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RickBlaine · Joined: 26 Jun 2011 Posts: 26

Anyone living in Riyadh take weekend trips to Bahrain? I've heard there's a train running to Dammam. I assume taxis run from the Saudi side across the causeway. Is this right?

RB

scot47 · Joined: 10 Jan 2003 Posts: 15343

Good train service Riyadh-Dammam
A Taxi from Dammam to Bahrain costs SR300

You might find it easier to fly Riyadh-Bahrain

sicklyman · Joined: 02 Feb 2013 Posts: 930

easier and quicker yes but cheaper no

The train to Dammam will take 4 hours. the taxi across, at the weekend, will take you at least two hours, possibly longer. Then you have to do all that in reverse. So, for a weekend, you're spending 12+ hours of it sitting in public transport.

Barely worth it by the time you have factored in when the trains run etc.

Oh... also... you can't just jump in a taxi at Dammam station and expect them to be able to take you to Manama (or in reverse either). Only certain taxi drivers can take you the whole way across and you usually book them in advance (and agree on a price). How do you get the number to book one? Well, you talk to taxi drivers and they know someone who knows someone who has a cousin whose friend drives across.

If I was living in Riyadh, I would not even contemplate going to Bahrain for a weekend. But then, I would never ever live in Riyadh.

scot47 · Joined: 10 Jan 2003 Posts: 15343

Bahrain is a seedy, post-colonial slum. Some glitzy shopping malls and lots of bars with hookers. Is that your scene ?

To make it worse it is a police state where a small minority take all the goodies and resist any attempts at a move to democracy.

If you wish to persist in your folly, Gulfair are offering return flights for SR1200 from Riyadh to Bahrain.

Whatever you do, avoid Wendy's Bar.

sicklyman · Joined: 02 Feb 2013 Posts: 930

MuscatGary · Posted: Sat Mar 14, 2015 7:15 pm Post subject:

jaffa · Joined: 25 Oct 2012 Posts: 403

Hehe! Am off to Devil's island tomorrow, thankfully not from Riyadh. Though I'm sure you'll find ways to quench your thirst there Wink

Kind of a last hurrah for me before I hit the road out of here.

Wendy's .... Very Happy

apparently for those of alternative persuasions ... and I was once followed into the toilet by a randy local, but just give them the standard 'take a running jump' with a hint of menace and it's not a bad place to escape the sauna and fights in Diggers. I did enjoy watching some African chicks shaking their money-makers a while back and there's a good Filipino cover band.

There are loads of buses from Riyadh which seem to take an incredibly long time - https://www.saptco.com.sa/Buses/Home.aspx - plus the train, although apparently that's prone to all sorts of delays like sand, dead camels on the track, etc. What fun can be had, huh?

There's also a very good bus service from Dammam bus station to Manama which has its own lane at the border so you can kind of avoid the delays there depending on how full the bus is. If it's almost empty, you're laughing.

Bahrain is great for a respite from the insanity of KSA and midweek it's like a little provincial backwater and the locals (except for taxi drivers) are a breed apart from the mainlanders.

scot47 · Joined: 10 Jan 2003 Posts: 15343

Bahraini taxidrivers are larcenous. They seem to ask for ten times the legal fare without blinking an eyelid.

scot47 · Joined: 10 Jan 2003 Posts: 15343

The Causeway is a marvel to behold, a great triumph of Civil Engineering

Pikgitina · Joined: 09 Jan 2006 Posts: 420 Location: KSA

Also, if you're going to fly to Bahrain from Riyadh, you might as well go to the UAE. It has all the attributes Scot listed and then some. Cool

MixtecaMike · Joined: 19 Nov 2003 Posts: 643 Location: Guatebad

In Bahrain I can buy nutmeg and let my wife go to the shops all by herself. So there's even something different for us non drinking happily married folk to do.

However I am looking forward to a one-way ticket home this summer vacation, so I won't be off to "exciting" Bahrain for next week's midterm break.