Today, Friday, we arrived in Doha, Qatar. I was up on deck for my morning jog as we sailed in and got pics of the city as the sun came up. We passed a resort island that reminded me of French Polynesia.
Our plan for the day was to walk along the Corniche (the waterfront) to the Museum of Islamic Art and the Souq al Waqif. Walking through the cruise terminal, we were surprised to find an aquarium inside!
Walking through the colorful waterfront development, we came to the Chabrat Al Mina, the fish market (which, from the ship looked like a bus among the colorful buildings).
Have I mentioned previously that Tim Horton's seems to be a thing in this part of the world?
Continuing along the waterfront, we came to the Museum of Islamic Art and park. Since it was a Friday morning, the museum was closed until 1:30 pm so we thought we might come back later.
Eventually, we made our way to the Dhow Harbor and the Pearl Monument. Pearl diving was a large part of the economy in this region until the Japanese developed the technology to culture pearls.
Again, since it was Friday morning, we understood that the souq did not open until 12:30 so we made our way into the city for a coffee break. We wound up at a Lebanese restaurant, Damasca One, for coffee and pastry.
Walking through the maze of streets, we finally got to the souq where we found that most everything was still closed. The only shops opened seem to be those selling birds and other animals.
Since we couldn't shop, we decided to eat. After checking out a couple of restaurants, we decided to go back to the Lebanese restaurant. The grilled haloumi and the Harraq bi Sba'o were excellent.
After lunch, we checked out the souq again and found it mostly closed so we took the Oceania shuttle bus back to the ship.
Tomorrow, we have an excursion that will take us north of Doha so we'll see more of Qatar. Observing the local people today as we walked around, the main thing I would say is that there were many more women in full burkas than we saw in the UAE. Hopefully, tomorrow we'll get a more immersive look at the culture of Qatar.
Peace and blessings,
Linda and Larry
No comments:
Post a Comment