Our guide for the day, Sam, picked us up at our hotel and we were excited to get started exploring this beautiful city. Peter knew Sam from a previous trip and though he’s originally from Nepal, he has been a guide in Doha for nearly 15 years. As mentioned in a previous post, this is relatively young city and most of the skyline has developed over the past 15 – 20 years. Our first stop was to look at one of the most iconic buildings of Doha, the Katara Towers. We were particularly excited to see this as we had dinner reservations at a restaurant there, to celebrate Kathryn’s 30th Birthday.

Next, we drove the 12-mile Doha Corniche, used for parades and military processionals, this beautifully landscaped boulevard provides a wonderful vantage point for the stunning architecture. Soon we had arrived at the Katara Cultural Center, built for the FIFA World Cup which Qatar hosted in 2022, we enjoyed walking around and seeing the sights. The Katara Plaza was decorated for Halloween with huge balloons and we were amazed that this outdoor mall had outside air conditioning. Kathryn had her “Marilyn Monroe” moment.

Our next stop was the old part of town, the Souq Waqif, which hosts hundreds of stalls selling pretty much everything. We walked past the national camel herd, waiting patiently until their next parade. We visited a Falcon hospital, which is a vet for falcons. Falcons are kept like family pets in Qatar. It is the national bird and they are trained to fly freely, always returning home again. We also enjoyed a coffee at Majlis al Dama, and learned the game of Al-Dama, an elevated form of checkers. Our instructor is a retired Qatar Airlines pilot, who helped found Qatar Airlines. What a story he could tell!

After lunch at a traditional Arabic restaurant, we visited the Qatar National Museum, designed by French architect Jean Nouvel. Finally, we took a Dhow boat ride to take in the skyline from the water. We learned that all of these old wooden Dhow boats once served to facilitate the pearling industry. As that industry dried up due to Japan’s new-found cultured pearl industry, these Dhow boats mainly serve the tourist industry today. Each of the unique skyscrapers has been given a “nickname” by the locals. There is The Bullet, The Empire State Building, The Tornado, The Olympic Torch…you get the point. We marveled at the architecture and creativity of the designers. It was a full but exhilarating day and the vibrancy of this town is infectious.

Tomorrow: Relax and final packing.

Recommended: Shambhu (Sam) Shah, Doha Transit and Tours, info@dohatransitours.com