The downtown area is as sleek and modern as any other Arab city. The marina, stuffed with luxury yachts and million-dollar sail boats, serves as a reminder of just how far the city and indeed the whole country, has come. After centuries of foreign invasions and colonialism, Manama has for the past 35 years enjoyed a taste of freedom and self-determination that has seen it flourish and become one of the leading economic centres in the Arab world. Wealth has come here as a result of oil but Manama has gone beyond the simplicity of just selling off crude. Where Baghdad, Beirut, Tehran and Amman have suffered intermittent upheaval and violence, Manama has quietly gotten on with the job of moving forward, both economically and socially. Today the capital of Bahrain is known concurrently as a city of Islamic tradition but also of progression and relative openness in a region where state-induced stifling of the population is more often the norm. One thing that Manama has not been able to modify in a bid to become more foreigner-friendly is the weather. Come here between May and September and expect temperatures that can reach dangerous levels combined with a sticky humidity that is usually unbearable for many Westerners. The other half of the year is the best time to come – January and February in particular see temperatures fall to almost perfect levels, when the days are warm and the evenings pleasantly cool. Thankfully, even when the mercury does start rising, the beach and the Persian Gulf are never far away. | 
