Today my new boss was telling tales from his time spent in the service. He talked about the weather climbing to 140 degrees or so (I’m guessing this was Fahrenheit), the money being good, and several of the customs of Bahrain. The severing of hands for stealing and of course death for adultery. You know. The usual.
Then he drifted into the mystical and spoke of the Tree of Life that exists in Manama Bahrain. He told me that this tree is thousands of years old and that it grows outside the village in a dead land. That the tree is the only living thing that grows for miles around and that they only let a handful of visitors (including mountain bikers these days) visit the area at a time because the villagers freak out otherwise.
Then things get weird.
Bahrain’s history goes back as far as civilisation itself. It has always been a focal trading point in the Middle East region, with Dilmun – an ancient trading empire that lasted for 2000 years – based here from around 3200 BC. From that time on, the locals have always been known as traders. And while these days much of that trade is in the lucrative oil industry, Bahrain is also a centre for banking and finance.
Away from Manama, there are 16th-century forts, pre-oil mansions, the astonishing 25km (16mi) King Fahad Causeway linking Bahrain to Saudi Arabia across the Gulf of Bahrain and the mysterious and symbolic Tree of Life. This broad, flourishing tree stands alone, surrounded by 2km (1.2mi) of desert. Although there is a steady supply of fresh water beneath Bahrain, this tree symbolises Bahrain’s own strength and success against the odds and is revered by locals.
He declared that on the trek to the site… the wind was blowing 40 MPH in every direction which only added to the hellish terrain. But once you are within mere feet of this rocksteady flora, the wind is still. Over, under, and around… the air does not disturb the leaves on this tree. He took many pictures. All of which produced no results.
And that is where he left the tale and we drifted into conversations about Playstation 2.
I, of course, embellished a little on this yarn. As I am sure he did. That’s a writer’s/storyteller’s prerogative. If you click on the Tree of Life link above you will see that someone has managed to snap an image of this photographically shy landmark.
I’ll just leave things at that.
