Less than two weeks after I finished my Mumbai trip, I embarked on yet another journey. This one… it’s a very special and quite significant trip. I was going to the island of Bahrain in the Middle East… after 23 years! Bahrain is where me and my brothers grew up, and finished our schooling. My father worked there until 2006 and then again briefly in 2016.
On the night of Feb 2, my older brother dropped me off at Bengaluru airport’s new Terminal 2 — a visual stunner!
BLR terminal 2 is easily the most beautiful airport I have ever seen!
To get to the bus bay and the counters for Uber and Ola, take this lift downstairs
The interiors are absolutely STUNNING!
I arrived early simply to spend some time admiring the beauty of BLR Terminal 2. Designed by renowned architecture giant Skidmore, Owings, and Merrill (SOM), Bengaluru’s new airport terminal is now used primarily for international flights — but do note — Air India uses T2 for both its domestic and international flights.
A signature design element of T2 are these hanging garden structures
My flight was Etihad — an airline I had never flown before
I highly recommend arriving early just to appreciate the design of BLR T2
One thing that hasn’t changed was the slow process of security checks. Having to take out all my electronics and re-pack… so irritating! Come on CISF, technology has fixed this problem already!
Once I cleared immigration, I walked through the Duty Free
See the video below for more footage from the Duty Free but nothing special — it’s big on liquor, and I just made a note of prices.
Many of the chocolates were cheaper to buy from supermarkets in Bahrain.
You have Starbucks and a bunch of branded stores past the Duty Free
When you enter the concourse, the impressive interiors continue
Look at the lines outside the Zero Eight Zero Lounge! I had Priority Pass but I didn’t wish to waste time waiting in line.
Apart from lounges, you have even more food options here
Cross-laid engineered bamboo is a distinctive material used across Terminal 2
I walked to my gates
Quite a lot of gates!
I sat near my gate, in front of the art installations, of which there are many across T2
Although the Etihad flight was delayed, I was still very excited
I got an aisle seat right at the very front.. and fortunately, had nobody next to me. So I switched to the window seat as I had the entire row to myself.
A new trend among airlines? I noticed there were no in-flight entertainment screens behind every seat. Turns out Etihad had them removed on Airbus A320 and 321 planes to “save weight”. Truth is, it’s cost-cutting measure, plain and simple. Just one less feature to spend on and maintain. And I thought Etihad was on par with Emirates and Qatar Airways.
For in-flight entertainment, passengers have to scan this QR code to get a website to load and watch content on our phone or tablet — but it did not work for me
Give the timing of my flight, meal service was breakfast and it was just average. Chicken sausage, plain omelette in a tomato sauce, fruits, yogurt, and a bread roll.
I tried to sleep but couldn’t because it wasn’t too long before the sun came up.
3.5 hours later, I could see the desert sands of Abu Dhabi — the largest emirate in the UAE.
I get nostalgic whenever I fly to the Gulf — any GCC country — because they all have more or less the same vibe.
No shortage of space in Abu Dhabi
We were about to land
One of the main reasons for flying Etihad was to see the new Zayed International Airport
The new airport’s inauguration was delayed due to COVID-19
The last time I visited Abu Dhabi was in 2010, when my father worked here. The old airport had given away to a multi-billion dollar new airport designed by the same architecture firm behind BLR T2.
I had some time between my connecting flight to Bahrain
Not just the exteriors but even the interiors are futuristic in design
Even though the architects were SOM, the design gives off Zaha Hadid’s signature design cues
I exchanged some AED my younger brother had since COVID-19, and then just walked around the shops
Check out the video at the end of this blog post for footage I recorded at both airports
After I had seen enough, I went to my gate
My Bahrain flight was delayed slightly so I used the time to finish some work
An aerial view of the Yas Marina race circuit
Given the flight was only an hour long, the in-flight meal was just a small cheese sandwich, some nuts, and a KitKat
I bid adieu to Abu Dhabi and the UAE. My arrival at Bahrain International Airport will be the next post because I took even more photos on just day 1. If you want a preview though… just watch the vlog below.
For the few who regularly check my blog, first of all — thank you! Secondly, I know I haven’t updated it much in the past 2 weeks.
And that’s because I was on a two week vacation to Abu Dhabi and Dubai to visit family and friends.
I was last in the Gulf in 2002, having spent 6 months in Bahrain, after graduating from college. Since then, the Middle East has been a hot bed of activity — both good and bad. From the US-invasion of Iraq, the war in Lebanon, to rising oil prices — a key factor for the US invasion of Iraq — and one that helped fuel the massive construction boom that left the world stunned.
But in 2007, I knew it was all going to come crashing down. Which it did. Very Badly.
My opinion piece on all that will come later. Beginning with this, the next few posts are going to document my two weeks in the UAE (Abu Dhabi and Dubai mostly).
Date: 2nd April, 2010
I booked my tickets online from both Yatra.com and Makemytrip.com. I could have just done with Yatra but unfortunately the stupid site won’t allow for one-way international flight searches. So I booked my onward journey with Yatra (Bangalore to Abu Dhabi via Doha) on Qatar Airways (because my father insisted that I fly with them) and the return journey (Dubai to Bangalore via Goa) on Indian Airlines. Totally, the tickets cost me around Rs. 18k (10k change + 7k change). In the morning, I got me some UAE dirhams from the UAE Exchange branch in Koramangala and decided to take the Vayu Vajra BMTC bus at night to go to the airport.
Unfortunately, when me and my brother headed to the HSR Layout bus stop, assuming I could board the 12am bus, I was told by the passing-by Volvo bus driver that all buses post 11:30pm were cancelled! Figuring the options were slim or too expensive at that time, my brother decided to drive me all the way to the airport. I had the time, my flight was only at 4:35am.
The drive took us an hour and just past 1am, we finally arrived.
I thanked my brother and after our goodbyes, went in. The first thing I did before checking in my luggage was declare my camera with customs and collect the customs duty form. I had learnt from my last Thailand trip and didn’t want any issues this time upon return.
The last time, the Customs officer told me there were large banners informing passengers that they need to declare anything above Rs. 25,000 in value before “exporting” it. I found no such sign or information anywhere at the check-in area. So I asked one of the airport assistants and after asking one another, one assistant offered to accompany me to the customs officer where I can collect my ‘export certificate’.
I had to go all the way upstairs with my luggage, past the immigration counter to get to the customs officer’s desk. He finally inspected my Canon 7D, my two lenses and stated the same on the form before signing it off.
On the way back down, I asked the airport assistant as to why the desk was upstairs after one checked in their luggage. He just said, well, that’s how customs can screw you over. If you check-in something you should have declared, upon return, if customs catches you, you’ll have to deal with them by paying the duty or just paying them off. So my advice is, get to the airport a bit early, inform the assistants that you have something to declare and get the ‘export certificate’.
Having done all that, I came back down, checked-in my luggage and went on with the usual process. I couldn’t get a window-seat or one by the aisle as the lady at the counter said the flight was “over-booked”. (Never, understood how one can “over-book” a flight.)
I passed the rest of my time by taking advantage of the free Wi-Fi service at BIAL. The flight was on time and I sat in-between a rather large man and a woman. Now I understand the controversy over why some airlines are demanding obese passengers buy two seats for themselves.
The Qatar Airways very-late dinner/very-early breakfast was quite good.
My rating: 3.5/5 (Photo taken on Nokia E72)
The main course was a meat-stuffed cheese omlette, chicken cutlet and baked potato. The croissant was quite greasy though. The rest were the usual: fruit juice, salad and dessert.
I tried to sleep but couldn’t manage much of it. So I just watched a heavily-censored version of the very adult situation-centric ‘Up in the Air‘. Since I had already watched the film, it was funny to see them censor certain words like “Asians” with “they” in the film. Oh well, playing it (too) safe I guess.
By 9am, we had landed in Doha, Qatar — also the hub for Qatar Airways. I had switch flights now, which meant getting out of the plane, hopping into the airport for a bit before getting on to another one.
Once inside, the queue to pass through security was rather large. I was starting to get worried if I would miss my flight but after half-an-hour so, I was done.
And though I was supposed to rush to my flight’s gate, instead, I got distracted by two beautiful works of engineering.
The Aston Martin DB9 (Photo taken on Nokia E72)
One of Jeremy Clarkson’s favourite cars
Maserati Gran Turismo
Both cars were top prizes for the Doha Duty Free raffle
After enjoying being this close to such nice (expensive) toys, I made my way to the gate which was near by and boarded the bus to my connecting flight soon after. This Qatar Airways flight was a better plane though (newer I’m presuming). And this time, I got a window seat.
You see those buildings? That’s Doha, the capital of Qatar (Nokia E72)
Since it was just a 45-minute flight, the ‘meal’ was a yummy puff-sandwich and juice. That’s it.
Flying over houses in Abu Dhabi
The air traffic control tower at Abu Dhabi International Airport
Abu Dhabi International Airport
The only bit of the airport that I found interesting
Once I disembarked, I really didn’t have much time to look around as my father had arranged for an airport service by which someone would receive me (with a name card and all) and then guide me through the necessary procedure. Also, I get preferential treatment, which means no waiting in lines! 🙂 The Filipino lady who received me first took me down for the eye-scan, followed by the passport and Visa check and finally baggage collection. All-in-all, 10 minutes and I was out to the lobby where my father was waiting for me with a smile.
Dad calling the taxi to take us home
From the Toyota Corollas of the 90’s, most taxis have now upgraded to Camrys
Father taking a photo of me taking a photo of him taking a photo of me taking a photo of him…
The taxi was headed to a place called Mussafah where my parents were staying with my uncle and aunt (also where I would be staying). Since my dad was only going to be in Abu Dhabi for a year-long project, and since he was new here, he didn’t bother looking for an independent accommodation. Once home, it was welcoming by my mother, aunt and my pesky little cousin. A short sleep and a lunch later, my parents decided to show me around town a bit. Driving around Abu Dhabi city Even though my father has a UAE license, he also didn’t bother getting his own car as he was only going be in the country for a year. So he called his regular taxi guy, a fellow Mallu, to take us for a drive to Abu Dhabi city.
Our ride, the same that picked me up from the airport
We passed by some notable landmarks, first being the Sheikh Zayed Mosque — a.k.a Grand Mosque. Just seeing it from the outside left me impressed. The taxi driver told me it was far more impressive from the inside. My mom told me it’s even prettier at night! But we had to move on. I decided I’d come back the day after to visit the mosque.
(Photos taken from inside the car)
Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre
Construction still in progess in oil-rich Abu Dhabi
We drove past the massive US$2 billion-plus Emirates Palace. The photos I took through gate from outside really don’t show just how impressive this place is. The Emirates Palace was featured in the movie ‘The Kingdom‘. You’re better off just visiting the official website or watching this video to get an idea what this government-owned hotel offers it’s guests. Or you could just work/stay at the neighbouring Etihad Towers to get a birds-eye view of the hotel. After a quick stop for me to take photos out of the car, we drove along the Abu Dhabi corniche. Next, the Marina Mall area of the corniche.
Rich boys and their toys
Marina Mall — one of Abu Dhabi’s most popular malls; houses a Carrefour too
Being back in the Middle East, another thing I was looking forward to was ‘car-spotting’. Most of the world’s fastest and most expensive cars can be found here. While I did spot a few older Porsche’s, they are no match for the über-impressive Nissan GTR.
The first one I spotted on this trip… there would be many more
Sorry, I’m a sucker for good architecture. Thus so many photos of buildings.
Then we got down as my parents wanted to do a bit of shopping. Which gave me the first chance of actually walking about town. An hour or so later, we headed back home… and on the way back home, saw the Shaikh Zayed Mosque ‘at night’. Driving back, I was happy to be in the Gulf again and looking forward to the next few days. Everything just got bigger and taller in the past 7 years and all I kept thinking to myself was — how glad I was that I invested in a wide-angle lens! You so need it here! I ended my day with one other thing I love (and missed) about the Gulf…
