El-Aurens

I'm single guy climbing up the walls in Riyadh with boredom but now have a car to get me to Bahrain to experience some 'life'. Question is where to go when I get there? Any tips on where to stay and entertaining places to go/avoid gratefully received.

Tockalosh

well give us a clue what you want to do and whether you are on a high, medium or low budget
i would start by saying you should fly rather than drive

The Dean

What's wrong with driving? Nobody does that, Tosh...... or are the Saudi tanks still holding up the causeway traffic?

Tockalosh

Well there was a bit of logic behind it. If I had been marooned for a while in Riyadh and was going to Bh to kick the backside out of it then I would expect to depart Bh, with a very bad hangover and worn out from beating the back doors out of of flipper or 3. Far better to have a last beer at the airport, resting thy aching groin muscles than face the drive back to Riyadh sore and feeling poorly

Also means you can relax from the minute you arrive Riyadh airport for the outbound flight

Though I guess heading for the dizzy heights of Bahrain by short road trip may just raise the excitement levels as you get closer to Nirvana, who knows. I would fly personally

norsk

causeway traffic is not good at the moment either. in typical summer style..i'm talking 2-3 hours..

El-Aurens

Tockalosh seems to have got the idea of what I’m looking for – the less shariah compliant the better!! – though by driving you save about SAR 1,000 on the cost of travel which must be worth an extra pair of flippers right?

Ok simple requirements as follows:

1) Good ordinary boozer/ sports bar to get going with
2) Lively Bar with band
3) Decent last port of call (doesn’t necessarily have to be Manila)
4) Well located hotel for around 500SAR per night.

Not interested in revolving restaurants, cinemas, shopping malls etc…

Does anyone know where the aircrews hang out?

And what’s the deal coming back into Saudi on the causeway – do they check the contents of your ‘water bottles’?

Thanks.

Bahtatboy

Diggers at the Delmon International Hotel. Down-to-earth bar with a decent flip band. Last time I went there my colleague asked why there were so many waitresses.

You can also stay at the Delmon--it isn't plush but I've stayed in worse. Rack rate is about 300.

Tockalosh

http://www.warblerpubbahrain.com/about-warbler/

No idea of room rates in the hotel above the bar but the link or telephone number should be somewhere around this site. And haggle like mad as room occupancy rates are very low at the moment so there are deals to be struck

Think I saw an advert for the Raddison at 50 bd a night which also has an Irish bar but isnt so popular however its dead easy to find and the Warbler is a 2 dinar taxi ride away.

Used to get the stilleto shuffle at ten o'clock in the old days when they arrived en masse in the Warbler but havent been in for a long long time

100 BD should get you 3 if you haggle hard or two and some change if dont

And of course there is diggers. All taxis should be on the meter now and are cheap as chips so no need to stay in a posh hotel if you dont want to.

No idea where the Gulf Air hosties sup these days as dont go into town, Norsk should be able to help you out with that one,

No idea on the water bottles but no one has any problems taking their "chicken sausage" or "chicken fillets" back. Head to Al Osra in Buddaiya and tell the butcher you are from Saudi and he will sort you out

Just realized I am getting old as the thought of bacon is more appealing and more important than 3 pairs of flipper stilletos at the end of the bed. Cest la vie

Enjoy and have fun

heartofdarkness

Heads up..since the Warbler was renovated about a year or so ago think they they have "cleaned the place up"..Last few times I've been there not many if any of the working ladies there...looked like more kids from St. Chris....Club F1 up the block always loaded late but heavily China girls..

Tockalosh

In the light of this updated information, it looks like a room at the Raddison and then a taxi off to Diggers for an oriental takeaway.

norsk

So apparently I should know. Right?! I go out maybe once every 3 months I guess, but Tock is right in that I have a pretty good idea.

Taboo nightclub in Phoenicia Towers is where I believe a lot of the air crews go. This is more or less free from working girls and has a bit more of an upper class feel to it. Plenty of arab and expat men and women. All white interior with a pool! They have a DJ who will play the same club music that you would hear in London, Paris, New York but with a bit of an arab twist and last time I was there they had a guy on bongos. Can be quite cool, but can also be awful! You'll see plenty of Bahraini women (and Saudi I guess, but can't confirm) dancing with each other all glammed up in tight jeans, low-cut tops and fk me stilettos...

Taboo closes at 2am, and when it does everyone goes down one floor to Ground Zero. Same style, same clientele. All black interior. Open 2 - 6am...

Tockalosh

Lmao, for a man who only goes out once every 3 months you have these timings very precise.....

Diplomat is definitiely doing rooms at 49 bhd a night so hope he didnt end up in some shithole round the back of the Bab for 40 lol

Lets see if he comes back with an update for the other readers on current costs for debauchery in the Kingdom. I am sure with the current downtown, there must have been a realignment of prices

El-Aurens

This is all good stuff folks, thanks. Unfortunatley I'm stuck here another weekend. Will give the full rundown after I eventually make it to the city of sin. Hopefully next weekend. Think I'm going to do an early start on Thursday to miss the causeway traffic on Wed night.

Tockalosh

Jolly good, have a good weekend and dont book into some shithole when the Diplomat is only 49

If you manage to slip into the Warbler as well then an update would be welcomed if only for old times sake but dont let that interupt your trip to Diggers

Come Weds night and put up with the delays at the causeway for a few hours, plenty of fun to be had later on at night so a few hours wont make any difference. If you arrive early Thurs then the flippers will be scraping out last nights Arab muck so the place will be deserted and thats just wasted time

Have fun

Tockalosh

Oh and the Gov informed us last week that HIV cases had dropped to almost nothing so no need of those nasty condom thingies. All the girls are very clean and no disease.