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Oman and the Emirates
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  • skip's retirement travelOman and the Emiratesskip's retirement travel

    Kuwait

    29 ноября 2025 г., Кувейт ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C

    Kuwait is a small country near the head of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq, Saudi Arabia and, across the Gulf, Iran. It is much like a city-state as the vast majority of the population lives in and around Kuwait City.
    The 1st picture is an overlook of the city taken from the observation deck of the Kuwait Towers in the 2nd picture. The two large spheres are water tanks while the higher, smaller sphere is the observation deck and a cafe.
    Next are 2 night pictures. The Liberation Tower was started before and finished after the Gulf War. Originally the Kuwait Telecommunication Tower, it was renamed Liberation after the war. The other catches a bit of the harbor and a traditional fishing boat.
    The 5th picture is the fish market, probably the largest display of fish I've seen, and this is just after the daily auction that the restaurants attend. The 6th picture is the more general souq in another part of the building.
    The 7th picture is a mosque that I found interesting from my engineering days. The walls are made of gabions, wire mesh cages or boxes filled with rocks more often used for retaining walls. I've not seen them used as a building material.
    The rest of the pictures are in parks. The 8th photo is a park building with some skyline in the background. 9th is a typical walkway. The 10th picture is a fun sculpture of playing marbles. The 11th picture is a model ship floating in the park.
    The last 2 are of another park focused on history. The 12th picture shows an historic city gate, and the 13th is part of a model depicting old Kuwait City, formerly known as Qurain when it was a small fishing village.    Читать далее

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  • skip's retirement travelOman and the Emiratesskip's retirement travel

    Manama, Bahrain

    1 декабря 2025 г., Бахрейн ⋅ ☀️ 23 °C

    The Kingdom of Bahrain is an island nation in the Persian Gulf north of Qatar. Civilization here dates back to the bronze age. The best known early civilization is the Dilmun dating back as much as 5,000 years.
    Manama is the capital of Bahrain and together with Muharraq, is where most of the population lives.
    The National Museum is justly famous, especially for its collection of Dilmun Civilization history and artifacts.
    The 1st picture is a depiction of Gilgamesh, a Mesopotamian legendary leader dating back at least 3 or 4 millennia. Bahrain was a central trading hub. So many cultures interacted here. Likewise the 2nd picture is of preserved ancient inscriptions in several languages.
    Much is made of Dilmun burial practices. The next 2 pictures are examples from different time periods of the practice which concludes with large burial mounds, of which there were more than 150,000. Some are shown in the 5th picture.
    Bahrain was well regarded for its pearling industry all the way back to antiquity right up to the invention of cultured pearls in the 20th century. The 6th picture is a floating model of a typical pearling vessel. Pictures 7&8 are in a pearl museum, showing sizing, grading and the way the business worked back in the day.
    The next 4 pictures are in the Grand Mosque: from outside; in the courtyard; within the main prayer hall; and from the balcony of the main hall.
    The name Bahrain comes from Arabic, meaning 2 seas. It refers to salt water and fresh water together. Fresh water bubbles up in the midst of sea water and is drinkable. One of those springs is shown in the 13th picture at low tide. I've never seen this before.
    The Bahrain (or Portuguese) Fort in the 14th picture is on an archaeological tell consisting of 6 layers of different eras, including the likely capital of Dilmun. Archaeology and restoration are ongoing.
    Adjacent is the Tylos Fort in the 15th picture. Tylos is the Greek name of the Island dating from the arrival of Alexander the Great and his army.
    The 16th picture is the British Gate built as part of their administrative complex and is an entrance to the souq in the 17th picture.
    Lastly is a look at the harbor at night.    Читать далее

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  • skip's retirement travelOman and the Emiratesskip's retirement travel

    Muharraq, Bahrain

    1 декабря 2025 г., Бахрейн ⋅ ☀️ 25 °C

    Muharraq is an island in Bahrain adjacent to Manama. It was the previous national capital. Several members of the royal family are involved in redeveloping the old palace here.
    In many ways Muharraq is an old town that many cities preserve. In the 1st picture is a typical narrow local street. The rest of the pictures are in restored old houses that are now variously coffee shops, museums etc. The picture of me is in a CERN building related to the super collider in Europe.
    The last 2 pictures are in the Siyadi House that belonged at one time to a pearl merchant. One picture shows mother-of-pearl. The other highlights Cartier pearl jewelry. The carvings reflect Cartier designs, and I'm told that all Cartier pearls are natural (not cultured) pearls from Bahrain.    Читать далее

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    Окончание поездки
    5 декабря 2025 г.