Exploring Doha, Qatar

I made use of my 16 hour layover in Doha and took a city tour to Souq Waqif, Dhow Harbour, Katana Cultural Village, and The Pearl.

After a 14 hour flight from Dallas to Doha I made my way off the plane and to a Qatar help desk. Qatar airlines offers three hour city tours for only $12. Normally I would need to buy a Visa, but Qatar Airways already had visas arranged.

I got stamped into Qatar and got on a bus with a few other travelers. We first went to our first stop, Dhow Harbour. There we could see the skyline. It was beautiful and reminded me a lot of New York.

Next our bus took us to the Katara Cultural Village. It is this beautiful village with shops, an amphitheater, the Blue Mosque, and amazing architecture.

After that quick stop we drove to The Pearl, which is a man-made island. The building on it were beautiful and there was a huge outdoor shopping mall with lots of designer shops. The mall was right my a marina and a bridge, which we were not allowed to walk on because it was private property.

Our next and last stop was Souq Waqif, an outdoor market. It had lots of little shops on the sides selling souvenirs and nick nacks. There were also lots of restaurants and almost every person eating was also smoking Hookah. The market was filled with alley ways and it was pretty easy to wander off and get lost. We had about 40 minutes to explore the streets before we headed back to the airport.

After I was stamped out and made it through security, I found a quiet room where there are reclining chairs for people to sleep. I got out the blanket I got from the airplane and snuggle up for a hopefully comfy night of sleep.

The tour only lasted three hours, so I didn't have time to see as much of the city as I wanted, but I was glad I had the opportunity to see a little bit of Doha outside of the airport.