Bahrain: Middle East Lite or Live

According to bloke website AskMen, included on the list of the World’s Top 10 Sin Cities are the likes of Pattaya, Tijuana, Las Vegas, Rio de Janeiro, Manama, Moscow and New Orleans.

Pick the odd one out?

Manama isn’t in Panama. Nor is it anywhere else in Central or South America, South East Asia or any other notoriously naughty neighborhood for that matter. It’s in the Middle East.

Yep, apparently there’s a city in the Middle East where you’re more likely to find yourself sinning than, say Bangkok (which somehow didn’t make the list).

Manama is the capital of Bahrain, the small island nation off the coast of Saudia Arabia, connected by the 25km King Fahd Causeway.

 

On one side of the causeway, if you get caught drinking alcohol and you’re likely to be flogged. On the other side you could find yourself sipping cocktails with a prostitute and in no danger of a flogging (unless you request one). No wonder the Bahrain inbound lane of the causeway is traffic-jammed most Friday evenings!

Bahrain’s tolerance of other cultures (and to some extent the wicked ways of the West ) has earned it the title of Middle East Lite.

Their tolerance only goes so far though. Casino gambling is a no-no.

Q. What do you always get when you combine a very wealthy (per capita) population with an inability to access local casinos?

A. Online casinos more than happy to accommodate those residents wanting to have a bet.

Not sure we’ll be seeing dealers wearing burkas anytime soon, but the fact is, the likes of 888 Casino welcomes players from Bahrain (and indeed neighboring Qatar, Jordan, Kuwait etc) with Arabic landing pages, customer support and access to their live tables.