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Old 30th March 2022, 22:29   #1
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Pics & Report | Visiting the Bahrain GP | A Ready Reckoner

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Bahrain is a small island off the Arabian Peninsula. It is much more socially liberal compared to other Arab states but it is still conservative. It is linked by a the King Fahd Causeway to Saudi Arabia so the Saudi's can visit and and have an entertainment outlet. Riyadh is 4 hours away. Jeddah is roughly 9-10 hours. Qatar is located site close as the crow flies so a ferry service could be viable but the current GCC posture on Qatar means this will not happen. Flights to Doha are pretty convoluted.

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Manama is at the top Northwest tip. Sakhir where the F1 action happens, is the green patch in the middle.

So the question was

How do you get there?
What do you do in and around Manama?
What else is there except for the F1?

Beyond oil and financial services, Bahrain is also known for Pearl fishing and Diving at the Southern tip of the island. However, we did not look into this. This guide focusses on going for the F1 and what you can do in between.

So how did this all start?

It started during end Feb - Viddy calls!

"Lets go for the Bahrain F1"

"How do you go about it?"

"Leave it to the homeless (a long standing joke) moderator's travel agent"

To cut a long story short, the homeless mod's agent was charging excessively for the visa and the hotel options looked dodgy. I did a quick check and found we could do this easily on our own, hence this Ready Reckoner on what was required.

Believe me - It is a lot easer that going to the Buddh Circuit in many ways. Air ticket apart, costs are reasonable. The authorities pull out the stops for a painless experience. From landing to getting to the track and back - its simple!

Three of us - Viddy, RobiMahanta and myself took the plunge. Also in the fray was fellow Mod Suhaas who was either getting lost or missing now and then (at least his travelling group were!) and of course the Homeless Moderator Navin who came to listen Eric Clapton and so happened to see the F1 and visit family and become a Vegan on the side.

So what does it take to enjoy a few days of the F1 Weekend


1: Get the Tickets

Buy them direct from Bernie or Liberty

Tickets.formula1.com

Where are the best seats?

The track has various elevations and is a very technical track


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Batelco - The best seats - You can see the cars at speed and as it is elevated, you can see the other parts of the track. The diagonal line marks where we will sit next time. Its also less of a trek compared to the University stand.

The University stand(marked by the arrow) is where we sat. You see turn 1 and some of the other parts of the track as marked by the square

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Block 1 - A section (Right of Arrow) - you see the mainly the turn.
Block 1 - C Section - you see the turn and the acceleration into the DRS zone
Block 2 - (Left of Arrow) only the DRS zone

Around the seats stands - Portocabin toilets are decent. Gets a bit manky on race day but tolerable. Food stalls only serve snacks and overpriced cold coffee and there are queues. A little expensive so best you bring your own snacks. Keep it in your bag and only take out once inside the stand Water bottles are not allowed into the stand so you need to pour into a cup.



Get the Visa


https://www.evisa.gov.bh/

It is free of cost - A month or two before the race, you need to select the Formula 1 Visa - Its valid for entry up till the race day and for two weeks duration only. Apply and then you get notified. Do take a print out.



Book your flight tickets

Your options are

• Air India - only via Delhi - long and convoluted route but comfortable
• Emirates - expensive (at time of writing) and long layover
• Air Arabia - Cheap, minimal time but uncomfortable - seats do not adjust, I made a mistake is selecting an aisle seat and was constantly disturbed by the constant trolley service. Flight is during your deep sleep zone. Full of pilgrims returning and they bring on excess of hand baggage. Best tip - Empty your bladder, snag a window seat and sleep. Lay overs are short but the flights get delayed by an hour to ensure transfers happen. We arrived in Bahrain one hour late and reached back to Bangalore two hours late.
Note - Before leaving Bangalore -you need to the get an "ok to board endorsement" for Rs500 each - i.e upload passport, visa and vaccination certificate to some travel agent portal and tickets gets assigned a OK to Board status.

• GulfAir - Direct - best option but they were not flying yet.

Do prepare and print a hard copy of your Air Suvidha before you depart Manama. It is required to be handed in at your arrival in India. Airlines check this. Create it before you depart or get it printed at the hotel. Alternatively - for 500 fils - you can print at the airport by scanning a QR code and sending it to a travel agent via Whats App or 3 BHD - they will fill up the form and print out.


Book Accommodation

Accommodation is reasonable. Three of us booked a 3 bedroom executive apartment in the Marriot which could easily hold 6. We paid around Rs 30000/day overall and it included a good breakfast. We started the day with a big breakfast and managed on snacks during the day.

Some apartments don’t serve breakfast and if you are in the Juffair area - you need to go a long way to get it. Our lost mod - Suhaas found it difficult to find breakfast at first. We stayed in the Juffair area. There are some steakhouse/ Irish bar places around but not many options for breakfast except for Starbucks. The workaround is to locate an apartment near a supermarket and buy provisions for a quick breakfast. The Juffair mall has some cheap Indian options and plenty of fried chicken. (very cheap that you wonder why you came all the way)

Since most flights arrive in the morning - do ask for an early check in!


View from our Hotel


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At Manama Airport

Be prepared to show your tickets to immigration office - on your phone. They give you a thumbs Up and welcome you in. They had special queues for F1 visitors.

Us 3 waiting for the airport. I changed a little money at the airport. Like all airports - the rates suck. Plenty of options in Malls and other shopping areas. Some of the bigger shops accept foreign currency at reasonable rates.

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Getting from Airport

To avoid local scams, use Uber - Book in airport terminal using airport wireless as the roaming takes time to activate. Normal cabs have surcharges etc which add up!

Entertainment around Manama

Nothing much seems to be open during the day. Everything wakes up at night. The town only comes to life in the evening.

There are no street attractions. Things are conservative on the outside but a lot goes on within. - ie all entertainment are within buildings so you need to get in and explore.

Adilya is the place. Traffic is thick at night on Thurs to Sunday. Full of Saudis drive in to do what they cannot do during the week. You see a lot of classic cars in the area. Some clubs allow you through reservation.We walked into a club but it was too noisy so decided to camp in the Mexican Restaurant downstairs.


Food -

Lunch - Recommend CoCo's in Aldiya but portions are big - It suited us as we just flew in and had skipped breakfast!

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For folks on a budget , some shwarma places are open around the corner. For local food - recommend Al-Abraaj Adilya

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https://www.tripadvisor.in/Restauran...aj-Manama.html

Outside of Aldilya - there are some food trucks in empty space. After the Qualifying and the Show, we tried a takeaway from one of these at 11PM- it was very average though.

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Driving around

One's IDP needs to be validated by their authorities so not worth it unless you are there for a while. Uber is the best although a little expensive but cheaper than car hire. Only time you might consider a car - is if you want to spend a lot of time at the track.

Taxi's are available. Uber is best and come within minutes. A lot of them are driven by Malayali's. Mainly Camrys', Kia's and Sonata's - we did get an Accord and a Ford Flex though.

There are cabs outside the malls but there are scams like fixed price etc. Local authorities do strictly demand that you go by the meter. Stick with Uber!

Weather

Of course, its hot in summer but what you do not realise is that Nov-April, it is very pleasant in the day but freezing at night. 17 degrees but the sea breeze makes it colder.

Last edited by ajmat : 2nd April 2022 at 22:26.
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Old 30th March 2022, 22:29   #2
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re: Pics & Report | Visiting the Bahrain GP | A Ready Reckoner

Getting to the Track

Free shuttles are operated from key hotels every 45 min- The Olive Wynham, Gulf Hotel and the K Hotel are the nearest in the Juffair area. Volunteers are on hand to guide you and radio for more buses if there is a rush. Final Practice days sees small minibuses. Qualifying sees them putting on Midibuses and Big Coaches appear on race day.

At the track

Before entering - All plastic bottles are to be disposed of. Bags are screened and you enter the main gate from P10. Tip - Take a prefilled flask. You need to show the ticket QR code to get through. I took a snapshot and put it in my photos.

You can enter through other Gates - G12 is interesting as you get pass the Paddock Club parking and get to see these

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G13 is suitable for University stands, It is pretty far so you need a shuttle bus. If you have time and energy - recommend that you enter from P10 as there are plenty of interesting sides shows like street performers etc. going on in front.

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The University stand is a bit of a hike - you need to climb down an underpass and climb up some stairs. Various staff check your tickets to ensure you are in the right place and usher you.

Some rich Paddock Club folks getting to ride around the circuit. They pay $6000 for the ticket, the ride and the hospitality.

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Lexus still need to catch Mercedes
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Watching the Race


Its fun - people come from everywhere so everyone is cheering, very few boo's though. Practice helps you in observing and identifying who is who. Due to the light, pics in the afternoon so not come out well. The cars do not move as rapidly. All that changes during Qualifying at night. The cooler air makes a big difference. The light is less intense and pictures are much better.

Between Final Practice and Qualifying - you can watch the Porsche Cup series - Probably the only time we saw Suhaas


As for race day - atmosphere is charged - the Orange Army is present, a few Mexicans, the Tifosi and the F1 Whores - one amongst was us was supporting Ferrari and Red Bull and Haas - he could not make up his mind so he went with the money! (He's a lawyer after all - no passion, just greed!)

Some excerpts from race day

Qualifying




A word from the sponsors



It made two passes to the left and two to the right



Race Day Formation Lap


Lap One


The Last Lap - I literally dropped the phone realising Sergio stalled



Poor Checo
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The Victory Lap





Tribute to the winner
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We tried hooking up to the F1 page in order to view timings and track the cars in order to take pictures. Alas - too much lag and I think the network was throttled! The main screen was too small so this helped in monitoring the timings and status on who pitted!

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Catch a show at the Aldana Arena

This happens after Qualifying - the impression is that the show starts at 630 - then but it starts much later

www.aldana.co,bh

An awesome amphitheatre

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Normally during the F1, there is an anchor performer invited as supporting show. This time, we got Eric Clapton. I saw him play his last concert in 2015 but he is still playing- the same list of songs

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Opens the show with Pretending - Its a brilliant song to get you going!



Here is the poor homeless Vegan Mod who came to see Clapton and just happened to come to the F1 race and visit his sister in law who is resident in Bahrain. Yeah - that's me along with the homeless guy

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The stadium is located near University stands - exit from G13.

Big queues for food and it was very cold. Went for a hot chocolate and found two huge queues - one queue moved faster. I joined that - alas it was for payment and then you join a bigger slower queue to get the actual drink. I walked off to further freeze for Clapton anyway - I would not miss Pretending as the opening act!

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Robi later nipped out during the show when there was less crowd and picked up the drinks within minutes

We left a couple of songs earlier in order to catch a shuttle before it got too crowded. Shuttles are available to the Track bus stand.

Meanwhile - the whole Bahrain Ministry were in force for the show! You know them from the double and triple digit plates. There is a Rolls hidden behind those limos! (all black E/S classes and a solo 7)

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Getting back


Get to the Bus Stand as marked out and tell a volunteer where you want to go and they will group you and assign buses. No proper queues but we are used to that! However, not all the drivers know where they are going. We had to guide one driver and a Hotel Concierge had to also help later on. For us Indians, we are cool with it. For the Europeans - they were a bit unnerved!

On the day of the race, our driver stopped at a the Gulf hotel 2 km away near Aldiya - we decided to eat at AlAbraaj and walk back.

Taxis cost 35 BHD or Rs 7700 from the track. They are in high demand so you have not booked - you are ripe for a scam. Thats probably the only time where a rental car make sense

Last edited by Aditya : 5th April 2022 at 04:57. Reason: Repeated pic deleted
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Old 30th March 2022, 22:29   #3
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re: Pics & Report | Visiting the Bahrain GP | A Ready Reckoner

Sightseeing around Manama

Car Spotting


Its not like Dubai where the city is paved with supercars (assumption - have never been there!) - some supercars can be spotted but streets are not paved with them. When it comes to normal cars - its mainly Japanese and Korean that rule the roost. A few US spec VW's - quite a few Jetta's and Passats, hardly any Audi's. When it comes to Mercs or BMW's - it is the S Class, 7 Series or the 6 Grand Coupe and nothing less. We hardly saw C, E , 3 5's except for official govt cars or police cars (E and 5 series). Plenty of Yank Tanks abound. The Land Cruiser is king here. Some interesting cars come in from Saudi Arabia.

Driving is fairly disciplined - most of the bad drivers come from Saudi! Counted 3 transgressions by Saudi cars on the drive into town.

M3 from Saudi


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A quaint old Mini


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An EcoPotty
- Viddy was so excited seeing many of these around
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The "so called" best car in the world
- Quite a few Swift Dzires were spotted as also Ciaz's and Ertiga's
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A Saudi Corvette
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A GT3. -spotted it at the Track on Race Day
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An immaculate classic 911- We had to peel Suhaas off it
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A Targa - needed wiping down after Suhaas saw it
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An evil SRT

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A California used for grocery shopping
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This Audi A8 (driven by an expat from Saudi) looked hot!

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Ahmed Al Fateh Mosque - the Largest Mosque in Bahrain.

Capacity is 7000. It was completed in 1988. A lot of smaller Mosques are closed on Friday so people come here. Built with Italian Marble.

A very welcoming place. As you enter, you are welcomed and taken on a tour. Garments are on hand for ladies to wear. You get a brief insight on the Mosque architecture, the prayer rituals etc.

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Last edited by ajmat : 2nd April 2022 at 22:35.
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Old 2nd April 2022, 12:27   #4
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re: Pics & Report | Visiting the Bahrain GP | A Ready Reckoner

Qal'at al-Bahrain Fort (Portugese Fort)

It is an archaeological site and a UNESCO heritage site. The Museum was closed on that day so many of the artefacts could not be seen.

It was the Northern Tip of Bahrain but a lot of the land has been reclaimed now.

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Bab Al Bahrain Souq


Set up in the Customs Square area- it was formerly on the coastline but now several KM in due to land reclamation. Beyond, that, it is rather gentrified unlike the Grand Bazar in Istanbul. We walked through and came to a narrow road with Gold shops, garments shops etc. A bit like Commercial Street. Not really interest for us. Looked for local handicrafts. A quick video WhatsApp call with my wife - figured there was nothing of interest.

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A beautiful looking Mosque

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We visited a Perfume Shop - this is a very profitable business here. Got a Chanel No 5 replica blended here. Did not tell my wife this - just that it was a custom made perfume. Sounded cooler. It is mixed right in front of you. You take it home and freeze the bottle for 4-5 days to stabilise it. All for 3 Dinars.

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This is cash business so you need to have the readies. A lot of folks from Saudi visit this place.



National Museum - planned to visit this on the morning we left but it was closed that day.


Malls

Popped into Central Mall - bought AirPods Pros for 17k (25k in India). One of the gang also picked up a Playstation 5. Lot of higher end eating places.

Other Malls are Boda and the Avenues. We went for the race, not for shopping so cannot comment further

So that's it folks, hope I have made it easier for you to make a visit to Bahrain. Its easier than Buddh - why?

1: Reasonable accommodation
2: Transport to the venue is assured

Follow the tips - take a comfortable flight and you could comfortably manage two days minimum.

Last edited by ajmat : 2nd April 2022 at 22:38.
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Old 2nd April 2022, 22:38   #5
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re: Pics & Report | Visiting the Bahrain GP | A Ready Reckoner

Moving to the Main Forum - Enjoy!
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Old 4th April 2022, 10:02   #6
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Re: Pics & Report | Visiting the Bahrain GP | A Ready Reckoner

Thanks for this very detailed post. Will help in getting this checked off my bucket list someday soon. Can’t wait to see Robi’s pics.
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Old 4th April 2022, 10:20   #7
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Re: Pics & Report | Visiting the Bahrain GP | A Ready Reckoner

Nice report Ajit! Seems like you guys had a blast!

Quick question - was the distance between your seats and the F1 track a case of your seats only or was the distance similar for all other (non-mainstand) stands?

It seems a lot more than what we had at the F1 track in India a decade ago, for seats that were of a similar stand (at a nearly 300deg turn after a long straight stretch) - pic linked below.



I'm wondering if this is due to newer safety regulations.
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Old 4th April 2022, 11:07   #8
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Re: Pics & Report | Visiting the Bahrain GP | A Ready Reckoner

Thats a very nice and detailed report. Just one question, are you allowed to bring cameras?
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Old 4th April 2022, 13:33   #9
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Re: Pics & Report | Visiting the Bahrain GP | A Ready Reckoner

Quote:
Originally Posted by virajmore03 View Post
Thats a very nice and detailed report. Just one question, are you allowed to bring cameras?
Yes, cameras, tripods, all are allowed. But the good vantage points are blocked off for the official photographers, and you have to manage from your stand and the leftover spots.
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Old 5th April 2022, 06:51   #10
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Re: Pics & Report | Visiting the Bahrain GP | A Ready Reckoner

Quote:
Originally Posted by ajmat View Post
Moving to the Main Forum - Enjoy!
Thanks AJMAT for the lovely write up about Bahrain, this was my home for 27years.
It was great to see the intro on Bahrain, being such a small Island it does get missed out. I had left in 2000 and visited in 2007.
It was wonderful to see the F1 Stadium back then. Hope to visit again with the family and watch a race there.

Thanks again.
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Old 4th October 2023, 12:52   #11
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Re: Pics & Report | Visiting the Bahrain GP | A Ready Reckoner

Thank you for the detailed review.

I am planning to attend the race in 2024. While I have several queries, I wanted to get the ticket purchase out the way before planning other stuff.

During the purchase, do we get to choose the Blocks and Section as well? I could not find any such option at tickets.fomula1.com

Thanks in advance
Krinpit

<<<<
Where are the best seats?

The track has various elevations and is a very technical track


The University stand(marked by the arrow) is where we sat. You see turn 1 and some of the other parts of the track as marked by the square

Attachment 2290368

Block 1 - A section (Right of Arrow) - you see the mainly the turn.
Block 1 - C Section - you see the turn and the acceleration into the DRS zone
Block 2 - (Left of Arrow) only the DRS zone

<<<<
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Old 6th October 2023, 14:03   #12
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Re: Pics & Report | Visiting the Bahrain GP | A Ready Reckoner

So I came across another site https://www.bahraingp.com/ that is offering tickets at lower price. Has anyone purchased tickets from this website and is this legit?
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Old 17th February 2024, 13:20   #13
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Re: Pics & Report | Visiting the Bahrain GP | A Ready Reckoner

Hi Ajmat,

Do you remember which portal you got the below done from? Have reached out to few but they say they don't do OTB for Bahrain.

Quote:
Originally Posted by ajmat View Post
Note - Before leaving Bangalore -you need to the get an "ok to board endorsement" for Rs500 each - i.e upload passport, visa and vaccination certificate to some travel agent portal and tickets gets assigned a OK to Board status.

Last edited by Rudra Sen : 17th February 2024 at 13:33. Reason: broken quote tag fixed
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Old 20th February 2024, 23:20   #14
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Re: Pics & Report | Visiting the Bahrain GP | A Ready Reckoner

Quote:
Originally Posted by Renaissance Man View Post
Hi Ajmat,

Do you remember which portal you got the below done from? Have reached out to few but they say they don't do OTB for Bahrain.
If it's for F1, you just need to apply here. They will issue the VISA free of cost.

https://www.evisa.gov.bh/
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