Foray into Bahrain

During Ramdan, even the foreign ministry in Kuwait goes on a month long vacation! In plain words, you can then cannot extend your visa until Ramdan ends.
After several visa extensions, the last one came in Ramdan and we were asked to leave the country and re-enter the country through an entry point for the reasons mentioned earlier.
So it all came down to a simple entry stamp on your passport at the selected entry point.
The gameplan was this: the team closely accompanied by our Arab handler would leave Kuwait in the morning, stay overnight at Bahrain and then re-enter Kuwait the next day to gain that precious re-entry stamps on our passports.
Though this was a short foray we welcomed the idea since it would be a welcome change from drab Kuwait.
The short flight from Kuwait to Bahrain proved uneventful but we noticed drinks were not served.
It was late evening when we checked into our hotel at Bahrain, arranged at company cost of course. The hotel was a five star affair.
A quick inspection revealed belly dances in progress in at least 3 mini-bars, filled with noisy Arabs in their djellabahs smoking hookahs and drunk with wine.
We came to know that Bahrain does not have much oil resources and most of its income comes from barter and oil shipping arrangements mostly with Saudi Arabia. Arabs from restrictive Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and similarly emancipated countries make it a point to check into such kind of hotels to enjoy the belly dances, liquor (prohibhited in their native lands) and a good night's sleep.
The wine cabinets in our rooms were well stocked and when the others among us decided to throw caution to the winds, I too joined the revelry and had a cocktail of an assortment of drinks.
We also witnessed one of the less extravagant looking belly dances - it turned out the dancers were Russians- but they were singing Arab melodies in total rhapsody! I guess these poor girls had no other option but to sing to the tunes of the Arab lords for their supper.
Petrol money after all had a universal power.
Later that night when I fell into bed in a light slumber, there was a knock at the door.
An oriental-looking girl stood there.
"Anybody wants a Thai massage?" she asked primly.
I was in no mood to entertain her and off she went looking rather shocked at the way I said NO.