Middle East Tour - Bahrain

 

Middle East Tour - BAHRAIN - Feb. 2007

Our military flight to the island of Bahrain was surprisingly uneventful, no delays, pitstops or detours. We arrived in enough time to see it during the day, check in to our hotel (off base!) and go out for the evening. It was a bit of a strange atmosphere being a block from the base. The bars and clubs, located in well known hotels like The Best Western and Holiday Inn, catered to the military presence and were jam packed with young, drunk Navy guys (and Phillipino prostitutes). It was nice to let loose though and everyone had a good time.

Our only show in Bahrain was to be at said Navy base the next night. It was a nice set up but didn't end up being a particularly memorable show...which is probably why there are no real pictures from it! About 10% of the crowd was absolutely blown away by the music and the other 90% were waiting for the DJ to come on and play their favorite "Dem Franchise Boys" track. Not much you can really do with that.

We had the next day off and our POC, Hussein, took us on a tour of Bahrain. It was a really nice thing to do considering it was his day off too and he wasn't required to do it. He took us to the Grand Mosque, the Bahrain National Museum, a fortress, the Bahrain/Saudi border and for some authentic Bahrain cuisine. It was a great day...we learned a lot about the country, it's history and Islam. We also really got to connect with Hussein who seemed to enjoy it as much as we did.

~B. Gorman~~~~~~~~~~~~~

leaving UAE on another C-130 for Bahrain
???
our hotel...off base
the strip next to our hotel. It's wild to see a muslim couple in full garb eating at McDonalds...
11 Bahrain dinars ($30) all you can drink, Luke definitely got his money's worth
She lashed out at a defenseless Luke
Mysko, Hamilton
not exactly Bahrain's finest local cuisine, but damn tasty
If there was a lame show on the tour....then this was definitely it.
sweet poster though
On our only day off on tour our host, Hussein, gave us an incredible tour starting with this, the Grand Mosque.
In Islam, there are no pictures or works of art that illustrate Muhammad or the stories in the Quran. Man can not see God, man can not imagine God, so man should not depict Him in art.

Next we went to a fortress that was used to protect Bahrain
Bass
Hussein
the black and red flags represent Shia
A bridge was built a few years ago to connect the island of Bahrain to Saudi Arabia
From the border looking back towards Bahrain
Looking towards the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Hussein took us for authetic Bahrain cuisine.
The food was soooo good.
hummus and salad to start
half chicken with two kinds of herbed rice
When in Bahrain...
 smoking tobacco from a hookah
Just outside the Navy base