For those of you who think we are always on vacation (and yes, that IS the goal…), it is November when we take our Really Big Vacation - right after my busy tax time. “Really Big” means somewhere farther away and more thrilling than usual, and is designed to keep me from completely throwing in the towel about halfway through tax season.

This year found us en route to the Maldives, with a 3-day stopover in Doha, Qatar. Now, I titled this little piece “Doha Discovered”, because the most frequent response to my comment about stopping over in Doha was: “where?” Sad, but true (guess not everyone was watching the first gulf war’s reports back in the 80s…)

Qatar is located on a peninsula in the Persian Gulf, located somewhat northerly of Dubai. At the risk of greatly offending the fine Qatari people, I would vastly oversimplify and say that Doha seems to the untrained eye to be what Dubai was 5 to 8 years ago, without immediate signs of completely giddy and wild construction explosion (although construction is nearly everywhere). Upon descent into Doha via plane, one’s overall sense is “wow, SAND.” Lots of sand. Sand and water. And, if you look more closely, “Wow, MONEY!!” With per-capita GDP the highest in the world, we are talking rich country numero uno. Hence the luxed-out SUVs touring the jammed streets (yes, traffic is already LA-quality), the many sparkling new upmarket shopping malls, the gorgeous new highrises and housing (no, VILLA) developments springing out of the earth, the second soccer stadium (this one underground) under construction in a country of less than a million residents, and - perhaps best of all, if you live there - no income tax, totally free healthcare, and gasoline at well under a dollar per gallon!

You get a good cross section of the population during a visit to any one of the city’s shopping malls: Qataris in local garb (men: white robes with white or white-/red-checked headress held by black cord; women: usually head-to-toe black, usually even with face covering, and nowadays with gold decoration on sleeves), Westerners in Western garb (most probably working for some sort of energy company there), and the imported population which does all the non-professional jobs (mainly south Asians and other Arabs). In public, everyone seems to get along just fine, although I would certainly not wish to be one of the imported, nonprofessional workerbee population because workers’ rights here (and throughout the Gulf) are pretty atrocious.

With only a two days to see the sights and a high-maintenance toddler on board, we opted for a simple program. Since taxis are difficult to find while out and about (something we learned the first day after a challenging trip to the City Centre mall to do some emergency warm-weather-clothes shopping for Sophie), we hired a driver (about EUR 10 per hour) to whisk us around the city for an afternoon. First stop, the Corniche, which is a sweeping promenade along the bay, reaching several kilometers from the ziggurat-shaped Sheraton hotel over to the far other side containing I-don’t-know-what (perhaps a new museum under construction?). After Sophie had expended her sense of exploration, we settled down and found a fishing boat willing to take us on a 30-minute tour of the bay, so we could enjoy an unobstructed view of the interesting architecture of the downtown area. It was well worth it, even when the boat’s sole captain spent most of the trip plucking his nose hair in a little mirror instead of observing the direction of the boat.

Next, our driver gave us a good taste of Doha traffic en route to the Villagio Mall - an italian-themed undertaking which piqued our curiosity with promises of gondola rides and really great A/C (yup, it’s HOT in Doha). We crawled past endless “compounds” (so they are called) of newly-constructed communities straight out of Orange County, CA in the 80s. Peach, beige, uniform, and very Mediterranean/Californian in styling. All are protected by very high walls (I didn’t think there was any crime in Qatar, however) and fancy, Arab-style gates. Outside of the compounds are various strip malls - intermingled with traditional Gulf stores will one find the occasional Dairy Queen, KFC, and western-style coffee house.

When I laid eyes on Villagio Mall, I really thought I was back in California (or at least, Las Vegas). These MUST be the same architects. If the US hasn’t won the “hearts and minds” of the Gulf peoples, it certainly has won their shopping malls. Qatari women shopped busily with an entourage of Philippino maids, bearing both their shopping bags and children. Then, American women looking just like me, with babies looking just like Sophie, hung out at Starbucks, talking about the same stuff we talk about “back home”. It was somewhat surreal. In a moment of delightful cultural connection, a Qatari 20-something gal in head-to-toe black (with face covering - only heavily-makeup’d eyes showing) stopped to chat with me and coo over Sophie. Sophie was unphased by all the black, and we enjoyed a talk about the cuteness of small children for a few moments before she rejoined her girlfriends and continued on. As in Dubai, I felt again like I was in the 21st century’s “crossroads of the world” here in the Gulf.

After concluding a bit of shopping and a tex-mex snack at Chili’s, we continued onward (a bit speedily, as the sun was already setting at 4:30pm) to the nearby camel racetracks. Here, we had our driver take us to the camel pens so we could give Sophie a look at these interesting animals. The trainers/handlers seemed happy to have visitors, and attempted an animated conversation in flowing Arabic while we smiled and felt a bit bewildered. Sophie ignored them and kept making her “horsey” sounds to the highly-interested camels. It was great!

Our final evening in Doha was spent in the hotel swimming pool, which sported a fine swim-up bar. I thought I would enjoy an aperitif from the comfort of my swimsuit, and ordered a glass of sparkling wine. The Bangladeshi-looking bartender ruefully advised me that no alcohol was allowed to be served at the pool bar after 6pm. C’est la vie, in Muslim countries you learn to love a pre-dinner glass of orange juice.

On November 11th, we bid Doha a fond farewell and headed excitedly to the airport for Phase Two of our mission…

——————————-
Doha photos/videos follow:

At our hotel (the Ramada Plaza - very nice businessman’s hotel in the center of things), Sophie is ready for ACTION:

A downtown angle, from our speeding taxi…

God’s gift to baby clothes!!!!

A satisfying lunch at no other than…TGI Fridays!

Then we went for a walk along the corniche (promenade):

Where the local women also get their exercise!

A very windy video from the Corniche:

I thought a little ride in an Arabic dhow (fishing boat) would give us a nice vantage of the downtown skyline:

And so here we are!

The skyline has some unique architecture…

Particularly this building with the suspended sphere in the middle:

Afterwards, we spotted this old firetruck from our taxi:

And soon arrived at the Italian-themed Villagio Mall:

Which looked a whole lot like the Venetian in Las Vegas!

This video will make you wonder if you’re in Qatar or Las Vegas:

Across the street is the showcase Khalifa soccer stadium, which is particularly impressive when lit at night:

Off to the airport, en route to the Maldives - an outside position at the Doha International Airport:

Soenke forgot his earplugs (it was LOUD):

Up up we go !!!!!!!!