the premises, you see different signboards.
They have maintained the area in the old style. It feels very good to see how they are putting their best efforts to preserve their culture. Such factories have a lot of support and frequently visited by locals and tourists.
Visitors can also learn to do pottery as they have small training sessions for this purpose. I visited a few places where tourists were learning this art. Let's go inside and give you a glimpse. Here's an overview of this area for you.
I have Gulzar Ahmad and Zeeshan here with me; both from Gujrat. They do potter work here. I'm gonna ask them a few questions. They have just finished working on an article. Sorry? It's a small money saver. OK. Gulzar, tell us who buys these pottery items? Do people still buy such things? Bahraini people do like to purchase these items.
Foreigners who live here buy these. Besides, foreign tourists do that as well. What are you doing right now? A flower pot.
It's a decoration item. You can use it to put flowers or you can just put it on the shelf. Or you can just buy it for the kids to play. Whatever you please.
People buy whatever touches their heart. Some people order customized items for themselves. To be given as gifts. So, many reasons to buy. How much do you charge for this? Some are for Rs 5... Some for Re 1. You mean dinars. Yes.
Some sell for even 10 dinars. Depends on the article and how much time has been spent on it. An article will be less expensive if less time was consumed to make it. And customized items are naturally more expensive. Thanks very much Gulzar.
As you go out of the city area, you'll see oil and gas wells. There are many of them and most of them are still active. It's a very oil rich country. Hashir told me that the ground level here is at a lower altitude. Is that right? Yes. Bahrain is at a lower altitude compared to that of Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries. So, naturally, Bahrain has more oil.
You the oil from other countries can flow down to Bahrain. Yep. But there must be some agreements in place to limit the amount of oil that can be extracted. It must have been a 20 km ride... And the whole area is so oil rich.
As you can see, there is only one tree at this location in this desert. You also see some gardens back there but they are man made. This tree is said to be 400 years old. And nobody knows about the water source of this tree. It's just oil all around. Don't know how these trees get their water.
It's such a huge tree and it's still quite green. So, this is the only tree in this desert and it's 400 years old. For this reason, it is called the Tree of Life. It's a main tourist attraction and even now there are quite a few tourists here. Not just desi tourists but some foreign tourists too.
I don't know if it's part of their belief but people bring water here and sprinkle it around the tree. As you can see, the tree is being treated with mineral water right now. You must know it already that Bahrain is an island in the Arabian Gulf. I have seen some of the most beautiful beaches of the Arabian Gulf. Right now I'm standing on Jazaer Beach. Really beautiful.
Honestly, I didn't expect to see such a beautiful beach here. And the way it has been maintained is admirable. There is some entrance fee as well.
You can use the same fee in any cafe or bar here. There are many westerners here. Local tourists are here well. There are some special areas here for people to sit and enjoy the sunset. It's sunset time here.
We had planned it all along to enjoy our sunset right here. Let me show you the color of this water. The water is so clear that you can see all the way through. The water is really wonderful.
Honestly... This evening and sunset has rid us of all the exertion of our day. I mean we've been traveling all day and that does exhaust you.
Just wonderful I don't have enough words to express my feelings about this sunset. There's something that I want to discuss with you in this video. Ever since I have been traveling in Middle East or even Turkey for that matter... There are many internet services that you can't use here. And due to these restrictions it is not possible to use them without VPN, especially for a traveler.
For example, social media sites like Facebook and YouTube don't work in Iran. Also you can't make a Whatsapp call in many Middle Eastern countries. So, I have been using Surfshark for the last 4 years now. That's why I really liked it when they contacted me and offered me to sponsor this video. So that I share my personal experience with you all.
If you can see it, my mobile phone is still connected through Surfshark VPN. I highly recommend it to you all. You can check their website. There's currently an 85% off deal. And if you use my code, shown in this video and also in the description...
you'll get to use it for 3 months for free. Do check it. I'm sure you'll love it. We have come to a Turkish restaurant, Mado, for our meal. You must have seen its branches in many areas. With us, we have Daniyal and Hashir who is our food expert.
Hashir, please tell everyone about our food. Let's start with the appetizer and we have already finished half of it. I did take some shots of the appetizer. We have already eaten most of it. These were our appetizer in many different shapes.
That's the mix grill... kebab and sheesh taouk. This is Istanbul's special kebab that is served with yogurt. This is Celtic kebab. Celtic is an area in Turkey. It's a very famous dish there. Some traditional celebration was happening here. Unfortunately, we got here a little late and it's almost finished.
Otherwise, we would have captured the traditional Arab celebration of Bahrain. Anyways, here we are with Daniyal. And here is Hashir who gave me this full tour of Bahrain. It was great Hashir. Thank you very much for that. Hashir has a company called Air Home Travels. As all of you saw, he helped me a lot with my videos.
Tell us something about your company. We deal with all the matters related to visa and tourism of Bahrain and Saudi Arabia. I'll put all the details in the description. You can contact him if you want.
It's highly recommended. We are here to have some tea. They told me drinking karak tea here is quite trendy. It's just like the karak tea we have in our part of the world. This business belongs to our brothers from Kerala. We are gonna drink our tea now and hope that you must have enjoyed this video.
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2022-12-23 14:34
