road trip

This afternoon we took a break from apartment hunting and went on a bit of an adventure to see more of the island. It is only 12 miles wide and 30 miles long. This is what we saw:

An entrance to a swanky outdoor mall. Bahrain is wealthy and developed, but this was the last of upscale development we saw for the day.

The Shi'a neighborhoods, which in Bahrain often consist of lower income people, still show remnants of Ashura, a holiday where Shi'a Muslims mourn the martyrdom of Husayn ibn Ali, the grandson of the Islamic Prophet Muhammad with a big public ceremony that often involves self-inflicted bloodshed. Shi'a is one of the main divisions of Islam (the other being Sunni), and represents a repressed majority in the country; the minority Sunni control the government. 

A beach on the western coast where there was a playground and dozens of little dhows (boats). It may be December, but the water was warm. 

The Tree of Life, which some people truly believe is in the location of the Garden of Eden. The tree is about 400 years old and no one really knows where it gets its water.

The Durrat Al Bahrain, an isolated city of man-made islands that we think are ideal for introverted,  agoraphobic, wealthy celebrities. The condos seen here are extremely high end, but I took this picture out of a moving car, so they can't be seen that well.