While serving in the Navy, one of my assignments took me to Jedda, Saudi Arabia, near the Red Sea.  I was the detachment Aircraft Maintenance Officer and we were housed in a beautiful local hotel on one of the upper floors.  We would leave very early in the morning and drive to the airfield to prepare and launch the aircraft for its patrol mission.  Being a woman, I was not allowed to drive in Jedda, even though my position came with a vehicle.  I'm not sure I would have wanted to drive there; traffic was totally crazy and scary!  Once at the airfield, I was able to drive if I needed but, it caused less friction with the local miliary if I didn't drive.  After the mission was complete and the aircraft was ready for the next day's mission, we would return to the hotel.  On the return trip, I usually just closed my eyes and prayed we would get back in one piece!  While in the hotel we generally stayed on our assigned floor except to go to the hotel's dining room located on the second floor.  Going for each meal required an elevator ride.  This is when the "odor" could be a real challenge.   The local customs for personal hygiene in Saudi Arabia are quite different than that of my culture and a closed elevator can present a major problem for the sensories.  The use of a heavy perfume is used to cover body odor -- or at least, they think it does -- in fact it causes a very strong mix of odors that would make me gag.  When the elevator arrived on our floor, if it was empty, we would take it.  If not, we would just wait for the next one.  The problem came when the evelator stopped on another floor to pick up a passenger.  I became very good at holding my breath and hoped the ride was short!