Of Islands and Gulfs (golfs!)

[Scarlett]

Breakfast was on the 24th floor, so that gave some decent views over the new Bahrain Bay developments.



I’d chosen a hotel in the diplomatic district as it was close to the Bahrain National Museum and walked over there after a lazy breakfast and a couple of cups of coffee and some work.







The museum has a large footprint but doesn’t really have overly much on display. Lots of space outside with various sculptures but without any info about them other than artist name. Some might say that the real art is in the eye of the beholder but I prefer to understand the significance of what has been created, or at least something from the artist to understand what they were thinking, commenting on or intending.

Something I hadn’t thought about in the past was the use of small individual burial mounds, which when you do think about it, makes perfect sense as rock was an available resource. Many of these were clustered in a form of a large necropolis and from the study of artefacts included with the burials, some understanding of Bahrains history can be interpreted.


This reconstruction was part of the ‘Dilmun’ period in Bahrain’s history; the era from the 4th millennium BC up to about 350BC. The museum clearly focussed on the role of Bahrain as a trading point between Mesopotamia to the north and the Arabian peninsula, Persia, and out toward India. Not stated, but likely, is that there were many such points all along the Gulf.

After the more indigenous Dilmun period, Bahrain fell under Greek influence and was referred to as Tylos. Alexander the Great never visited (you could just as easily read visited as conquered) Bahrain, Qatar or most of the Arabian Peninsula but the civilisational influence was very strong.



Bahrain was then an early adopter as Islam spread out from the Arabian Peninsula from the time of the prophet AD622 and on.


This is the kind of stuff I’m generally most interested in when visiting national museums: why did people settle there; how did their civilisation and culture develop; how has that influenced what can be seen today.

 

[Scarlett]

Another interesting feature was they had a reconstruction of a relatively modern (before they became malls!) traditional souk that would have been found in most towns and cities. They had music and sound associated with the various ‘stores’ and even some way of creating a smell, maybe just from the different materials.











Very interesting to see how men’s clothing hasn’t changed greatly but what is considered ‘proper’ now for women definitely has.

The last thing I noted in the museum was a large aerial view of the islands of Bahrain had been applied to the floor, so you could walk over the island. It was clearly recent enough imagery as my destination for tomorrow could be easily found.



With that, I headed back out the front and down toward Bahrain Bay in search of some dinner.

 

[Scarlett]

One of the iconic structures at Bahrain Bay is this piece of IKEA furniture:

It’s the Four Seasons Hotel and sits on its own reclaimed island. Very impressive.

A panoramic view along the very modern waterfront.


Behind me was a mall with about 100 different restaurants. There was an In n Out burger but I just don’t get the fascination as I’ve tried it twice in the past and they just taste like mediocre burgers… instead I had a lamb tajine which felt more regionally appropriate (and which was more food than I could have eaten twice )

Car mad Mstr Scarlett missed out on ogling the flash cars.


Apparently those wind turbines on the Bahrain WTC are actually designed to generate electricity for the building. In three days I barely saw them turning so maybe they are more a statement than a practicality.

 

[jase05]

In three days I barely saw them turning so maybe they are more a statement than a practicality.

In our two previous trips I’ve never seen them operate. A local guide told us that they cost too much to operate and that they can really only operate at night otherwise the vibration and noise prevents people from working in the building.

 

[RooFlyer]

Air looks really clear @Scarlett - wouldn't have been surprised if there was some dust haze.

 

[Scarlett]

In our two previous trips I’ve never seen them operate. A local guide told us that they cost too much to operate and that they can really only operate at night otherwise the vibration and noise prevents people from working in the building.

Yes, I imaging that might be annoying if the vibrations are conducted through the building. I also wonder if having a large rotating magnet induces anything in the electrical systems?

 

[Scarlett]

Air looks really clear @Scarlett - wouldn't have been surprised if there was some dust haze.

The dust haze was mostly in Saudi. Also, never really had any windy days so nothing to be picking up significant dust. Departing Riyadh on the way home it was definitely noticeable as a layer - like the smog and fumes of Jakarta, except with an orange effect rather than the gray.

I didn’t even consider wind and whether there were likely to be problems with dust before booking. Hopefully you’ll have similar clear weather.

 

[Scarlett]

Royal Golf Club Bahrain is the only grassed golf course in the country (there are also three sand courses) and annually hosts a stop on the European Tour. On the day I played there were stands being erected and giant marketing stickers starting to be applied as the tournament is scheduled in two weeks time.

As found in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, they had been smart with using the natural desert waste areas off the fairways and sometime amongst them. There were some small wadis (dry) that ran through the course as another thing to consider when planning shots.





The course was in great condition as you’d expect with a major tournament in the near future. Greens were slick but not hard: I guess tour pros would complain if they couldn’t ‘throw darts’ into the greens.

The par 3’s were all being played from a shorter distance than the card, likely to protect the back tee boxes which the pro’s will use during the tournament.


Bahrain as a gas and oil producing nation still had infrastructure requirements even around and through the golf course.


There were even some of those classic bobbing pumps visible. This is a stock image as they were too tiny in the photo I took. These things:


This was a really nice hole:

It was a short par 4, but the wadi ran diagonally through the fairway. First time I played the hole I hit four iron about 30 degrees away from the flag but up the main fairway closer to the tee box. The second time I decided to have a go with driver and cleared the wadi near the right edge of the photo above.


Water was only in play for I think it was only the last few holes of the round.

Grandstand being erected beside and behind the 18th green.




No prizes for guessing who the major sponsor will be:

The “911 driving range”

I rate this course as being better than the one in Saudi, but the Top100 ranking for all Middle East courses have Royal Greens, in KAEC, Saudi as being 11th and this course, Royal GC, being 19th. The preponderance of really good courses can be found in the UAE and especially Dubai.

 

[Major]

What is your current GA handicap ?

 

[Scarlett]

Dinner after golf was at an overly styled ‘Parisienne cafe’ called Cafe Sego.

Food was excellent. No idea if they have a wine list as I didn’t ask.

One of the nearby Government buildings was displaying the national colours with quite some flair. Would put most Xmas decorations to shame!


The next day I was travelling from Bahrain, back into Saudi Arabia, to the city of Dammam and its airport DMM. Most people of my age have probably heard of the city Dhahran, as the location of one of the largest based used during the Gulf War against the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. I had thought that Dhahran had been renamed Dammam due to their similar sound and location, but it turns out that Dhahran is a district or potentially even a city within greater Dammam.

I’d chosen Dammam as my departure point to return home, as my international ticket was Aus to Saudi return and it was close to Bahrain. Also gave me an excuse to travel across the King Fahd Causeway linking the two countries.

I booked a car service via GetTransfer for the one way trip at a cost of AUD206 for a Toyota Fortuner. There were bigger vehicles offered for around $230. Pick up from hotel, through the border formalities and drop off at the terminal, paid online via credit card with no issues.

There were bigger driver contacted me the day before to confirm timing and arrived at the hotel on time. He was a Bangladeshi based in Saudi Arabia and had driven across that morning for the job. We talked a bit of cricket and he was very positive about living in Dammam, especially how many opportunities it presented. It is an expanding place; lots of development and growth and remains the hub of the Saudi petro industry. He regularly gets jobs to Riyadh, Kuwait, Qatar and of course Bahrain so was happy with his business from such a central location.


Heading out of the city.


On to the causeway at the Bahrain end and looking across to one of the closed Royal islands, itself connected by another causeway.

Passport formalities were very simple and I didn’t have to move from my seat in the car. We pulled up to a booth and the driver handed over the passports (mine and his) exiting Bahrain, then same again to enter KSA about 500m further along. At the Saudi booth a scanner on a long lead was handed into the vehicle, passed to me and I had to scan my right forefinger. That done we had to pull up for a customs check where the driver got out of the vehicle opened the boot and we waited about three minutes for a Saudi offical to walk past and stamp a piece of appear the driver had. It was the most casual of glances toward the boot at my suitcase and golf bag.

All up the border crossing formalities took about 10 minutes! This was on a Wednesday late morning when traffic is light. Apparently Thursday and Saturday evenings are the busiest with waits of multiple hours associated with the weekend.

Mostly the causeway sits about 5-10m above the sea. There was one bridge in the middle which must have been much higher to allow large ships to pass underneath.


Similar view approaching Dammam.

As I wasn’t driving I could take an image of the movable speed cameras found all along Saudi highways.

Whether they actually are used for enforcement I don’t know (how are they calibrated?) but they seemed to have the desired effect.

Total trip was about 90 minutes and very easy.

 

[Scarlett]

What is your current GA handicap ?

I’m 14.7 but slowly going out. Was generally about 11 for 25 years when playing cricket but since giving that up my golf swing has become less reliable.

Like QF: consistently inconsistent!

 

[Scarlett]

SV1173 DMM-RUH
A321-20N HZ-ASAD
50 minutes late

DMM airport is a good 30 minutes out into the desert from the city. Featureless sandy terrain all around and with dust haze on departure.


Large, modern terminal. One of three at DMM: a regular pax terminal for both international and domestic flights, an Aramco terminal and a royal terminal.

Check-in was simple enough at the Saudia J counter. I asked about whether my golf bag could be checked all the way to Sydney and my suitcase only to Manila, but it seemed the agent would or could only do both to the same destination. My reasoning was because I had a 12 hour stopover in Manila I’d grab my suitcase for a short stay in a day room and didn’t need my golf clubs, but in the end both pieces were checked to MNL. I received all three boarding passes for the journey DMM-RUH-MNL-SYD. Changed my last few Bahraini Dinars to Saudi Riyals which were then spent on a coffee, snack and the inevitable fridge magnet for back home. Immi and security was quick. SV uses the generic Wellcome (sic) Lounge at DMM and it was quite basic.

Boarding was via a bus gate; J pax via a separate lane and directed to a separate bus. I’m not sure why the bus went past our aircraft and pulled in next to the far side of the fuselage, as there were stairs already there and staff waiting at the bottom of them.


Instead we sat waiting for this aircraft next door to push back.

Saudi LCC Flyadeal. Saw plenty of their aircraft at all airports in KSA.

After that aircraft had cleared, the bus then continued around behind our aircraft and pulled up at the steps. The bus had doors on both sides so should have been able to pull straight in initially.

Parked on the other side of the SV aircraft was a jet from the other Saudi LCC Flynas.


Boarding was via front and rear stairs.

The young guy closest to the camera with the green shawl around his neck was part of a sporting team of about 25 people (guessing soccer team). He had snuck into the J bus and was laughing and waving to the rest of his group boarding via the rear stairs. Maybe he thought he’d get a J seat but was directed somewhere aft by the crew at the top of the stairs.

Full J cabin of five rows 2-2. As the flight was only 50 minutes, drinks and a snack were served.


I’ve been to and through the Middle East a number of times and it still looks weird to have that flat sandy waste rather than grass verges.


On approach into RUH. Dust haze most noticeable and a stadium under construction.

After arriving I exited Terminal 5 (domestic terminal) and caught the inter-terminal shuttle bus to T3/T4. This is a single large building with Saudia operating from the T4 end and other international airlines, including PR, from T3.