Tuesday, Aug. 21

The worst thing about traveling is getting there but the first leg of our trip was good, although long. We had a seven-hour layover in Chicago but spent only about four hours there. Our buddy Doug picked us up, and we had delightful lunch with him. We boarded the plane around 6:30 p.m. for a 13-hour direct flight to Doha, Qatar. It wasn’t bad. Qatar Airways takes care of you, and leg room is pretty ample.

What was interesting was tracking our route, as we flew over Sweden, the tip of Greenland, Istanbul, Budapest and Bucharest. We saw the Tigress River. We flew over Baghdad, Fallujah and Basrah. We flew over Kuwait. We’re not far from Bahrain and Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Those are names and places with which I am familiar only through the news, and it was interesting to view from the air and think about the continued fighting and deaths occurring in some of those places. It’s sobering because it no longer is “something that happens somewhere else,” if you know what I mean.

We arrived in Doha around 4 p.m. Doha time – it was about 8 a.m. our time. We had no difficulty at all getting through immigration and our friend Maria picked us up. She lives in a compound provided by the school where she teaches, the American School of Doha. She has a beautiful apartment that is air-conditioned, thank goodness, as it is HOT and HUMID. I will never again complain about the weather in the States. On our way to the compound, we saw the city skyline (which is beautiful) and a couple of palaces in which the Royal Family live. The current Amir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, who became the eighth Amir of Qatar in 2013 after his father’s abdication. The palaces are huge, and the Royal Family even has its own airport.

Doha is the capital of Qatar, and it is a young city but a very rich city. Doha’s population is near 1.5 million and is located on the coast of the Persian Gulf in the east of the country. Its wealth comes from oil.

Qatar played a significant role in the 1991 Gulf War but, more recently, is the target for a blockade by several nations and lead by Saudi Arabia. In June 2017, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Bahrain cut off diplomatic relationswith Qatar, citing the country’s alleged support of groups they considered to be extremist. Just last week, Turkey officials said Qatar pledged$15 billion of direct investments for Turkey as it struggles with a currency crisis.

There are tons of minarets throughout the landscape, and we heard the evening call to prayer from the apartment balcony. Of course, this is a Muslim country and devout Muslims prayer five times a day. The five daily prayer times are called salat and are among the most important obligations of the Islamic faith. You can read more about the daily prayer times and what they mean at https://www.thoughtco.com/islamic-prayer-timings-2003811

It is Eid al-Fitr, an important religious holiday celebrated by Muslims worldwide that marks the end of Ramadan, the Islamic holy month of fasting. So everyone is gone on holiday, and Maria is reveling in the fact that there is little traffic although there are tons of “workers,” mostly men, who are on holiday and enjoying their time in the beautiful parks in the city. You don’t see many women amongst them. There are sacrifices, and I just read in Qatar Day that in excess of 3,600 sheep and also 45 camels and bovines “were relinquished” at the slaughterhouses in the Central Market on the primary day of Eid Al Adha. 

After we visited and showered, we took off for supper. We went to Souq Waqif (“the standing market”, a marketplace located in the district of Al Souq – the heart of Doha. Not all the vendors were open but we got a sense of what is offered at the marketplace – traditional garments, lots of spices, handicrafts and, of course, souvenirs. It is also home to dozens of restaurants – from Lebanese to the Persian restaurant at which we ate – and Shisha lounges. Shisha tobacco is a molasses-based tobacco concoction smoked in a hookah. Maria and I intend to smoke some Shisha sometime during our stay here.

We ate at Parisa. The cuisine was Middle Eastern and Persian. The décor was Persian, and it was beautiful with a fountain in the middle. We had a delicious meal. You can see the restaurant’s decor at http://www.ritzcarlton.com/en/hotels/qatar/sharq-village/dining/parisa-souq-waqif?utm_source=tripadvisor&utm_medium=referral

It was a warm evening; well, it actually was hot. Maria tells us the weather is mild… as I type at 9 a.m., the temp is 99 Fahrenheit with a feel-real of or heat index of 109. And we’re getting ready to go on our first excursion. I cannot wear shorts (unless they cover my knees) so I’m going to don my safari pants …. And off we go!

Us in the Persian restaurant, Parisa, in the Souq Waqif district.

From Maria's balcony in her compound. Everything is offered within the compound including a restaurant, grocery store and laundry.