Given the extravagance of Dubai Airport's Terminal 1 and 3 (their "international" terminals), you would expect that Terminal 2 (for budget and "domestic" flights to Abu Dhabi and the surrounding Gulf nations) would be similarly fashioned. Not so. Pretty small and drab. But I guess I wasn't really there to check out the airport or duty-free. I was only an hour flight from Doha, Qatar, and seeing my sister (Fetty) and brother-in-law (Fadzli), along with my nephews (Adam and Aqil) and niece (Iris), and that was all I cared about. They had relocated there Fadzli's work, and had been there for about a year.
Flying into Qatar is easy for an Australian. You simply just pay 100 riyals (about $30AUD) for a visa on arrival, no need to arrange one beforehand. Cleared immigration easily, picked up my bags and walked out into the arrivals area to see the smiling faces of Fetty and Fadzli waiting for me. Despite having not seen each in person for almost five years, it was pretty easy to pick them out in a crowd (thanks Facebook!). I think we were both equally hyped to see each other, and the whole car trip from the airport back to the house was used to catch up on the last five years of our lives. The reception from the kids was a little less enthusiastic, but of course, what young kids would openly welcome a unfamiliar man into their lives. The last time I saw them, Adam was only 5, Iris was only a few months old, and Aqil wasn't even around yet. I assume they'll warm up to me eventually once I start handing out presents haha.
First impressions of Qatar: mainly desert, but still really lively and populated. After a few hours of rest, we went and explored Souk Wakif, a marketplace which is one of Doha's main attractions. And it is huge. So many alleys and lane ways twisting and turning, not to mention a lot of them look the same since the stores are clustered together based on what they're selling. We ended up having dinner there in a nice restaurant where I tried makbous, a typical rice dish all over the Middle East. It's similar to a sort of curried rice, and I had lamb and yoghurt to go with it which was absolutely delicious. After dinner, we continued to explore the markets, even stopping for about 15 minutes just to watch a guy make bangles out of clay. After eventually finding our way out of the souk (market), we battled bumper to bumper traffic to get home, where I just crashed. Flying always takes it out of me.
******************************************************
Day 71
Woke up around noon. Turns out this was going to be a trend for the whole time I was in Doha. I'd wake up around 11am or 12pm and then have breakfast/lunch of a traditional Malaysian dish before heading out with Fetty and Fadzli about 3pm to go sightseeing. And just to clear things up, we had Malaysian food because Fetty and Fadzli were originally from Malaysia before they relocated to Qatar.
Gave the kids the gifts I had bought for them from the Harry Potter Studios in London: a Harry Potter wand, a Hermione Granger wand and a stuffed toy Hippogriff. Don't think they were the biggest of fans but they seemed to realise that these items were quite special, and wanted to bring them to school to show off. I kinda wish I had bought a wand for myself as well now haha. But at least they're all comfortable with my presence now which is good.
That afternoon, Fadzli and Fetty took me to Aspire Park, which to my surprise was actually lusciously green and even had a (man-made) lake in the middle. Was quite nice to see this side of Doha to counteract all the desert I seem to see when we drive everywhere. Another note, everything in Doha is far away from everything else. Without a car (no trains and buses are pretty sporadic), you can't really get anywhere. Nearby was the Villagio Mall designed to look like the Venetian inside. They even had canals and gondola rides. Dinner was at Applebees, an American restaurant chain, specialising in typical American style foods, such as ribs and buffalo wings. Was actually nice to get a taste of America after all my European cuisine lately.
******************************************************
Day 72
Lunch of nasi lemak, something I hadn't had since I was in Malaysia five years ago. It's a dish of rice with a sambal sauce, topped with dried fish, hard-boiled egg and various fresh veggies. I was actually surprised that I could eat that sambal without breaking into a sweat, until Fetty told me that she had reduced the chili content by more than half. Haha and here I was thinking that my tolerance for chili had increased exponentially.
That afternoon, we headed to Corniche (the more modern high-rise Doha) where we walked along the coast and enjoyed a boat ride in the harbour as the sun set. I guess this part of Doha was designed similar in style to Dubai with all its funky shaped buildings. Once again, I was genuinely surprised to see so much water in a "desert country", but logically speaking, Doha is on the coast so obviously there would be a harbour. Next stop was Katara Cultural Village, with an amazing amphitheatre and a nice view of the cityscape all lit up, before we headed to the Pearl, Doha's man-made "island" equivalent to Dubai's Palm. As expected, it was extravagant and opulent, but not teeming with people. Guess it'll be a while before it fills up with the rich people who can afford to live here. Dinner was back at Souk Wakif in a Yemeni restaurant where I enjoyed a traditional meal, complete with a private room where we sat on the cushions on a rug on the ground. Was a really cool authentic experience.
******************************************************
Day 73
Lunch of beef rendang, once again, with chili factor dramatically reduced. Today I headed out with the whole family to Sealine Shore for a picnic on the beach and general merriment and frolicking in the water. After that, we stopped by some sand dunes and I had my first ever ride on a camel! It was quite rocky but definitely a novelty to be tried at least once. My camel was nice and calm, unlike some of the other ones which were a bit more stubborn. In another first, I also went quad biking for the first time! We stopped by this area occupied by at least ten different biking places all vying for our business. With massive dunes in front of me, I put the pedal to the metal and charged up. As I turned around to go back down, I realised that it didn't look as gentle a slope as I had imagined. If you recall my skiing adventures, I'm not really a fan of heading downhill that fast that steep. Ended up stopping midway on the dune, and pulling my bike over to a more reasonable descending path. I was so worried that my bike would flip over haha. Not sure how reasonable a fear that was but I didn't wanna take any risks. Haha must have looked weird to anyone watching. Ended up spending an hour racing around the flats and the dunes with Fadzli and Adam, highlighted by watching the brilliantly colourful sunset over the grey-white sand. After such a big day out, we ended up getting take-out schwarma for dinner and heading home to enjoy in the comfort of air con.
******************************************************
Day 74
In a change from other days, I woke up at 5:30am today to go riding with a Harley gang. Haha turns out that Fadzli is a motorcycle enthusiast and every so often, they all meet up to go riding about 80km to a biker's cafe/restaurant. Fadzli attached a backrest to his bike which made the journey quite easy since I could just lean back and enjoy the ride without fear of falling off. Gotta admit that that was actually really cool, and something that not many tourists would have gotten the chance to do. Turns out most of the Harley gang were Malaysian and very friendly, nothing like what you'd expect when you hear about bikies. The restaurant was also Malaysian and I of course had to have mee goreng along with teh tarik, milk tea prepared by pouring from a height to aerate, cool and produce froth. On the ride back, despite my best efforts to stay awake, I just kept nodding off. Luckily that backrest was there. During one instance, I actually leant off to one side, but by being wedged between Fadzli and the backrest, I was able to stay on the bike as I jerked awake Inception style. That little shot of adrenaline kept me awake for the rest of the trip home.
Despite my tiredness, I stayed awake and Skyped into Phil's 21st birthday party. First time I've ever done that. Was actually quite weird to be carried around the party. Even more weird when you're left on a table. And just plain awkward when people see a moving head on a laptop just sitting on a table. All you can do is just wave I guess. Or pretend to be a picture. Maybe I should have done that. And then as they come closer to inspect, then I move and scare the shit out of them. Haha next time. Ended up getting to catch up with quite a few friends at that party, despite being a whole eight hours behind them.
Dinner that night was at the Malaysian Embassy who were hosting a cultural night. Got to pig out on satay chicken skewers with peanut sauce. Wasn't as good as the real deal in Malaysia but still good. Ended the night by exploring Ezdan Mall, shopping for souvenirs. Got home and crashed early. I don't do well with 5:30am starts.
******************************************************
Day 75
Last full day in Doha. And certainly was a lazy day. The only thing I really did today was head to the cinemas with Fetty and Fadzli. Saw Thor 2. It's interesting to notice that they censor the film slightly. Swearing is cut out, so you just get a half second of silence every now and then. And say goodbye to sex scenes. Kissing is also cut out, but I think if it's "important" to the story then it's kept in. But yeah it was quite interesting watching the movie with Arabic subtitles. At least it wasn't the other way around, with Arabic dubbing and English subtitles. Interestingly, the movie was filmed partly in Greenwich, UK, and it was pretty cool recognising everything having been there only a week earlier. Back at the house, we took some family photos while in traditional dress. Gotta admit, I think the Qatari clothing is quite cool, especially the head gear. It's a shame Australia doesn't really have its own traditional dress.
As my time in Qatar draws to a close, I realise just how lucky I am to have family here to take me around and show me the sights, not to mention paying for pretty much everything and force-feeding me so much good food. Every time I told anyone I was going to Doha, people would look at me oddly and ask me why (assuming they even knew where Doha, or even Qatar, was). It's a wonderful country, and so different to what I've experienced in Europe and the USA. Going alone, I'm not sure how I would have fared in such a foreign country. Thanks Fetty and Fadzli for everything!! I'm sure we'll see each other again in several years.
HBL signing out from Doha, Qatar.
Up next: Dubai, the final leg...
Previously: Goodbye Europe, hello Middle East...
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDelete