Wow had to check if was in a Muslim country when got to Bahrain! Dec 2011

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F*ck had the shitty luck with booking & making it on airplane flights on the trip! Cuz on the current trip hell booking flights had been like Murphy’s Law !!!

Likel got to the Budapest airport & found out my online booking hadn’t been made so had to buy a ticket! Then in Kiev I was late for my flight & had to buy another ticket and wait 7 1/1 hrs! That was mostly my own stupidity / fault!!

Then I made an online booking from Istanbul, Turkey to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia to Abu Dhabi, UAE and back to Istanbul, Turkey! So thought it was OK but the booking happened to be with Gulf Air so for this cheap flight booking well each sector has a short stopover in Manama, Bahrain where the airline is based!

But then what happened was the airlines told me that I got a slight change in my itinerary from Gulf Air & then I had a 3 DAY STOPOVER in Manama, Bahrain!!!! So emailed Gulf Air to ask them to either book me into a hotel & meals included with them footing the bill cuz it wasn't my change & the Middle East is e$$$pensive! Otherwise wanted them to change my routing to Ethiopia!! But they weren’t replying & I was in Chisinau, Moldova heading for Bucharest, Romania so didn’t have access to a telephone! So u can say I was not a happy camper as who wanted to stay in an airport for 3 days in the Middle East! I had worked in Saudi Arabia & Oman so knew that the airports in the Middle East are crowded with Indian & Pakistani laborers sitting all over the terminal or sleeping on the floor! So where the f*ck was I supposed to sleep? Better yet did I want to sleep in the Bahrain airport? Oh well could always discuss the financial crisis in the US and EU with them instead lol!!!

So spent some time in transit at the Bahrain airport while waiting to go to Dubai to catch a flight to Ethiopia! Gulf Airlines those ass holes had changed my itinerary so I had a 5 day layover in Bahrain on way to Ethiopia! So got 2 couch surfers lined up to host me! But then Gulf Air called me on arrival in Bahrain to tell me they’ll re-route me thru Dubai! Shit why did they wait 2 or 3 wks to tell me! So now don’t have a 5 day layover & don’t need couch surfing hosts! I know in Middle East countries when paper work starts it’s almost impossible to change! So guess will pass on Bahrain and spend more time in Ethiopia where it’s a lot cheaper and things to do outdoors!!! Sure is different here in the Middle East after traveling in Eastern Europe for a while but hey love both places plus love Mother Africa!

So there folks was the latest Dilemma of “What the F*ck is happening to Tom?” Or maybe it should be “What the f*ck is Tom’s latest Predicament?” ! Ah shit still remembered that still had my flight home from Istanbul so hoped the f*ck that didn’t get f8cked up too!!! 

A friend of mine wondered why if I was having problems with the airlines that I couldn’t phone them. So told her that I was in Moldova & they had phones but would have needed to make an international call! So if u think I f*cked up airline tickets well I sucked even more with phone calls probably in Eastern Europe cuz wtf is this + sign before a number? Which is why I stuck to texting & buses as probably only make about 1 actual call a week back home! And doubt if the f*ckin airlines have cell phones to text!!
 

So was  cool to visit Bahrain but hell I wanted to do it on my terms not cuz some f*ckin airlines changes my itinerary on me! Shit if I stayed there for 3 days I’d need a Visa! Also don’t know if u’ve ever spent time in the Middle East but it’s F$CKIN E$PENSIVE! Cuz in my world the magic word is FREE or CHEAP!! Which my stopover in Bahrain wouldn’t be unless I fight for a place to crash in the airport with all the illiterate unskilled laborers waiting for a flight home! So if I had stayed there I had hoped to either couch surf or stay at a hostel! So checked those options out but after I had exhausted hitting up Gulf Air to host me at a hotel with meals! But unfortunately figured I was looking up a dead horse’s ass there!!  

                                                                        
Hell was going to UAE cuz had a free place to crash there cuz it’s more f*ckin E$pensive there! If I stayed in Bahrain would have been cool to also visit Qatar! Then Yemen would have been the only Arab country hadn’t visited on the Arab peninsula!! Had enjoyed the results of Old Soviet countries converting to capitalism in many countries which to me is the only interesting & fun part of Europe! But also love Arab countries cuz can relate to the Bokra (Tomorrow) Insha’allah (God willing) & Ma'alesh (Doesn't matter) attitude to life!! Then was going to check out the Rastafarian movement in Ethiopia & to travel the Ethiopian Highlands if it wasn’t too cool there cuz had enough of the shitty cool weather!

So the reason I travel to those places cuz well my friend those are some of the reasons why I travel to them!!! It’s to check out interesting exotic places (not f*ckin churches, castles, museums & statues) & especially to meet cool interesting people! It’s not to get shit faced in some shit hole city or hostel even though that just happens along the way! So if U can’t figure out why I travel well it’s also to meet awesome people like u! lol Also u wondered my friend could figure out how I could make it around the world when I get lost so often? Well I cut down on my weed & partying intake I guess! But shit Life is all a big adventure & party which we’ll never survive!!!

Then finally heard back from Gulf Air but they weren’t any  f*ckin help so thought screw them & their Customer Service! Could sleep in the Transit Lounge for 3 days with couple hundred illiterate laborers from India, Pakistan & where ever (sorry wasn’t above them but shit I've seen them in airports when worked in Middle East)! Or one of my other friends said that I could put a positive spin on a f*cked up situation (cuz if they dump sour lemon on me well may as well make lemonaide) so was going to Couch Surf in the E$$$$$$pensive Arab country! Gulf Air is no f*ckin help to customers so shit have to help myself! So already had one person who offerred to host me & even pick me up from the airport insha'allah! Also requested a couch from a chick cuz would be cool to experience couch surfing at a chick's place in an Muslim country (for the experience). So hell was going to check out this Muslim country (always bring a gift when I couch surf at someone's place cuz to me as a kind of thank u & exchange) as wtf was  looking at Bahrain as another country to visit on this trip! Cuz seems there are nice, friendly, interesting people in every place u visit on the road of life!