What to do on a stopover in Doha, Qatar. Photo / Getty Images
What to do on a stopover in Doha, Qatar. Photo / Getty Images
With scores of Kiwis heading to Europe for summer, many travellers will fly via Doha with Qatar Airways. Here’s why you should consider a longer stopover and what to do in Doha while you’re there, writes Gillian Vine.
Competitive fares offered by Qatar Airways, including discounts for over-65s, are making its service increasingly attractive to Kiwis heading to Europe.
Qatar Airways’ hub is in the country’s capital, Doha, and a stopover there after the 17.5-hour flight from Auckland is an appealing option.
Heading for Paris, I opted to break my journey in Qatar and – using the “pin in the map” technique – chose the Alwadi Hotel Doha. An inspired choice for its location opposite the restored 19th-century marketplace, Souq Al Waqif, the hotel was well-priced, spotlessly clean, the bed comfy and the restaurant offered international and local dishes.
Souq Al Waqif is a top spot for tourists and is popular with Qataris, too. After a fire in 2003, the market was given a new look – or rather, an old one to reproduce its heritage.
Doha is a modern city where more than half Qatar’s people live. Photo / Gillian Vine
I couldn’t resist buying some frankincense and myrrh, treasured resins of biblical fame. A helpful salesman, miming the process, explained how to grind the rock-like lumps and pour boiling water on the powder to make a medicinal brew which, if I understood correctly, were guaranteed to cure everything I could ever have wrong with me. Despite those claims, I haven’t had the courage to try it.
Most of the items on sale in the souq are imported but there are some antiques, modern art and sculpture, and local pearls at wallet-emptying prices.
Souq Al Waqif is a revamped version of Doha’s traditional marketplace. Photo / Gillian Vine
There are also dozens of eateries, very popular in the evenings when the temperatures are a little cooler.
Not to be missed at the rear of the souq is the falcon centre, where a falconry expert told me the birds he sold cost $NZ1000 to $NZ10,000. As well as goods and other accessories, he offered a range of heavy leather gauntlets to protect the handler from the bird’s claws. Most gloves, he explained, were worn on the left hand but he did stock a few for the right hand, as left-handed men preferred them.
A Qatari owner holds a falcon he imported from Afghanistan. Photo / Gillian Vine
Nearby is the falcon hospital. A staff member said they treated 20,000 birds in a year, most from late August to the end of April, when the moulting season can cause issues.
He obligingly translated my questions to a traditionally dressed owner holding a “white” falcon he had imported from Afghanistan, while his assistant held a black male from Iraq.
There is a small, informative museum alongside the hospital’s reception area, helpful in explaining which birds are used but more on the art of falconry would have been useful.
Camels from the Royal Guard are housed behind the falcon hospital. The pens were empty when I went there but I had the thrill of seeing a long line of them, ridden by identically dressed men, parading on the lawns in front of the government palace, Amiri Diwan.
In the evening, when the temperature has dropped, a cat snoozes in Souq Al Waqif. Photo / Gillian Vine
Incredibly wealthy from oil exports, there’s a bizarre charm to Doha. Pure artifice, only to be expected of a city that has exploded since 1971, when it was named Qatar’s capital after the country became independent following 55 years as a British protectorate. In 1950, Qatar had just 25,000 people; now it has 2.737 million, with all but 355,000 living in Doha.
For millennia, pearl diving was the main industry. Life was tough for the divers, who started their day with a scant meal of dates and a cup of coffee, then plunged from their dhow with a net to gather oysters, which then were left in the sun to make them easier to open. The stink must have been incredible for the reward of one pearl from 5000 shellfish.
Le Pouce (“the thumb”) by French artist Cesar Baldaccini in Souq Al Waqif. Photo / Gillian Vine
I chose a less pungent way of learning about pearls at the National Museum of Qatar, a splendid facility housed in a futuristic building designed in the shape of a desert rose, a crystal formation found in Qatar’s arid inland. The museum has 11 galleries devoted to the country’s history and culture, including one on pearl diving. I was riveted by a video talk by a man whose grandfather was a pearl trader and his description of how delicate cleaning of the gems increased their value.
Sobering was the gallery devoted to threatened desert animals, also housed in the National Museum of Qatar, including the Arabian oryx. Hunted to extinction in the wild, this antelope was reintroduced thanks to captive breeding programmes and there are now about 1000 in total.
The National Museum of Qatar was designed to resemble the country’s desert rose, a crystal formation. Photo / Gillian Vine
Qatar’s largest heritage site, Al Zubara fort sits scowling at potential enemies to the north, 100km northwest of Doha. Surprisingly, built only in 1938, these days it is a museum, an interesting and photogenic spot fitting perfectly into the barren landscape.
Back in Doha, I take a look at The Pearl, a 4sq km artificial island largely created from, I’m told, the waste material from highway construction. It’s a mind-numbing mix of architectural marvels, high-rise apartments, luxury shopping, food and entertainment. Yawping at the posh yachts in the marina and the Venice-inspired Qanat Quarter, I wish I’d had time to spend a full day here.
Al Zubara Fort, built in 1938, is now a museum. Photo / Gillian Vine
My verdict: Doha is definitely worth a stopover.
Know before you go
If you’ve only one day in Doha, concentrate on Souq Al Waqif and the national museum. Visit The Pearl on day two, maybe adding a dhow cruise in the evening, and on day three get out into the countryside.
Holders of New Zealand passports do not need visas to enter Qatar and immigration is fast and efficient.
Qatar’s dress code is fairly casual by Middle Eastern standards but women should opt for modesty with long sleeves, full-length trousers and a head scarf outside Doha.
You’ll be lucky to get Qatari riyal at Auckland airport but don’t panic, as there are ATMs at Doha’s Hamad airport. $NZ1 = QR2.22.
Taxi drivers prefer cash, so it’s worth getting some local currency before heading to your hotel.
Qatar has two seasons, “hot and very hot”, you’ll be told. December to March are the coolest months with daytime temperatures range from 22-27 degrees celsius. June to August are the hottest, with average temperatures well into the 40s.
Buy a metro pass, costing less than $NZ a day for easy travelling around in air-conditioned comfort.
Be careful when booking organised trips. Most quote prices in US dollars and many operators charge very high individual prices if the vehicle doesn’t have its full complement of passengers (usually four).
