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Urban exploring has become an art in its own right, and one Bahraini wanderer has delved deeper into the hobby during the pandemic to showcase an oft-overlooked part of the kingdom – its abandoned abodes.
Sahr Baqeri from Riffa has been showcasing historic and abandoned places across the kingdom on her Instagram account @abandonedplacesbahrain, exploring some of the forgotten history of the country.
“I have been urban-exploring for around two-and-a-half years,” she tells GulfWeekly.
“I have always been interested in architectural history, especially the history of abandoned places and I have explored around 40 different places and areas.
“In the last year, since the pandemic started, I have started to take this hobby seriously and the response has been overwhelming and fantastic, for the most part.”
While many photographers around the kingdom take pictures in abandoned areas, urban exploring is different since it follows a very strict code to ensure places are left unharmed and as untouched as possible.
When she started sharing her adventures, Sahr openly shared location information with her followers, but stopped after she received messages from people who either wanted to vandalise these places with graffiti or steal unique artefacts that she had uncovered.
Even when talking to GulfWeekly, she was hesitant about divulging too many personal details for fear of being harassed on social media about her hobby and the locations of these relatively-hidden homes.
Despite this, she has no plans to stop because she wants to “show the beautiful history presented in these places.”
“My favourite place so far is an abandoned house in Shahrakan,” she adds.
“The neighbour actually gave me a tour and told me that the house is more than 100 years old. It is a perfectly preserved specimen of old Bahraini architecture with a courtyard in the middle surrounded with large pillars. The traditional wooden door and windows are rarely seen anywhere today.”
Since the code of urban exploration does not permit trespassing, Sahr often ends up asking for the permission of security personnel or talking to neighbours to gain access without breaking or picking locks, or otherwise illegally entering the property.
Some let her take her time, while other security guards give her five minutes to explore, take pictures and shoot video.
“At times I ask the security personnel to accompany me as I ask them about the history of the place and take a few videos and pictures,” she adds.
In her adventures, she has uncovered a number of very interesting artefacts that reveal the history of an almost-lost era – including a typewriter, a gas mask from the 1990-91 Gulf War and a vintage Jaguar muscle car in the middle of a farm, which she considers her coolest find yet.
“The creepiest thing would definitely have to be an attic with a pulldown ladder that led into a dark room with a locked door… It was just so bizarre and unlike anything I have seen in Bahrain before,” she adds.
She also comes across plenty of animals who have made their new homes at these locations, including cats, dogs and birds. She has started to carry cat and dog food to make sure “they know I am not there to disturb them.”
Although her followers have also been recommending places, she finds the abandoned places organically, picking a town or village, and walking around with a fully-charged Canon camera, her iPhone and a tripod.
Meanwhile, others have rediscovered parts of their own history.
After she explored Bait Al Abdulla, one of the few publicly known locations she has covered, she received a note from one of Abdullah Al Jaber Al Dossari’s relatives, along with a clipping from a newspaper of the time.
Up next on her intrepid itinerary is Demistan, once the weather cools down.
“I would advise those interested in this hobby to follow the urban explorers’ code and remember that these abandoned places belong to Bahrain,” she adds.
“Start off by exploring small places but do not break into them and accept that some places are off limits. Take nothing but photos, leave nothing but footprints.”
For more details, follow @abandonedplacesbahrain on Instagram.
