Blogs from Qatar, Middle East - page 17

Happy New Year!! Christmas came & went & here are some pics of the few days we spent with David, Brenda & Naomi Newnham... We had so much fun, finally being tourists here in Doha. Took the fam to our favourite Indian restaurant, Chingari, ate arabic food at Balhambar on the corniche, headed into the desert for an arabian adventure full of sanddunes, camels & arabic tea and enjoyed Christmas day in style with 9 holes at the Doha Golf Club for the boys and 5 star spa & pampering at the 4 Seasons Hotel for the girls, followed by a delicious meal at the top of the Sheraton, overlooking the gulf... Hope 2007 is a great year...looking forward to catching up with you in Melbourne in March. Luv Sal & Gav xoxoxoxoxox... read more

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 ... read more

Arrival in Doha was very uneventful. The plane ride was great and I got to watch Psycho for the very first time. I got picked up on schedule and had the whole day to relax while I waited for my pass. I did check out the Souqs which were cool but didn't offer a huge selection of tourist stuff. As far as a middle eastern place, it's very relaxing here. Doha appears to be a bit of a boom town with bad traffic and lots of construction. At least the food is great. In the souqs, a Qatari man invited me to have some fresh flat bread with egg and cheese (velveeta or vache-qui-rit). He paid the vendor and told me that he wanted me to experience some local food. This kind of experience tells me ... read more

Like Burbank, California; Doha's "City Center" is a mall. Everything's air-conditioned and everyone drives large unnaturally clean cars. The comparison might end there. I learned that "Thobe" is the word for the men's traditional dress. "Abaya" is the women's. Service staff is imported and may speak English better than Arabic. I made it to town without much ado, but with increased kindness toward travelers. I now realize that many of the people in airports could possibly have multiple connections, which increases the importance of the earlier flights... My optimally resolved mishaps include: *Dropping my red hat in the middle of the street while running to catch the first bus to the airport! (I learned that the Seattle 5 Express Bus which stops right in front of my house is often late, so the thing to do ... read more

Hallo! Ihr seid hier richtig beim Travelblog von Andy und Kurti. Wie die meisten ja wissen sind wir die naechsten 10 Wochen in SOA unterwegs. Ueber diesen Blog werden wir euch daheim auf dem Laufenden halten und soweit moeglich erste Fotos online stellen. Der erste Zwischenstopp ist hier am Flughafen in Doha wo wir einen fuenf Stunden Aufenthalt haben. Ab morgen sind wir dann fuer ein paar Tage in Bangkok bevor es weiter geht. So, damit ist der Anfang getan - wir hoffen euch regelmaessig Updates liefern zu koennen und wuerden uns ueber Kommentare von euch freuen! Bis bald und liebe Gruesse!... read more

KRIS: Okay, we didn't actually tour Qatar, but given we changed planes in the capital and that we were bombarded with adverts for the country through the entire journey, I feel it deserves a mention. All I know about the country is that when I was younger I had a Comodore 64 footy game called striker in which Qatar were the crappest team and ran really slowly. Now I know so much more. Did you know there are more oryxes than anywhere in the world in Qatar?? Well there are. You can visit an oryx farm if you stay in Doha. For those of you who are a bit ignorant an oryx is a goat-thing. Kate loves them. She learned all about the successful captive breeding project in her degree and masters. Yawn. We landed in ... read more

It’s been almost three months now and finally…we live in Doha. The apartment is kitted out with all the necessities, plus a few obligatory Arabian delights! We have a Camel and his name is Jamal. Gav has become increasingly attached to his Sphynx….and no, it’s not as a result of the local cuisine. The rug is leopard skin ON tiger skin, a catskin combo that these cheeky Qataris have been keeping all to themselves…and at AUD$88 a piece why wouldn’t they? The dining table has legs as thick as the light towers at the MCG and the dining chairs are hot pink. All in all, the combination has resulted in “Porn Star meets Arabian Boudoire”! Setting up house in Doha is not easy. The little men that come into your house to perform duties for which ... read more