Work is done

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Well my work is done at the undisclosed location that is not a US Air Force base. l have to say it's a bit disorienting to spend so much time on a military base, I mean secret place, that is in full expansion mode and then to return to a boomtown in the Middle East that is also in full expansion mode, but in a very different way.

I have to say that Doha is a pretty mellow place. Maybe it's because we're all foreigners here. It's hard to find the Qataris. They're out there somewhere, but the majority of people I see are from South Asia or Philippines.

Some quick details about my stay:
My hotel is nice and not outrageously expensive for a western hotel: the Mercure Grand something. There's free wireless in all of the rooms and the staff are abundant. It's an older property but well maintained. Be careful looking for it. There's no sign at street level and the main entrance is kinda hidden. It appears addresses aren't used here, so good luck. It's in the area with all the computer vendors. The location is good, it's right off Salwa road and is near a lot of shopping.

Eating is always tough for me because I'm vegetarian. Restaurants here are more like in the third world tradition, so a good restaurant could appear scary to the more casual westerner. Nevertheless, I did eat in a "Lebanese" or "Syrian" restaurant, which offered an excellent selection of veg. dishes. Be forwarned that the food is really cheap in these places. I also found a couple of Indian restaurants, the second was pure vegetarian: the Garden Restaurant. The first was more of a hole in the wall, but had excellent dosas. The second had a "more-than-I-could-eat" buffet for 28QR or US$7. I'm going to try some local food before I leave tomorrow. Anything has to be better than the food at the KP at the secret place.

Walking the streets is interesting, if not repetititive. Vendors of like items are grouped together in neighborhoods, like they are in the souqs. Jewelry in one area, shoes in the next, etc. I did find an odd store selling Yemeni honey. I had a taste and immediately wanted to buy some. But not for 300 QR/kg (US$80). The vendor was really funny and had me convinced that his honey would give me abundant energy throughout the day. I guess I'm not that ambitious.

A funny thing that I noticed pretty quickly is that there don't appear to be any women in Qatar, or very few. I suppose I knew this from what I've read about the Middle East, but the reality is quite striking. I'm sure there are some somewhere, but apparently I'm not going to see them. The few women one does see are pretty well covered up. I'm glad I don't have to drive a car with one of those full body suits on.

Vegetation outside of the city (and in the city) is very sparse. There doesn't even appear to be any grass. There is just the odd acacia-like bush and a few plants no more 30cm tall. Even these can be spaced apart one every several hundred m. Apparently there is very little soil and bedrock is hard limestone. To dig more than a few cm down, a jack hammer is needed. There is the odd mini sand dune out there. I suppose these move about during the sandstorms.

Lastly, the weather has been unusually cool, about 10C. My customer was telling me how hot it was going to be and how much they were suffering. Well I regret not bringing more long-sleeve shirts.

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