Pearling Trail trek on Bahrain National day 16-12-2020

This was my first time to witness the joyful and vibrant celebrations of  Bahrain national day. Moreover COVID19 forced us to be within the country whole year and trekking on the mountains was not possible. So I decided to make use of the opportunity and explore Bahrain during national day holidays.

I had read about the Pearling Trail last year but my plans to visit the trail were aborted due to the pandemic and the holidays for National day made the perfect setting to this exploration. 

Bahrain has rich tradition and culture not much known outside the kingdom. The history and importance of pearl probably made the creators of the trail choose the name. 

Origin of Name and a bit of history of Bahrain :

Bahrayn is the dual form of Arabic bahr ("sea"), so al-Bahrayn originally means "the two seas",It remains disputed which "two seas" the name Bahrayn originally refers to. Today, Bahrain's "two seas" are generally taken to be the bay east and west of the island. 

An alternate theory with regard to Bahrain's toponomy is offered by the al-Ahsa region, which suggests that the two seas were the Great Green Ocean (the Persian Gulf) and a peaceful lake on the Arabian mainland. Until the late Middle Ages, "Bahrain" referred to the region of Eastern Arabia that included Southern Iraq, Kuwait, Al-Hasa, Qatif, and Bahrain. The region stretched from Basra in Iraq to the Strait of Hormuz in Oman. This was Iqlīm al-Bahrayn's "Bahrayn Province". The exact date at which the term "Bahrain" began to refer solely to the Awal archipelago is unknown. The entire coastal strip of Eastern Arabia was known as "Bahrain" for a millennium.               

Bahrain was home to Dilmun, an important Bronze Age trade centre linking Mesopotamia and the Indus Valley. During the classical era, Bahrain was referred to by the ancient Greeks as Tylos, the centre of pearl trading, when the Greek admiral Nearchus serving under Alexander the Great landed on Bahrain.
Some place names in Bahrain go back to the Tylos era; for instance the name of Arad, a residential suburb of Muharraq, is believed to originate from "Arados", the ancient Greek name for Muharraq !! Bahrain was also the site of worship of an ox deity called Awal. For many centuries after Tylos, Bahrain was known as Awal

The Bahrain Authority for Culture and Antiquities, in the year 2013 set out to preserve and revive the spirit of this historical area, highlighting its social and economic importance. Visitors to the area can follow "The Pearl Route", a pathway extending 3.5 kilometers from Pearl Herat to the heart of Muharraq. This includes various buildings, oyster beds, and parts of the seashore which were involved in the pearling economy, especially in the 19th century. The route also includes a modern-built visitor centre and two public squares. The buildings listed by UNESCO were the residences and majlises of rich pearl merchants, along with shopping establishments, storage houses. The golden age of pearling was between the 1850s to 1930. There were around 30,000 pearl divers by the end of 1930, as pearling was the principal industry in Bahrain prior to the discovery of oil in 1932

For centuries, the oyster beds located off the northern shores of Bahrain were famous for the quality of their pearls, the density of their oysters, and the high ratio of pearl discoveries made during the pearl collecting season. The reputation of Bahrain’s oyster beds as the richest in the Arabian Gulf meant that in the season, pearling dhows from Qatar, Kuwait and the South Persian coast sailed to join pearling fleets from Muharraq and the main island of Bahrain in the quest for the prized natural treasures. They were able to do so because the waters of the Arabian Gulf were considered the common property of all its coastal dwellers.

Pearling, Testimony of an Island Economy” has been inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in June 2012, which granted a global recognition to the significance of the site

The Pearling Trail 

There are many maps in the public domain to visit places in the trail, but I found below map more useful and simple. Moved from point to point starting from the visitor center opposite Muharraq bus station. 

(A) Saffron Café / Suq Al Qaysariya
(B) Mohammad Bin Faris Music Hall (and the house/museum next to it)
(C) Buzaboon House + Vertical Garden
(D) Abdullah Al Zayed House for Bahraini Press Heritage
(E) Shaikh Ebrahim Bin Mohammed Center for Culture & Research (and surrounding projects)
(F) Isa bin Ali House
(G) Busaad Art Gallery
(H) Siyadi House & Mosque
(I) Al Oraifi Museum
(K) Maison Jamsheer

I started the trail at visitor center. However, as the center would only open at noon, I planned to return to same after finishing other spots. 

I collected nice info booklets from  the person manning Abdullah Al Zayed House. The entry pass costs BD1. The ticket  has QR codes for each location that you can scan and use Google maps to reach he sites !! One can get details of most key locations from the reviews or "about" tab of the Google search page. Wish the QR codes were printed

with some description and spaced apart for ease of use.  

It appeared that the staff lacked  training in tourism and heritage though the whole concept of connecting each site was well conceived with the larger picture of educating the public about Bahrain's tradition and culture. Some of them were quite friendly and helped in guiding from one place to other.  It was not always easy to locate the  sites though the pearl topped lamp-posts were quite useful. Word of the mouth played the trick most of the time. 

I would request the authorities to keep well trained staff at the start and end points with the info packages so that visitors can plan the trek and understand importance of each site before reaching there. 

The coffee shop, Children's library, water garden, Art House, Press Heritage centre and vertical garden etc are impressive even to those not quite interested in heritage or history. Some of the buildings displayed subtle blend of modern architecture without damaging the delicate fabric of traditional design. 

The captain's (nukhida) house was historically a very important place for the pearling industry. Visitors and divers who came to Bahrain were hosted here, and ship crews met up ahead of the pearl diving season

The music hall located Near Mohamed bin Faris House is still used to host musical evenings and folklore troupes to revive the music of the Gulf. I believe there are music events every Thursday 8 PM ( stopped temporarily due to the pandemic ).

Enjoyed the walk from the music hall towards Vertical garden and Buzaboon house as I had the opportunity to stop at small shops on the way and feel the pulse of traders of different nationalities. For example it was amazing to know that Satish, the elderly person from Kerala India running the wooden handicrafts  shop has been doing the same job for more than 20 years ! An artist of wood work, he now supervises apprentices in same trade. The sweet shops , pet shops where talking parrots entertain the visitors and tiny textile shops on narrow streets full of glittering red and white dresses for national day were all excellent treat to the eyes, ears and mind ! 

The intricate designs of the wood carving displayed in front of Satish's handicraft shop were amazing work of high quality art !

Opening Hours

The following houses and sites on the path are open to the public:

Pearling Path Visitor and Experience Centre

open daily from 12:00 pm – 6:00 pm except on Sundays

 Al Nukhidhah House

open daily from 8:00 am – 1:00 pm, 4:00 pm – 7:00 pm except on Fridays

Over all, I enjoyed visiting the Pearling Trail and recommend every citizen and resident of Bahrain interested in Bahrain's heritage to visit these sites. I have shared the images and videos shot during the trek which can accessed by clicking this link 

The Culture Pass allows a visit to Manamat Al Gosaibi a memorial house in honour of  Saudi's beloved public figure Dr Gazi Abdul Rahman Al Gosaibi in the heart of Manama. He was a renowned poet, outspoken liberal, reformist, minister and ambassador to Bahrain. 

The "green stairway to heaven" in side the Manamat al Gosaibi. This quiet memorial house very close to the hustle and bustle of Manama souq was a pleasant surprise ! 

The National day celebration ended with a visit to the Bahrain Bay where I watched a fantastic fireworks display. Captured it live and shared in this link.   The huge crowd gathered on all sides of the bay was enthralled by dazzling pyrotechnics that lit up Bahrain sky.