Well after several abortive attempts I finally got to Bahrain, and it was worth it. What a fantastic country and so much more relaxed than Saudi. Bahrainis know how to be Muslim, friendly and enjoy life all at the same time.

Ameer, the driver Trudy left a card for, picked me up and took me over the King Fahd Causeway. This is literally a 26 km long bridge over the Gulf with three hills to let the ships under. Well lit and 2 to 3 lanes in each direction. Half way over there is a small island that serves as the border. You simply drive through the check points, Passport, Customs, Car Insurance, Customs and Passport. Then you are on the Causeway for another 12 km until the coast of Bahrain's main island and the capital city of Manama.

It is incredible and took me about 2 secs to realise why all the Expats flock here for the weekend. The streets are clean, the drivers know what all those lines on the road are for………and use them. The city has well cared for gardens with growing trees and the building going on is extensive. Lots of land reclaiming so the country gets bigger by the day.

I stayed at the Gulf Bahrain which is one of the first hotels built in Manama and has had several upgrades to become this luxurious place with restaurants, a lagoon pool with bar, spa, gym, health club and big beds in big rooms.

I spent the morning in the pool and had a liquid lunch with salad. Then in the afternoon went with a driver to the Al Areen Wildlife Park. As zoos go it was pretty tragic, but as far as Zoos in this region go it was good. It was tragic in the sense that the signs were poor, the enclosures dowdy and the variety a bit limited. But on the up side the enclosures were big with shade (even though the exhibits were all hot climate animals), the water bird exhibits were clean and the water was fresh. The bus ride through the 'open' range area was a classic. Speed between exhibits then slam on the brakes for a 30 sec photo shoot and explanation then off again. Also the road goes around the outside so if you sit on the wrong side of the bus you struggle a bit to see. But I saw Oryx, Flamingos, many varieties of goats, and camels and unexpectedly a horse and three Saluki dogs.

My driver Ali was really cool and happy to show me around everywhere. He took me to the Bahrain International Circuit, i.e. Formula One track and I had a brief Richard Hammond moment. Of course the track was not having a race day and so the pit lane was empty, the stands were empty and the souvenir shop had 4 people in it. But you cannot come to Bahrain without at least having a quick look. A bit like going to Bathurst and not going around Mt Panorama.

However, by now I was shattered and went back to the hotel for some soothing Cab Sav and a Thai dinner. There was a reggae band at the Typhoon lounge, however I was shattered and went to bed. I think it is really the relaxation of Bahrain, or anywhere for that matter, getting away from the stress of Saudi that make me want to sleep when I go away for a few days.

The next day I went to the Al Faith Mosque. This mosque is open for tours to non Muslims for parts of the day between prayer times. It is quite unique as most mosques are closed to non Muslims. But Al Faith is the central mosque of Bahrain and runs tours in English. Our guide was great and really gave a non discriminatory tour. He happily compared the scriptures of the Qar'an to the Bible. He pointed out the similarities of faith rather than the differences and explained the symbolism of actions. He explained that Muslims worship the same God as Christians but the reason for having no images of God is that no one has ever seen God so no one really knows what God looks like. When Muslins pray in lines they fill the prayer room from the front. You stand touching shoulders and feet to the previous person to arrive. This shows equality. Women have a separate praying area because men are not allowed to touch a woman they are not related too.

I spent the afternoon walking along the 2 Kornaiches looking at all the land reclaiming and found my way to City Centre Mall for a Virgin mega store. It is the only reason to go into a mall while on holiday. DVDs and music stores in Saudi are very small with a very limited variety. I took some photos of the strange buildings around the business and diplomatic areas and made my way back to the hotel in time for one last drink before meeting Ameer at 6 for the return trip.

Causeway, passport, customs, car insurance, customs (car search), passport causeway.