"Bahrain" a Bahrain Travel Page by googoosh

For more details on the Arab world and 'How to Read & Write Arabic' go to my blog, 'White Girl, Arab World', at: www.wgaw.blogspot.com

Welcome to Bahrain and the place I've made home for the past 20 years.

This FAQ page started simply because so many people wanted to know more about Bahrain, the culture and what it's really like to live here. I've posted up every question I've ever been sent in to nine sections at the bottom of the page (including a visa and travel section) and have tried to seperate them into logical areas or sections to make it easier to navigate.

Most questions seem to be about salaries and benefits; I've answered as best I can in the section at the bottom. As a general rule you'll need a minimum of BD 1,000 each month to pay your monthly expenses (1% tax, rent, food, gas & electricity & water, car, phone & internet, pension). School fees are BD 50+ per child/ per month at the Indian School and BD 250+ at St. Christophers/ British School.

If you have any additional questions about anything to do with Bahrain, both for visiting or for living here, send them to my vt e.mail and I'll post the replies/answers on this page.

1. What is the appropriate dress code for Bahrain?
Conservative

2. What is the general attire required?
In general expatriates dress smart-casual to casual-smart. Not much slobby stuff in public.

2a. Just how open are they to western ways of dressing?
Depends what you mean by western ways of dressing.

3. What do western women normally wear?
Err on the side of conservative then you won't go wrong. You don't need to cover your hair but I would suggest you don't wear mini skirts, you might feel a wee bit uncomfortable. It's quite acceptable, as a woman, to wear skirts.

4. What about shoes? Is showing ones toes acceptable?
Anything you fancy and absolutely. FYI: we have some great shoe shops here :-)

5. What types of clothes will I need in the cold season?
Everything; jackets, tights, jumpers, even hats, gloves and scarves. The temperature drops to about 8 deg C on winter nights and that can be pretty chilly in comparision to the summer (55 deg C). In 2001 Kuwait had snow and as a write this in December 2006, it's 8 deg C (in the day time). Hot water bottles come in useful too on those cold nights.

6. Should I ship my warmest gear back to UK?
I had originally said, "Probably yes". But this winter in 2006 is so cold, i'll change that to Definately NO. Keep some jumpers/sweaters with you - you’ll need them in the winter. You'll also be glad you kept them when you freeze at the cinema (I've been known to take gloves to the cinema in August) and in your air conditioned office.

7. Will I get a chance to wear boots?
Definitely. You could also bring wellington boots for when it rains, esp. if you have kids. You could also think about bringing an umbrella, also for when it rains, and for when it gets too sunny.

8. What is appropriate and what's not in terms of tops. I have heard lots of conflicting things ... only long sleeves, only very high cut things ... is this the case?
I usually cover my shoulders, but I usually wear v necks. It depends where you are, how you feel and what's clean in the wardrobe.

Monday 18th December, 2006. It's been raining non-stop for 40 hours and the entire country seems to be wet. I've copied a short article from today's Gulf Daily News (known here as the G.D.N.) to help explain how wet it really is:

"Freak rains lashed Bahrain yesterday bringing the country to a virtual standstill over 48 hours. A total of 113.6mm of rain have fallen since the beginning of the month until noon yesterday and met-men predict more of the same until Wednesday.

A met official said yesterday that Saturday and Sunday were unstable - with heavy rains all around the country and wind speeds of 35 knots. "Those winds have caused a sharp drop in Bahrain's temperature from 22.5C to 10 degrees.

"Near record rainfall has been recorded this month, with the highest being 96.2mm in December 1974. This month's average was 13.9mm," the official said.

Central Municipal Council vice-chairman Abbas Mahfoodh said hundreds of houses have flooded all around the country.

"More than 100 families are trapped in their homes in the governorate and an urgent meeting was held to help move them to elsewhere until their houses are repaired.

"We also hope that companies would rent us their tankers or drainage equipment, because the Works and Housing Ministry only has 10 tankers, which is not enough to drain one road in this country."

More FAQs can be found in the first 9 travelogues below: