Qatar by www.born2travel.it

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12. 11. 2008 Doha (QATAR)

Doha is an airport hub for the poor Far East. 90% of the people who land here are just in transit and headed for India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, the Philippines, Sri Lanka etc. We're in Qatar! Let's remember that the famous TV broadcaster "Al Jazeera" transmits from here, beyond that I don't know what else could make this small land immersed in the desert and born on oil famous…

[Nick]: After a quick meal at McDonald's we set off for the "Corniche", a big avenue that runs along the Persian Gulf… At a certain point we come across a fish market just pulled up by the local fishermen…

Doha. A city where there's practically nothing. A long avenue with lots of palms where these Arabs' big 4000 Diesel jeeps find what they're after and even crossing the road becomes problematic.

Qatar: a place where the Qataris live the good life resting and enjoying their hookahs and the rest of the population (Nepalese, Indians, people from Bangladesh or Eritrea) does the rest, that is: everything! Out of curiosity, I always asked every person I met along my way where they came from… nobody ever answered: Qatar!

I'm tempted to ask: "In Qatar, is there a local population?" The only thing that struck me was seeing the fishermen, just back from their fishing trip, selling big and appetising fish, in the dead of night, lit by big torches, along the coast. They were surrounded by those white ghosts with their many wives covered by the black veil… buying, haggling, weighing with old scales… Very picturesque and also romantic… A shame that my knee kept tormenting me… For the record: last week, in Italy, I hurt myself during a football match and I still haven't recovered…

13. 11. 2008 Doha (QATAR)

For this day we set ourselves few points… but confused ones!

We start right away with the national museum, even though it seems deserted… I approach a guard who, woken from sleep, a bit surprised by my presence, let's say I don't blend in well among the local population, answers me that the museum is closed! "Oh, ok. What time does it open?" –"No, it doesn't open!" –"Fine, and tomorrow what time?" –"No, it doesn't open." First point: ok! Let's move on.

Point two of our programme involves: a visit to the City Center. The heart of every big city! After quite a lot of information asked here and there and a lot of walking, Nick manages to find a ride on a fridge on four wheels… A bit hesitant we accept… Let's hope for the best… But our mistrust is immediately silenced by this nice guy who takes us all the way to our destination: the shopping centre called "City Center"! What a disappointment! A very western shopping centre with even an ice hockey rink inside… and we were looking for the city centre! We wander around the big mall coming across the white ghosts or the black dominoes more than once, until we decide to move on to point three: the Post Office.

They tell us that from here a taxi costs about 5 Riyal (1 Euro), good! But as soon as the taxi driver sees us he asks 30! In the end we still manage to reach our destination our own way... The post office was huge and full of people. I think it's the only one in the city, very elegant and Arab in style! We were served by a shy veiled girl from Oman… When will we ever send a postcard from here again?

One thing I noticed is that in Doha there weren't many mosques and the muezzin was heard intoning the suras of the Koran only a couple of times… I get the impression that the Islamic religion isn't very present here! It's really true that it takes root where there's misery and poverty, here they seem more interested in how to make money and nothing else…

Point four involves a visit to the most famous Arab TV station in the world: "Al Jazeera"! What an adventure to get there though…

We decide to go by bus… Our wait begins… The thermometer reads 40° in the shade and we, inside the bus stop, all made of glass, feel like two chickens in a microwave… We wait… We wait… We wait… Now and then we exchange a few tired words, or rather gestures, with the Nepalese builder who shares this long wait with us… when finally, more than an hour later, our longed-for bus arrives… but the driver tells us we're in the wrong place! Sweaty and demoralised we decide to take the first available taxi… another feat! When we manage it, we discover that our destination was, in fact, only one kilometre away from where we were…

A bit like Don Quixote and Sancho Panza, waiting for adventures to pounce on us, we notice a hole in the heavily guarded fence of the Arab TV station… we decide to squeeze inside… If only we hadn't… Fortunately someone up there loves us and this time too we get away with it but what a scare…

By taxi we approach the area of our hotel and stop for a drink in a fishermen's bar that looks directly onto the romantic Persian Gulf… We sip a coke while around us the Qataris blissfully smoke their "well-earned" hookah! The sun sets over this not very interesting nation…

We decide to have dinner in a small Jordanian restaurant… these things you only experience when you travel on an adventure! At the Petra Restaurant, besides us there were Egyptian and Nepalese builders who watched us curiously and greeted us!

It's time to head to the airport. In the dead of night we have our flight to Hong Kong!

As I jotted down my last thoughts in my diary I thought about my friends in Italy getting ready for an Italian Saturday night while I: filthy, tired and sweaty, immersed myself in the mysterious and unknown heart of Arab life, enchanted by everything around me…

[Nick]: Special mention to Mark. He never gets demoralised, not even in an empty city like this one! We still managed to have a good time and this adventure too will stay in the baggage of our experiences!

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