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As I booked my flights a few months ago for a trip to Southeast Asia, I was reminded that I could just as easily fly east rather than west and connect through the Middle East. I had actually done this several times in the past with great results, once through Abu Dhabi and once through Doha, Qatar. This time I could fly the whole way from Houston to Hanoi on two flights with a 9-hour+ layover, again in Doha. Add in the fact that I would pay only a little over half of what I would spend taking three flights over the Pacific, and it was a no-brainer.
I booked on Qatar Airways, an airline I had successfully flown about five years ago. Regardless of how I felt about some of the controversies that gripped Qatar before and during the World Cup, I was not willing to cut off my nose to spite my face with so much money and time on the line. I knew from my Abu Dhabi trip that I could probably leave the airport, so I sought and easily found a way to get a transit visa, store my bags, and skip out of Hamad Airport for a few hours, and just like that, I found myself with a long evening and night in the capital city of Qatar.
Doha is a relatively new city (1820s, with independence declared from Britain in 1971) and is situated on the eastern shore of this small but wealthy Persian Gulf nation. It is home to about 80% of Qatar’s population, the majority of whom are not native Qataris. The economy is fueled primarily by oil and gas, which supplanted pearl diving a century ago, but in recent years, the country has been boosting their coffers with major sporting and other events, as well as a heightened focus on tourism. The latter was, in part, what made my outing so easy and rewarding.
My first stop was at the Museum of Islamic Art along the city’s famous Corniche, the promenade and road that arc along the waterfront. Although the museum was closed at the late evening hour I arrived, it was a great vantage point for the glittering skyline of West Bay across the water, a stroll past some older boats in Dhow Harbor, and of course the outside view of the museum itself, a splendid mix of Islamic and modern architecture designed by I.M. Pei.
We then followed the Corniche around the curve of the bay to immerse ourselves in that colorful clump of skyscrapers in West Bay, a glitzy district of the tallest buildings in the city. These are home to government offices, foreign embassies, hotels, shopping, dining, and luxury living. It almost looked like a computer simulation from afar with the neon colors rising high into the sky and reflected in the dark water, but it was definitely thumping with energy at street level.
The older, more established Souk Waqif more than held its own in the thumping-with-energy department! By the time I had circled back and started walking around the core of Doha’s traditional quarter, it was almost 11 pm, but the area was wide awake and brimming with activity. Knots of thobe-clad Qatari men, local families with children, and tourists all mixed with local merchants and restauranteurs in the warren of streets.
One moment I was admiring old wheelbarrows for moving goods, and the next I was passing a modern pizzeria or trendy coffeeshop. I ping-ponged from displays of old artifacts to upscale eateries. The one thing I did not see in this bustling area was anything reminiscent of a girls’ night out; local women were always accompanied, and vastly outnumbered, by men. Still, there was no discomfort at all in walking around the quarter on my own as a single woman, and I seemed to draw no extra attention.
The only part of my evening sightseeing that initially looked staged for visitors was Katara Cultural Village, an educational and commercial center opened in 2010 between West Bay and The Pearl. It had all the makings of a Disneyesque set, and I entered reluctantly, assuming it was a touristy showpiece. I was pleasantly surprised to find it filled with local people on a Friday night, strolling the air-conditioned streets (yes, there were vents in the sidewalks to cool things down in this city that often reaches the 120s F (high 40s C). The area was so attractive I couldn’t help but enjoy my stroll in spite of an internal cringe about the energy usage. Originally opened for the Doha Tribeca Film Festival, the “village” contained museums, an opera house, fine arts and Arabic poetry centers, a planetarium, and a long list of other cultural amenities, all built to reflect the country’s cultural and architectural heritage.
By a little after midnight I was back on a bus to the airport and ready for my 2:45 am flight to Hanoi. Did I get to really know and understand a new country? No, of course not, but I had a great time seeing another of these small Persian Gulf countries that straddle a strange line between traditional and modern life. That chasm is far greater than anything I see in my daily life or even other travels, and for good or for bad, it was illuminating to see. The bottom line is that my three hours in Doha were far more fun and interesting than the airport, so it was a win-win for me!