Category Archives: Bahrain

Are you headed to Bahrain? I’ll share everything from my trip. This includes staples like the currency, and stories like how I ended up at a Bahrain camel farm.

Here’s some of the top posts from Bahrain:

500 Camels – my surprising favorite Bahrain experience was something that wasn’t even on my list! The Bahrain Camel Farm has so many camels

Bahrain World Trade Center – my favorite building in all of Bahrain! It has twin wind turbines in the between the two towers.

Architecture in Bahrain – here’s the top 5 buildings in Bahrain.  I was fascinated by them!

How does Jordan fit into a Southeast Asia trip?

How does Jordan fit into a SE Asia trip?  Wonder no longer!

Visiting the Middle East in a SE Asia trip

This is the story of how Jordan and Bahrain, two countries in the Middle East, made it into my southeast Asia itinerary. I might have the strangest itinerary and route of anyone I’ve met in my travels.

Taking advantage of error flights

While I was enjoying Bali and Java, Indonesia, my friend was working on a business trip in Tel Aviv, Israel. She suggested we meet up. They’re not even remotely close, but just for fun I did a quick search. I was to surprised to find an incredible deal!

For $181 USD rountrip, I could fly from KL (Kuala Lumpar, Malaysia) to AMM (Amman, the capital of Jordan). It included a layover in Bahrain via Gulf Air.  That’s about the same price as the short trip to the next country in the area that I was about to book before seeing this.

It must have been an error in the system, or perhaps a generous promotion. But either way, after checking that Gulf Air was a reputable airline, I pounced!

I checked if I could could route through Israel or Egypt. However, c hanging dates or revising the plan so I would have made it cost prohibitive. At this rate I could certainly swing it.  An hour later it was almost twice the price. Later that night the price had nearly quadrupled.

My philosophy on layovers

The initial flight I found included a 4.5 hour layover in Bahrain. Layovers are often built into my longer flights to save money. In case it’s helpful, here’s my philosophy on layovers:

One hour layovers are fine, and 10 hours are often enough to leave the airport and explore. But 4.5 hours is just inconvenient. So I extended it to 19 hours for the same price. That gives me enough time to experience some of tiny Bahrain before heading to Jordan.

It wouldn’t have been possible to book a deal like that if I was on a schedule. I spontaneously decided to take advantage of tremendous savings with a week-long detour that took me halfway back home before returning to the Middle East.

That’s the beauty of a long trip like this.

Jordan map

I can’t fit both Jordan and Java, Indonesia, on the same map where you can see both.

Java’s on the southeast corner of the map (Java Sea is labeled), whereas Jordan’s located on the northwest corner of the map, in between Egypt and Saudi Arabia.

And now back to our regularly scheduled programming – photos and stories from Jordan!

Currency in Bahrain: Dinars

What’s the Currency in Bahrain?

Bahrain’s currency is the dinar (دينار Dīnār Baḥrainī‎). Abbreviated It as BHD (or BD for short). This unit of money for the currency in Bahrain is the dinar. Then dinars are divided into 1000 fils (فلس). Photo of Bahraini currency below.

What’s the origin of the name Dinars?

The name Dinar comes from the Roman currency called “Denarius”

The Bahrain Dinar is the 2nd highest valued currency unit in the world. Trivia: what’s the highest?  Answer at the bottom of this page.

Exchange rates: Bahrain for US Dollars

The current exchange rate for Bahrain currency in US Dollars is here. For example,  BHD is worth 2.65 USD (one USD was worth $0.38 (2011 trip). This should be rather consistent as the Bahraini Dinar is pegged to the US dollar.

Conversions:

From Google Finance: USD AUD CAD CHF EUR GBP HKD JPY
From XE.com: USD AUD CAD CHF EUR GBP HKD JPY
Bahrain Currency - Dinars are the Currency in Bahrain
Bahrain Currency – Bahrain Dinars

What’s pictured on the Bahraini Dinars?

Pictured in the above image:

1 Dinar bill

The back displays galloping horses and the Sail and Pearl monument. Then, on the other side, the front displays Al Hedya Al Khalifiya School (Bahrain first school).

10 Dinar bill

10 Dinar shows Sheikh Hamad ibn Isa Al Khalifah (Bahrain King)

20 Dinar bill

20 Dinar bill shows the Al Fateh Islamic Center.

Trivia: Guess the highest valued currency unit in the world

The highest valued currency unit in the world is the Kuwait dinar. Next, the second most valued currency is Bahrain dinars. It’s one of two countries I visited on this trip that had a higher currency value than the U.S. Dollar – Jordan and Bahrain.  If you’re wondering, the UK is 5th, Australia is 12th, Canada 13th, and United States at 14. Latvia’s 4th!  Info from 2011. Full list is found here.

Also, you can get more info on Bahrain currency on xe.com and wikipedia.

Finally, here’s my post on the Bahrain WTC, my favorite architecture in the country.