Walking The Corniche In Doha

While K was busy at work, I decided to go sightseeing in Doha. Just like in Kuwait there is a nice corniche and it's possible to walk all the way along it - which I decided to try.


(I walked roughly from the dhow harbor (bottom arrow) along the corniche - with a few detours - to the Sheraton hotel (upper arrow))

From our hotel it was a short walk to the beginning of the corniche. On the way I passed this reminder of the Asian Games 2006 that Doha hosted (there are a few more in other colors spread throughout the city):


(From the 2006 Asian Games in Doha)

Of course one should never try and compare two countries but I tend to do it because I am trying to understand more of the Gulf region and how Kuwait fits into that picture - i.e. how it is similar and different to other countries in the Gulf. I already wrote about how the Qatari seem to dress more conservatively/traditionally (How To Spend A Week-end In Firenze, Italy (Mall-O-Mania Qatar Style) but another thing that I noticed was that it seems the population of Doha is more mixed than that of Kuwait in terms of nationalities represented. I saw a lot of African people (and later a Kenyan lady I know in Kuwait told me that there is indeed a large Kenyan community in Qatar) and what appeared to be a more mixed Arab population as well. I couldn't really find any comparable statistics to support this, so it's just an observation. Like in Kuwait, the Qatari are a minority in their own country (about 3/4 of the population is expatriate with temporary residence permit).


(A shop selling Sudanese requirements (whatever that includes))

Down by the corniche is the impressive Museum of Islamic Arts. I went to see it and it was absolutely amazing - so much so that I will do a separate post on it later.


(Museum of Islamic Arts, Doha corniche)

From the museum it is also clear how green Doha is in some places - I suppose the humid climate helps but they still must be using an enormous amount of water to keep it this green and beautiful (I realize that to many of you this looks like nothing extraordinary but once you live in a desert country you really come to appreciate seeing green grass):


(Green Doha - a small park/patch of green grass by the corniche)

Right next to the museum is a small harbor that serves as the hub for many of the local fishing boats:


(Local fishing boats, Doha corniche)

...And there was even some wildlife to be spotted:


(Birds - one looks like a type of heron? - in front of local fishing boats - and with a hazy Doha city skyline in the background)


(A heron (?), a sea gull and another little bird hanging out by the water, Doha corniche)


(Another tourist taking a photo of a roundabout close to the corniche - often the roundabouts are nicely decorated - in this case with clay pots and water coming out of some of them)

It seems that Qatar is trying to enforce the traffic regulations - I saw quite a few signs reminding drivers to take care of the pedestrians and people working roadside. This one is also quite nice:


(A lifted finger to remind of the traffic regulations, under a stop sign in Arabic)

From the corniche walk, this impressive building is very visible. It is the Qatar Islamic Cultural Centre - also known as Fanar:


(Qatar Islamic Cultural Centre, Doha)

It also looks really nice at night when it is all lit up:


(Qatar Islamic Cultural Centre by night)

Actually the big Souq Waqif is located in this area as well but I will write a separate post about the souq as I spent quite a lot of time there.

Another Doha landmark is the Pearl monument. Something the Gulf countries share is a pre-oil past of pearl diving (I wrote about this in a Dubai post as well - Soaking Up Culture In Dubai). While it is oil and gas that has paid for much of the modern developments, pearl diving was the main economic activity in many of the Gulf countries until it collapsed in the 1930s.


(The Pearl with local fishing boats and Doha city skyline in the background)


(Close-up of the Pearl)


(The Pearl about to eat the Qatar Islamic Cultural Centre - Pacman style)

Close by the corniche walk is the Diwan Amiri - the residence of the Emir of Qatar (on the right hand side covered as it is undergoing renovation) along with the Grand Mosque and a pink clock tower:


(Diwan Amiri, the impressive green mosque and a pink clock tower)

Further along the corniche, the skyline of Doha city becomes clearer. In this particular part of the corniche walk are large yellow letters forming some words including 'Realize' and 'Think'.

I particularly liked this one as it must really have taken a lot of effort and vision to realize this impressive skyline in what was a traditional desert country:


('Realize' in front of the Doha city skyline)

The 'Think' is in front of the Palm Tree Island. However, I am quite convinced that it is not actually a palm tree but a sidra/cedar tree - a tree important to Qatar and the region and the logo of the influential Qatar Foundation. Considering the Qatar Foundation's heavy involvement in education, I suppose it is a very fitting word to have 'think' in front of that island with the tree:


('Think' in front of Palm Tree Island)


(Getter closer to Doha city skyline)

At one point along the corniche walk there was a long wall with colorful mosaics depicting Qatar's development (there were many more mosaics but I chose just 4 sections to show here):


(From a Bedouin past of roaming the desert with camels...)


(...to trading and selling products...)


(...to diving for precious and at that time (before cultured pearls) expensive pearls...)


(...up until a modern Qatar with oil, gas and the pleasures of modern life and leisure activities set against the Doha skyline)

Qatar has the 4th largest gas reserve in the world and the largest GDP per capita.


(Birds promenading along the corniche)

I also spotted this nice bird - it looks like a blue heron of some kind:


(Blue heron (?), Doha corniche)


(Blue heron (?), ready for take-off)

Speaking of animals, this one - which is an oryx and is also the logo of the national carrier Qatar Airways - is, I believe, the mascot from the 2006 Asian Games. The Asian Games logo has been scratched off its shirt and the count-down display in the background is now used for advertising other sports events. At least they found a way to recycle it:


(Asian Games 2006 mascot with Doha city skyline in the background)


(Another yellow word - 'Achieve')

As I got closer to the skyline, I realized the blue bird had accompanied me (it's at the bottom of the picture):


(Doha city skyline and the blue heron(?))

I got another good shot of it...



...Before it flew off for good:



By then I had gotten into the Doha city centre:


(High rises in Doha city centre)


(Close-up of twisted high rise)

This one appears as nothing special from a distance:



...but as you get closer it becomes clear that it is actually an intricate mesh of Arabic patterns:




(Bird along the corniche)

As I touched upon, Qatar is heavily investing in the education of its population - through the Qatar foundation and other means. I did not go and see it but they have built an entire Education City that has become home to a number of prestigious American university branch campuses and other educational institutions.

Along the corniche there is the newly opened Knowledge Enrichment Centre - another testament to the value placed upon education and knowledge:


(The Knowledge Enrichment Centre - closed when I was there so on the to-do list for next visit)

Here is another thing I did not expect to see in this region. I don't know if anybody actually uses them but the idea is great (the display was all black so I'm not sure the machine is working). If it wasn't for the heat I would have loved to do a bike ride along the corniche:


(Bikes for hire along the end of the corniche)

The trip ended at the Sheraton park - next to the landmark Sheraton hotel (to the right outside of this picture). It was truly a wonderful little park with blossoming trees, lots of green grass, a nice little playground and of course wireless internet throughout the area:


(Beautiful tree with deep orange flowers in Sheraton park)


(Beautiful trees in Sheraton park, downtown Doha)

My trip ended here (I took a taxi back to my hotel) and although it was not much longer than 4 km (without the detours) it felt more like I had walked 25 km. The humidity in Qatar is quite intense and I am still learning how my body reacts to the high temperatures and how little physical effort I am able to make in this climate. It is quite strange as I can only walk about half a kilometer before I need to drink water and gain my breath - and after a trip like this (which is something I would usually do in an hour or two) I went straight back to the hotel and slept for an hour before I felt normal again. I am glad I experienced it though - if we will do more traveling this summer I know not to plan too much in a day.

On a last note, I thought about how the place we grow up shapes our perception of things and in particular how we get used to certain pictograms as generally valid and applicable. To me for example, the symbol for a pedestrian is quite simply a man (walking or standing - depending on whether it is related to a green or red light at a pedestrian crossing) looking something like this:


(What I perceive as a pedestrian pictogram)

I never really thought much about how in other cultures this would look different - here's the pictogram for a pedestrian in Qatar (where both men and women wear clothes that have this silhouette):



I will be posting some more about the Museum of Islamic Arts as well as the Souq Waqif and some of the yummy food we had, so stay tuned...

Birthday In The Desert

I think I mentioned in my last post about the desert (Tell Me There Is Nothing In The Desert Again) that I would probably not be going there again any time soon because of the rising temperature making it unbearable to spend time in the desert. It turns out that there are ways to work around the issue of heat: get up really early!

It was a friend of mine's birthday on 9 May and to celebrate we went for a very early desert trip along with her husband and two other friends. We left from my place at 3:45 am (yawn!) and made it into the desert for the 5 am sunrise. As the desert gets cool at night it was still a bit chilly to wear a t-shirt. The sunrise and the fresh air was so worth the early rise:


(5 am and the first signs of sunlight on the sky over the Kuwaiti desert)


(Shortly after 5 am and the sun rising quickly)


(Shortly after 5 am and the sun rising quickly)

With the sun comes the temperature as well but we still had time to have a look around the desert (right after sunrise it was probably high 20s Celsius/80+ F).

A definite highlight of this particular trip was the lizards! I have no idea where these creatures have been hiding the last times we were there or if they somehow migrate into Kuwait in the summer but now they are here!

Although the lizards themselves are quite big (I'd say about 0.5 meter long/2 feet) they can be hard to spot. From a distance they look like a stick in the sand - like this one:


(A lizard sticking its head out of its hole - middle of the picture - look for the small black 'stick' pointing upwards (not the black thing lying on the ground to the right))

It can be quite difficult to get close to them - when they feel movement on the ground they immediately escape into their holes. They are said to be a delicacy so no wonder they are quick to escape to avoid being eaten by campers.

At one point we were really lucky to drive up on one who for some reason did not get scared from the movement of our car. We stopped and took some pictures through the window - it was so close that I could see it swallow (that was the only movement visible):


(Lizard in its hole - Kuwaiti desert)

There was a Kuwaiti with us on this trip and he told us that this type of lizard uses its tail (which looks like a club with spikes) to hit/to fight with. I can imagine that must hurt!

On our way back (in time for breakfast) we almost hit a lizard that was sitting in the middle of the road - I imagine the tarmac was nice and warm. It gave us the "I-was-here-first-look" (good point) and we tried to "push" it off the road (without hitting it of course). It finally ran off the road and into a drain by the road side:


(Lizard running off the highway)


(Lizard by the highway)

This time of year the desert should be dry and with minimal vegetation. The recent rain (Adding 'Sarayat' to My Arabic Vocabulary), however, meant that a lot of things were growing and that flowers had again started blossoming. I even saw some new ones that I had never seen before:


(Small white flowers blossoming)


(A plant with star-shaped green flowers/leaves I had never seen before)


(A purple root-like plant I had also never seen before)


(White flowers blossoming - again)


(An unusual sight - a light green plant in the summer desert)

We went down by the water near Bubiyan Island where we have been before (it's where the mudskippers live Day Out In The Desert) and found that this area was also surprisingly green:

(Grass-like vegetation in the desert casting long morning shadows)


(Grass-like vegetation in the desert casting long morning shadows - and the sand cracking in flakes because it's dry)


(A green plant with yellow banana-shaped 'fruits')

I like being by the water - there is a big difference between high and low tide which means that it can be a completely dry area (as it was on this trip) with ripples in the sand and at other times it's mudflats with mud-skippers like the first time I was there (Day Out In The Desert).


(By the water with Bubiyan bridge in the background - the tide coming in quickly)

The water is salty (it's the mouth of the Arabic Gulf - or Persian Gulf as it is called elsewhere) and leaves white marks on the ripples of sand when the water retracts:


(Salty patterns in the sand at low tide)


(Patterns in the sand)


(A fish out of water - literally)


(A sand colored bug)


(A beautifully white crab shell)


(Dry sand cracking up - with traces of salt from the high tide)

It was also a really good morning for some bird spotting although most of them were impossible to photograph (we saw a sandpiper as well). I have no idea what most of them are - but I see species that I have never seen before:


(Bird in the sand)


(Brown, black and white bird sitting on a bush)

I was told this is a green bee-eater although they are not supposed to live in Kuwait. Actually the Kuwaiti gentleman told me that during the Iraqi invasion a lot of the Kuwaitis who fled their homes set their (pet) birds free because they could not bring them with them. That's apparently why species that shouldn't really be here are now living in the area as wild birds:


(Green bee-eater (?) now in Kuwait)

And last but not least - another thing I had never seen in the desert - a type of desert mushroom:


(Desert mushroom)

We left the desert around 7:15 am when it was getting really warm and we went for breakfast back in Kuwait City. Definitely not a bad way to spend a birthday morning - and a great justification for taking a midday nap :)