a day in doha
More like ohhh, aah, because of the damn heat! Landing into 36 degrees at 1am told me what to expect from the rest of the trip. The first thing I did? Bought ice cream. Ice cream for dinner is never a bad idea.
There wasn’t much sleep to be had so the day started off rather early. Out from the cool air-conditioned room and into the blistering heat. Breakfast was at a Palestinian café that gave me motivation to get out into this heat. I started off by visiting the national museum of Qatar and boy was it a beautiful structure. The desert rose crystal found in Qatar is what gave the very renowned architect Jean Nouvel the idea of creating a building that encompasses a group of discs clustered together to form a rather eye-catching sculpture. The museum itself boasted a lot of history about the small (and controversial) nation.
Per usual, traveling by foot I headed north to the Doha port region and one thing that was noticeable other than the very clean and well-kept streets was the fact that the roads themselves were rather empty. At the very least the footpaths. I guess not everyone is idiotic enough to walk around in mid-40 degree temperatures but on the other side of the madness at least I got to enjoy most of the city ‘all by myself’ and had no wards of tourists in the way. I love that feeling.
The port area was well designed. Being a rather newly developed city, much like Baku in my recent travels, a lot of the areas around at least where the tourists would visit were very well planned out. Parks with trees and soft green grass were a welcomed sight among the brown and dry climate. Walking through the Mina district reminded me of something European. The pastel-colored buildings brought pleasant color and flair to a traditionally strict-religioned city. The fish market here was the most beautiful one I have ever visited. Metal elements joined to delicate stained-glass panels made it feel like I was in a church somewhere in the isle of skye. A few (ice) cold drinks kept me company and cool as I wandered though the rest of the waterfront area.
The evening brought with it a beautiful sky of orange hues. One wouldn’t be able to tell the difference between day and night by just going off the temp as even once the sun goes down it’s rather hot but then again, looking past all the shining buildings and fancy districts, it is a desert after all. An evening stroll along the heartbeat of Doha, Souq Waqif, was the perfect way to see the hustle of the city during dusk. By this point there were way more people outside – enjoying the sights of the re-developed old-city. The forementioned sky played an important part in giving the plaster and clay cladded vernacular buildings its charm.
The night was rounded by a delicious Arabic grilled dinner, in which I met a friendly local that was happy to pay for half of my meal! After that, a very pleasant ride on a ‘dhow’ boat – a traditional Qatari slow-boat – on which I was the only single passenger among families and young couples that enjoyed the disco-styled music played by the captain and his crew. A slightly weird experience but one that was also rather beautiful due to the sunset behind the Doha skyline and the bliss of the waves crashing against us. The night was concluded by enjoying one of the loves of my life – baklava – at a well-known café that pumped out trays of freshly made kunefe and sweet treats. Ah, now that’s what im talking about.
Next stop: New Zealand.