Monday, August 27, 2007

Hunters Lodge

Hunters Lodge at the Adhari Hotel is in the heart of the Suq here in town. Other hotels in the neighborhood are off limits to military for various reasons, so this is about the only place to cool off with a couple beers after wandering around the dirty market paths in the triple-digit temps looking for deals. Its longevity may be due to its decor - that of some kind of early 70's Navy dive-bar in Vietnam. It's dimly-lit with dirty wooden floors, warped pool table and dart board, and menu items named for military operations. Its walls are completely covered with Navy weapons parts, decades-old unit photos, graffiti, and anything else a Sailor might think to donate. Dusty rocker patches with names like Forrestal, America and Constellation, and retired rating badges like Radioman add some more historical decor behind the bar. Two Filipino bartenders serve customers that are mostly the somewhat less-than-wealthy Saudi crowd. On a recent visit, our attention was divided between the spectacle of a group of deaf Saudi men in a drunken signing argument, an 60-ish British man trying to teach English to a Chinese prostitute (Chi-Pro?)), and another Saudi sitting next to me who kept failing at come-ons aimed at the bartender. He had been drinking there all day long and told me that if he got caught drinking at home, his head would be chopped off, drawing a slice with his finger across his throat. It's unfortunate that this place doesn't sell t-shirts.

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