By Mika Michael » For architects, Bahrain offers a truly unique experience. Here you can see the works of the most famous architects in the world, projects where only the sky has been the limit - not the thickness of the client's wallet.

I remember the first time I arrived in the Gulf. "This must be the architect's paradise," I thought. Buildings you couldn't imagine even in your wildest dreams - and then some straight from the wildest nightmares, but which country is without those!

What makes Bahrain unique for me is also its people, who unlike most other parts of the Gulf are extremely warm, welcoming you into their homes and allowing you to take in aspects of life in the Middle East you would not otherwise have experienced.

It is as easy to approach a shaikh (member of the Ruling Family) as it is to strike up a conversation with a taxi driver, and it is this kind of friendliness that makes visiting Bahrain especially appealing.

Being able to visit Bahraini homes also helped me observe close up the finer architectural points of a country which boasts a rich cultural heritage, a strong unique character and a history dating back almost to the very beginning of time.

So let's have a look at the local architecture.