Arrived in Doha late in the afternoon. Checked in then after dinner, strolled up to the Corniche area. Plaza of 119 international flags was illuminated and looked very impressive. Like much of the tourist sights and infrastructure in Doha, it was erected in 2022 for the FIFA World Cup.
Next morning, we started our day at the National Museum. Very unusual exterior architecture. Inside was extremely well laid out with interactive displays for kids and lots of displays and wall projections of Qatari life. Overall, very dramatic and impressive museum.
Stopped for lunch at an Iranian restaurant across the street and struck up a conversation with the Afghani customer beside us. It was a most fortuitous meeting as Hamed then took us under his wing and spent the next two days with us. He drove us everywhere, pointing out interesting sights and giving us info, history and personal insights into his adopted country.
That afternoon Hamed drove us to the Museum of Islamic Art. Not at all what we expected, beautifully displayed art and historical paraphernalia from around the Islamic world from Spain to China. When we were done, Hamed picked us up and gave us a tour around the Doha Souk. Had dinner at a Phillipino restaurant serenaded by karaoke. Souk was new but built to look old, loads of atmosphere. Visited the animal section of the market including a shop that sold falcons.
Spent the next day mall-hopping by Metro and Tram. First mall was the Villaggio. Lots of North American branded stores, but was done up to look like Venice. Took a gondola ride up and down the main mall corridor/canal. Long Metro ride to the Place Vendome mall, where the main attraction was dancing fountains in a classical French setting. Mall is 1,150,000 m² but a lot of it is just big empty marbled space. Found a fancy restaurant near the lake and watched the fountain display as we ate. Fountains were not as impressive as Dubai but nice. Met Hamed around 8pm and he drove us to see the Katara Cultural Village area. Checked out a flower and veggie market then were treated to Karak (a sugared milk tea flavored with ginger, cardamom & saffron) and Chapatis (unleavened flat bread filled with cheese or meat or Nutella!). Lots of interesting conversation before a late night tour of the Pearl area. This was an upscale artificial island filled with high-end apartment complexes and trendy restaurants. Lots of fancy cars, Mercedes, RR and Ferrari, and incredibly rich people. Last stop before bed was at a Nowruz festival (Iranian New Year) that Hamed was invited to. Festival was almost over but still plenty of music and free food (falafel shawarma and fruit). Hamed drove us back to our hotel where we extended our thanks to him, said our goodbyes and promised to keep in touch.
Had a mid-day flight back to Abu Dhabi but managed to squeeze in one last activity in the morning. Found a taxi driver, Ali, who would drive us out to Shahaniyah about 40 km northwest of Doha. This area is famous for its camel racing track. Races were over for the month but we were able to see some training sessions (see our separate post). Ali drove us back into town stopping to see one of the FIFA stadiums. It was the 974 Stadium constructed of 974 shipping containers and now being dismantled and shipped to Tunisia. Then, on to the airport to catch our 2pm flight to Abu Dhabi.
Doha pix are on Flickr with this link:
