Blogs from Qatar, Middle East - page 20

Well we arrived here in the month of Ramadan (religious Muslim holy month). This means that no alcohol will be for sale anywhere in Qatar, the shops will be closed from about 2 until sometimes 8 at night but will trade again until midnight. After Ramadan alcohol can be purchased and enjoyed at hotels and bars/clubs. Then, getting a taxi to take you there is a hopeless case, except if you had booked it at 6 in the morning. Some Indian Sub-continent locals are taking advantage of this and will give you his number to phone if you want to go anywhere. Some of them want to charge you excessive amounts just to take you around the corner- and petrol is cheaper than water here! Then of course the heat it’s scorching hot hot hot hot! ... read more

I learned a very important rule while flying, make sure the name on your airline tickets match what is on your visa! Fortunately the people at Qatar airways were able to fix the problem very quickly. I didn't even have to get my birth certificate out :P As I was waiting to board the plane the person who originally helped me with my ticketing just smiled and said "Glad you made it." The flight was a nice one, and I slept most of the way to Doha. Oh Mom you will like this, they handed out socks to everyone so your toes would stay warm. Luckily, the flight wasn't full so I had the row to myself (the row consisted of one extra seat). I was so happy I could have done the happy dance but ... read more

Marathon Travel from Africa to Asia - Our 32-hour travel day… From the start of our journey, we knew that leaving Africa was going to be both emotionally and physically challenging. We wrote in our last blog of the emotional attachments we made in Tanzania to the Kili Kids orphanage and to the warm, generous people we met throughout our safari adventures. Our physical challenge was one of endurance, to traverse the distance from Arusha, Tanzania, to Chiang Mai, Thailand, over a 32-hour time period and through 4 time zones. Thankfully, Sam and Lauren are fabulous travellers. With only minimal whining about lack of sleep, they seem to love the adventure of it all and are usually the cheeriest ones in sight at our middle-of-the-night airport stops. Our travel day began at 3:15 am, when we ... read more

8 hours down, 7 hours to go... Sunday, July 22, 2007 at 7:38pm So, had better make this quick as am on a 10 minute time limit in an internet cafe in Doha airport... First leg of journey over, and now have 3 hours to go until I board the next plane to the middle of nowhere! Right now, am feeling very alone... its kinda nice, but wierd. Also feeling ridiculously overwhelmed.. as the plane landed caught a glimpse of the amazingly unfamiliar landscape- its like something off the news. Anyway, am off to plant myself firmly in the smoking room for the next 3 hours! Hopefully speak soon everyone xxx... read more

I'm deeply opposed to thumb twiddling in airports. But what can you do with three hours in Doha? Lots, as it turns out. We met camels, saw the sunset over the Dhow Harbour, and walked the Corniche, where local lads had parked up their cars and turned up the Arabic pop full volume. There was a very fitting crescent moon once it got dark and a hot, foreign breeze. All of this was much better than mooching around in Duty Free and was only made slightly tense by the fact that it took us forty minutes to flag a cab to take us back to the airport. (I am useless in these situations. I'm so blind i can't see a cab until it's ten metres off and by the time my lazy brain has clocked this, ... read more

We enjoyed a Dune Bashing trip near the Sealine along with a dessert style overnite camping right on the ocean. Much of Qatar's oil and natural gas wealth is visible in Doha, which is the economical centre of Qatar. Doha is home to the headquarters of the country's largest oil and gas companies. Like the nearby city of Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, Doha's economy is moving away from its dependency on the oil and natural gas industries, although unlike Dubai, Doha's main focus is not tourism. Construction is also booming in Doha, a result of increasing corporate and commercial activity in Doha; this is most visible with the changing skyline of the city, as Doha has over 50 towers currently being constructed While there we also got to tour The Pearl Qatar....it is still ... read more