Getting to Bahrain

Alliecat wrote:

Okay, what's the easiest way for a single woman to get to Bahrain?

I've heard there is a bus?  What about the train to Damman and then a bus over to Bahrain? 

Also, any recommendations for a place to stay?  Something clean, safe, reasonably-priced, with, hopefully, its own restaurant/bar (emphasis on 'bar' lol).

I am feeling the need to start making some weekend trips but just don't really know where to begin because everything is such a hassle and information is difficult to come by (unless you want to take a plane, but that's overpriced and I'd have the bullshit of having to be 'picked up' at the airport when I return blah!).

Hi Alliecat,
I used to live in KSA and understand you. I would not have been able to live for months at a time in Riyadh!!!
I was living in Khobar with hubbie and daughter and we would enjoy going to Bahrain from time to time!
However, from friends I understand that it's not really easy from Riyadh: by car it's about 4 hours trip already, so by bus, it will be even longer and I wouldn't dream about it (you know the problem of women segregation in KSA) and even not by train (I think there is only one a day to Dammam).
Then from Khobar, in the last months we were in KSA, it would sometimes take 4 to 6 hours on the causeway to cross over to Bahrain because of the huge crowd of undisciplined Saudis wanting to cross...
So really I could only advise you to go only once in a while to Bahrain but to go by airplane. Ok I know the problems for a single woman to travel by plane (as you said having someone to fetch you at the airport) but really it would save you many hours of travel which, by the way would make your W.E. in Bahrain very short.
Anyway what are you doing in Riyadh????
Talk to you soon.
Arlette

I'd fly if I were you, Allie.  It's cheaper and easier than taking a train, getting to the "bus" (which is on the edge of the Filipino Souk), then getting over the causeway.

Fly, girl.  Cheaper, safer and easier.

Saudi Railway Station

the above link will give you the schedules and pricings. hehehehe:P


Salman

Its not as complicated as it seem.U may be a single woman but u r not saudi so its not as difficult as it been seems.

1)Yes,flying is best option.
2)its 4 hours to Dammam by train and u can continue your trip by bus to Behrin and then rent a car or get cab.
3)or u can join some family,[husband wife]who can make plan with u and u think u can have fun with them.

In my view the easiest and least complicated of all would be to stop being single. Walaaaa!

True, mm. Maybe I'll rent a hubby for the duration of my stay.

An idea:  if I became somebody's second or third wife, it would be VOID in the USA, wouldn't it???

yes, the USA does not allow Polygamy in any form although the Mormons in Utah do practice it without having to officially register their additional relationships, more like the Tiger Woods way which is common across the board, anyways.

Best stop in Bahrain !
You must be in Ritz-Carlton starting from sunset at Mai-Tai Lounge.. It is by the seaside and Latin live music starts at 21:00 to 24:00.. Prices are very reasonable.
It is excellent...  ( latest recommendation )..
P.S. Sherlock Holmes (English Pub)down graded as second..

Alliecat wrote:

True, mm. Maybe I'll rent a hubby for the duration of my stay.

Where do we submit applications?

You won't believe it!!! 

I got a marriage proposal today--of course, as he explained it to me, it is for the purpose of getting US citizenship.  He assured me he has money.

At first I wasn't sure I was understanding correctly since his English isn't that good.

Once I was certain of what he was saying, I replied that it was something I couldn't possibly even consider doing.
That seemed to have ended the conversation.

Am I hijacking my own thread? We were talking about husbands, afterall

Thanks for the great response, Arlette, and yes, I know you're right about this--but I was hoping lol 

I'm here in Saudi working for a hospital.  Life had become a bit too predictable at home and I needed an adventure.  Add to that the uncertainty of the economic/job situation in the States.  So a lot of things just kind of 'came together' and here I am!

I am conflicted about life in Saudi; I like my work and colleagues and students but at times I feel so confined. There seems to be two kinds of women here:  the ones like me and the 'party girls' who are younger and a bit wild and therefore are invited to all the embassy/compound parties.  They are the ones who write to forums about how great KSA is and how there is so much to do LOL 

Of course, being married makes a woman's life here much easier (kind of like having a 'Godfather' in the US haha).

Comments, as always, are welcome

Interesting marriage proposal, indeed. Art least the man was forthright in his intenmt. Give him that due.

I was not aware that if a non American man marries an American woman he autoimatically gets American citizenship. Does it work that way? You got me thinking here... heh heh!

But why would I want to be an American in the first place with the Sarah Palin style politics, recession, et al, esp at 62?

My ideal retirement would be a small log cabin on the tea growing mountains of Sri Lanka where I can get myselkf of this techie bus and live off the land with the birds, bees, fauna and flora. Ahhhhhhh! I guess I have to keep on dreaming even at this nice young age?

musicman, if an American marries a non-American, the spouse automatically gets a green-card and can attain citizenship in just 3 years (instead of the usual 5).

Now, guess what the NEWS is?  Turns out the guy who proposed is already married!  Interesting.  He is Muslim so can have several wives but was his plan to bring her to the US with us? lol  I wonder if spousal green cards apply to the wives of the American wife's husband??   Funny shit!

Hmmm, interesting indeed. Muslim men are allowed four wives at any given time. However that is only legally acceptable in a few Muslim countries and also in Sri Lanka which is a Buddhist country. Thanks to the grand ole Brits who left their legacy of legal mutations behind to serve all the communities.

From what you say the applicable US Law will only allow him to bring one legally accepted wife (by US Law) into the USA and not any other spouses from previous marriages that may or may not have been dissolved. Seems pretty clear.

You got me thinking of looking foir a green card, PuddyTat.... heh heh Just joking!

Theres no place on earth like Sri Lanka, a land like no other. Come and visit and you will never regret it. PROMISE!

MM -- how far is Sri Lanka from Jeddah -- I have always wanted to go there since I read The Lost Horizon as a child...I mean I know Shangri La isnt Sri Lanka -- but I always imagined the pure lands of Tibet calling my heart!

btw, Lost Horizon is a 1933 novel by English writer James Hilton.

Allie -- just a clarification for any GC hungry individuals who lurk on here -- its not easy to get the GC anymore, it isnt automatic and its a very thorough process!

With that said -- I wonder what he was willing to pay LOL.

nina, flying time from Jeddah to Colombo (Sri Lanka) is about 6.5 hours non stop. From Riyadh its about 5.5 hours.

Sri lanka was referred to as SERENDIB by the ancient Arab mariners who visited the island for trade. Sindbad the sailor also has reference to it in the 1001 Arabian Nights. The famous Arab traveller Ibn Batuta visited the island and wrote much about his wanderings, especially the visit to the mountain peak called "Adams Peak" where a huge footprint is seen at the summit and which is believd to be one of Prophet Adam's when he was banished from Heaven and sento earth with his spouse Eve, by God, as narrated in Biblical and Quranic scripture.

No wonder they call it "A Taste of Paradise" and also "A land like No Other". Seeing is believeing. Take your next vacation there. Bet you, you will not have any regrets.

MM, oooo thats sound interesting as a trip!

Thanks for the information -- I googles a bit about Sri Lanka and it looks like a lovely Island.

A very interesting and informative thread we have here ! Good Sharing fellas!