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<\/a><\/p>\nA few years ago, I had the opportunity to visit Doha in Qatar.\u00a0 Even though it was a brief visit, and we only remained in the city, I learned a few things about this Arab country.<\/p>\n
- \n
- It is very hot. As we left the airport at midnight on the way to our hotel in downtown Doha, the temperature was at around 100 F.\u00a0 The next morning, I had made plans to walk two short blocks from the hotel to the Museum of Islamic Art designed by the great Chinese-American architect I.M. Pei.\u00a0 While standing in the lobby of the hotel, the concierge asked about our plans.\u00a0 He suggested I take an Uber or a taxi to the museum rather than to walk due to the heat.\u00a0 The gentleman was right.\u00a0 It was so hot in Doha that walking two blocks during the day would be almost impossible. \u00a0I almost died walking down the entryway to the museum (below) when I walked it to get the picture. \u00a0Above is one of the museum\u2019s courtyards.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
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<\/a><\/p>\n- \n
- We hired a driver to take us to the Pearl, the exclusive artificial island with stores and homes of the wealthiest citizens of Doha. Before Qatar became the wealthy financial hub it is today, its citizens were nomads who harvested pearls by diving into the Persian Gulf \u2013 hence the name of this district.\u00a0 We drove along the Corniche with striking views of the modern buildings and gulf.\u00a0 We also visited Qanat Quarter which resembles Venice with canals and old-world style buildings.\u00a0 Our driver was from Sri Lanka and was a great photographer.\u00a0 He shared that working in Doha was very difficult \u2013 little pay and less than optimal living conditions.\u00a0 He had been recruited by a company, and then had to rent the taxi for the day.\u00a0 He shared that he hardly made any money.\u00a0 It could have been a tactic to get a bigger tip, but his observations match what I have heard about the workforce in Qatar.\u00a0 No wonder taxi drivers were pestering me like flies once I left the Museum of Islamic Art and was trying to figure out where to go next.
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<\/a><\/li>\n- Qatar does not make most of its money from oil, but from liquified natural gas. It has the lowest production costs of liquified gas in the world, allowing it to bring in what seems to be unlimited amounts of money.\u00a0 I learned all about this as well as the history of Qatar in fascinating 2019 National Museum of Qatar which resembles a desert rose crystal native to the area.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/613\/2022\/11\/316237018_1740678956306333_5065484315031923828_n-300x225.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n- \n
- In the evening, we walked through the old bazar or Souq Waqif. It was filled with locals shopping and the prices were reasonable.\u00a0 As the sun set, the city came alive with people walking the streets of the old town.
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<\/a><\/li>\n- No alcohol is sold in the country, and public drunkenness will land you in jail. The hotel where we stayed however was one of the few locations where alcohol is sold to foreigners in a controlled environment \u2013 no wonder the hotel\u2019s lobby was bustling with activity at one in the morning when we arrived.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
With the World Cup currently held in Doha, the news has been quite critical of the laws and traditions of Qatar.\u00a0 It is funny that in our modern world tolerance is preached, and most will state that objective truth does not exist, yet in practice, modern society does hold certain truths and rights to be universal.\u00a0 I do believe that there are things to criticize in Qatar, especially right now that it\u2019s on the world\u2019s spotlight, but let us not forget about the things to criticize in our own country.<\/p>\n
I am grateful for the opportunity I had to visit Doha, and for the many things I learned.\u00a0 It opened a whole new world to me that I had never experienced before in my life.<\/p>\n
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<\/a><\/p>\nAll pictures are mine, all rights reserved.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A few years ago, I had the opportunity to visit Doha in Qatar.\u00a0 Even though it was a brief visit, and we only remained in the city, I learned a few things about this Arab country. It is very hot. As we left the airport at midnight on the way to our hotel in downtown […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2533,"featured_media":6882,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[205],"tags":[2082,2085,2079],"class_list":["post-6879","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-commentary","tag-doha","tag-qatar","tag-world-cup"],"yoast_head":"\n
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The hotel where we stayed however was one of the few locations where alcohol is sold to foreigners in a controlled environment \u2013 no wonder the hotel\u2019s lobby was bustling with activity at one in the morning when we arrived.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
- Qatar does not make most of its money from oil, but from liquified natural gas. It has the lowest production costs of liquified gas in the world, allowing it to bring in what seems to be unlimited amounts of money.\u00a0 I learned all about this as well as the history of Qatar in fascinating 2019 National Museum of Qatar which resembles a desert rose crystal native to the area.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
- We hired a driver to take us to the Pearl, the exclusive artificial island with stores and homes of the wealthiest citizens of Doha. Before Qatar became the wealthy financial hub it is today, its citizens were nomads who harvested pearls by diving into the Persian Gulf \u2013 hence the name of this district.\u00a0 We drove along the Corniche with striking views of the modern buildings and gulf.\u00a0 We also visited Qanat Quarter which resembles Venice with canals and old-world style buildings.\u00a0 Our driver was from Sri Lanka and was a great photographer.\u00a0 He shared that working in Doha was very difficult \u2013 little pay and less than optimal living conditions.\u00a0 He had been recruited by a company, and then had to rent the taxi for the day.\u00a0 He shared that he hardly made any money.\u00a0 It could have been a tactic to get a bigger tip, but his observations match what I have heard about the workforce in Qatar.\u00a0 No wonder taxi drivers were pestering me like flies once I left the Museum of Islamic Art and was trying to figure out where to go next.