22 DOHA
WILL not be alone in remembering Saturday afternoon visits to the pet shop in Belfast’s legendary Smithfi eld market, in which seeing the goldfi sh, hamsters, budgies, rabbits and tortoises, along with puppies and kittens, usually comatose in their tiny cages, was the next-best thing to a trip to the zoo. Life was hard for those poor creatures, no doubt eternally hopeful of a few shillings being handed over and a beginning a new life in a loving, comfortable home.
By PATRIC BAIRD
July/August 2019 Travel News IMEETING QATAR’S HIGH FLYERS!
Fast forward fi fty-or-so years, to downtown Doha, the capital city of Qatar. Once again, I found myself in a pet shop – of sorts – housed in a traditional old building near Souq Wahif, one of the city’s main destinations both for locals and tourists.
However, the ‘pets’ in question were not in cages, instead they were perched on posts or railings around the shop, only one type of animal was available and a few shillings would certainly not have secured a sale. These were falcons, costing upwards of $3000 each. There is no animal cruelty or bad conditions in this shop – it’s impossible to exaggerate the extent that people in Qatar love and revere their falcons. Encouraged by the shopkeeper, I slipped on a leather gauntlet and he placed one of these magnifi cent, leather-hooded birds on my outstretched hand. I was immediately impressed by both the falcon’s weight and its beautiful plumage, as well as by its docility - though much prized for their hunting skills, luckily he didn’t consider me as his prey.
Next door to the shop is a state-of-the-art falcon hospital – these animals are precious to their owners in every sense of the word and a sick bird will get the same level of care as any family member.
This was one of the many fascinating experiences in and around Souq Wahif, the last stop on a half- day city tour arranged by Murex Tours. Our guide, Sharif, picked my wife and I up from our hotel and drove us around many of the city’s attractions in his car, answering our questions and telling us interesting stories and facts about everything we saw. First stop was The Pearl-Qatar, an impressive mix of residential and commercial buildings in both modern and traditional style, built on a man-made island spanning four kilometres. It’s a nice place to walk around the harbour, visit a restaurant or one of
the many shops selling luxury goods. A brief stop at the studios where television news channel Al Jazeera began broadcasting in 1996 was followed by a trip to the Katara Cultural Village, a sprawling waterfront area featuring an open-air amphitheatre, museum, shops, restaurants and a beach. No visit is complete without a quick look at Katara’s must-see key – it’s offi cially the world’s largest, is over 25 feet long and can be found outside Ard Canaan Restaurant!
Next we went to The Museum of Islamic Art, situated at one end of the city centre and business district known as the Corniche. Designed by internationally- renowned architect I. M. Pei, the museum is built on an island near the traditional dhow harbour and contains many historic and important Islamic artefacts, some dating back thousands of years.
There wasn’t enough time to visit all the museums or mosques in the city, or indeed to venture outside Doha for one of Murex Tours’ northern heritage excursions The company off ers a wide range of options, including cultural, activity and cookery experiences – visit their website,
murexqatartours.com for more details. After a busy day, an evening stroll around Souq Wahif included stopping briefl y for a refreshing cup of karak – a famous local beverage made up of a blend of tea, milk, water, sugar and cardamom – delicious! Following on from our encounter with the falcons, the animal theme continued as we met some splendid Arabian horses at the nearby stables, as well as some sleepy camels bedding down for the night in a nearby park.
Although it was founded over a century ago, Souq Wahif was sympathetically renovated in 2006 – it is clean and modern, while conserving its traditional Qatari architectural style. It is very easy to navigate the numerous shops selling traditional clothing, herbs, spices, handicrafts, and souvenirs. It is also home to dozens of restaurants with every imaginable variety of food, coff ee shops, where men play the traditional board game, dama, and the very popular shisha lounges, as well as several boutique hotels within the souq itself. The months around February are a perfect time to visit Qatar, with daytime temperatures in the
SHIMMERING SKYLINE.... the modern outline of Doha
low twenties and not too chilly in the evening. The summer months are extremely hot, however, so the Qatar 2022 World Cup matches will be taking place during November and December, rather than in their traditional early summer slot. Visitors will fi nd Doha to be a very modern, tolerant and forward-looking city – it was recently named amongst the top ten safest cities in the world, thanks to its very low crime rate. However, it is an Islamic country, so respect for local customs should always be observed.
Currently gearing up for the football frenzy, the city is experiencing a building boom with new stadiums and accommodation for a huge infl ux of visitors nearing completion. Doha already hosts numerous international sporting and cultural events, so there are already many top class hotels catering to both tourists and business travellers.
We stayed at Grand Hyatt Doha, located at West Bay Lagoon. The hotel is a little bit far from the central Corniche district, but very close to the Pearl-Qatar,
while the Lagoona Mall shopping centre and restaurant complex is handily located just across the road. In addition to its luxurious rooms, spa, swimming pools and gardens, as well as its own private beach, Grand Hyatt Doha features some excellent restaurants which are themselves popular destinations for locals and guests from other nearby hotels. In addition to traditional Middle Eastern delicacies at Majlis, Rocca is renowned for its very authentic Italian cuisine. The hotel’s signature restaurant, Isaan, serves traditional and modern Thai food, using fresh ingredients fl own daily into Qatar direct from Thailand. While alcohol can be pricey, and not easy to fi nd outside hotels, I can recommend the superb and very reasonably priced cocktails at Isaan!
While Doha is less brash than its near neighbour Dubai, the city is just as modern and accessible with direct, daily fl ights from both Dublin and London with Qatar Airways, making it an ideal destination for a long weekend, or a more extended luxury break.
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