Motorbike in Bahrain

Becky please don't get a bike here. I don't want to scare you BUT.........

You will understand what I mean once you arrive.

Make mates, get taxi's (cheap) but don't get a bike.

The driving here is insane, there are no rules and everyone is a lunatic. If you must get a licence then get a car licence as it has 4 wheels and a roof. You need to be 25 to hire a car here so you are okay. Take a fast pass course in UK, you aren't moving till August so you have plenty of time.

No public transport here. But you will make friends quickly as the island is tiny.

Hi thanks that's useful

I know the driving is crazy....but it is in India too and I had a motorbike and I was fine! The driving is awful there.

Do most people have cars, or use taxi's, do you know? I am not too confident about spending the whole time relying on taxi's as I've heard they are a bit of a nightmare!

What is your opinion on cycling? (despite the heat..)

Cycling will kill you. It is already between 33 - 36 degrees.

Motorbike if you are confident is okay but I was a biker for years and I wouldn't ride one here.

Everyone tend to hire a car here, lease a car or buy a car depending on income, visa status etc. Taxi's are very reliable but you are a bit of a taxi slave then.

Fuel is about 17p a litre so you can fill up regularly and not spend 90% of your salary.

Is there anyway your employer can bring you out for a vacation so you can see for yourself?

You really don't want to take your test here - they teach you how to text at high speed and how to slam on the brakes at the last second cos the wall hasn't moved and that's about it.

At least get your licence in the UK first and you have options, it could take you a year or so here.

hehe oh dear. cycling is out of the question then.

Im not particularly confident on a motorbike, just stupid or lucky.

thank you for your help, ill look at getting my license in the UK. I just resent giving some driving school hundreds of pounds! or I will be a taxi slave for a year

It costs about £600 here to pass, probably cheaper in UK and you will be a much better driver for it.

I have friends who have learnt here and they are very nervous as their instructors spent more time on their Iphones than actually teaching them anything.

Good luck :-)

Thank you very much

Hi Becky,

I agree with Jo's comments here.

Cycling or motorbiking here is something i would avoid. Although i do see very few people cycling here, i guess its because of the cooler months - but now the temperature has started to rise and cycling would be pretty uncomfortable as time goes along. During summer, temperatures reach 45+ degrees! Moreover on the safety aspects, the driving here is somewhat crazy to put it lightly! There are no cycle routes here either! You're right about public transport too - it doesn't exist here...

You will be much safer in a car - You're better off obtaining your driving licence from the UK then using it here to obtain a Bahraini one. I wrote the process on how to do this a while back ;

Driving with UK licence in Bahrain

The good thing here, the island is small so you can get from A to B relatively in short time - apart from Thursday evenings  due to cars from neighbouring states getting ready for the weekend - so abit of traffic..but nothing compared to UK

As Jo mentioned, the petrol is cheap here and plus the cars here are mainly automatics. So no hassle of manual gear changing..

I would also go with Jo's suggestion trying to get your employer to get you out here so you can get a feel of the place before you start.

Hope this helps,
Jaz

You really don't want to take your test here - they teach you how to text at high speed and how to slam on the brakes at the last second cos the wall hasn't moved and that's about it.

I've heard similar stories...

Becky, more of a reason to get your license in the UK

thank you very much all useful points! I'm undecided on getting a driving license in the UK and converting it versus relying on taxis. I've asked my employer to let me come over a few weeks early and they only agreed to one week so I doubt they will pay for me to come over for a vacation. its fine, Ill just adapt
Thank you

Absolutely get a driving license in the UK! You will thank me later.

As you passed your test here Brightonguy you are the comment to trust 100%

Becky, Hope you will get your licence in the UK soon. Just a help for you, given the time span you have before you start working here, if it helps, friday mornings the roads are fairly quiet here so its a good time to get used to the roads here and to familiarize yourself with driving here. But i'm sure you'll get the hang of it in no time...just dont pickup all the bad habits or become a road hog! -  best of luck


So Brightonguy, have you learned how to text at high speed while driving - just kidding   Hope you're finding the driving ok here and things are going good..

J

My driving instructor constantly played with his phone and left me alone so I learned it by myself more or less.