BEEN ALREADY

Doha, Qatar

2019-07-29, 03:46, JASON

BUDGET

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What was supposed to just be a transfer through Doha ended up being a three hour-tour of the city because we missed our connecting flight.

After paying 1,000 USD for the change of flight, we did not want to let that get to us, so we decided to enter the city. A man approaches us asking if we wanted to join a random tour for three hours, and we agreed. He would take us to five places. Below is our three-hour tour of Doha.

‍National museum of Doha, Qatar
National musejm of Doha, Qatar, with two visitors
‍Museum of Islamic Art. Did not go inside, just the exterior
Katara - cultural area. The amphitheater
‍Katara - cultural area. The coloseum
The Green Mosque in Katara
‍The Pearl - artificial islands built for residency. The driver took us to see the figuring model of the town.
Souq Market, old bazaar street of Doha
Souq Market, shops aligned next to each other.

Doha is desert chic. As in, someone decided to pump a bunch of money into the town to develop it into the romantic version of what you imagine a desert town in the Middle East to look like. Buildings are largely white, beige, or brown, and are built with flat roofs and boxy exteriors. There are engravings on the exterior as well, but not to any detail that would warrant many years of work -- seemingly slipshod. The city has potential, but so far strikes me as another commercial city built on oil money, similar to that of Dubai. Still, there is some really great food. We take the time to eat some good Middle Eastern food - Shawarmas and Shakshuka. We rush back to the airport before we also miss our newly purchased flights.