Somewhere but Nowhere: Qatar Layover 22 hours

I’m traveling with three other RPCVs from my group in Uganda (Kendra, Sarah, and Kristina) which gives me some sort of comfort that I am able to share these amazing experiences with them over the next few weeks.

Last night around 11am we arrived at Qatar International Airport for our 22 hour layover. We were hoping to get a hotel but there was an earlier flight to India they wanted to put us on that was full so… unfortunately we did not qualify for the free hotel room even though the flight they wanted us to get on was booked. It was a bummer but we found some comfy chairs in a semi-private area and passed out after a long day of travel.

This is part of the indoor playground!

Managed around 6 hours of sleep

After wandering around all morning with our 20 QR food voucher we filled our bellies with food and set up a FREE three hour tour around Doha. We were the only ones going on a tour at midday which may have been idiotic because it was 113 degrees outside BUT we had the whole air conditioned coaster (mini bus) to ourselves. Another plus was that our guide and driver were both from Nepal, where we are going in two weeks! It was destined to be.

Qatar (Kut-er) has a population of around 2.1 million with a majority of its residents living in the capitol Doha. The currency of Qatar is Riyal and 1 USD = 3.6 QAR. Only 20% of the population are locals while the other 80% are foreign workers. The city of Doha is relatively new in the 1990s and is preparing for the World Cup in 2022 by building the largest football stadium. The architecture is bea-utiful here! We are experiencing the Islamic holiday of Ramadan, which last for a whole month and ends next week, with fun decorations all around but unfortunately a large majority of the shops are closed along with ALL of the restaurants because you fast from sunrise to sunset. This means no food or drink until it gets dark and our flight leaves just after the sun sets. Luckily we can still enjoy food at the airport.

This was designed by a Chinese-American to look like a covered Islamic woman.
The windows on the top are the eyes.

Persian Sea with Doha skyline

Open aired theater/ cinema used at night when it cools down

According to our tour guide the local residents make about 8,000 USD per month or 100,000 USD a year. With locals there is only a rich and a very rich class. Some of the individuals even own their own conservation area with camels, Oryx, and gazelles. Since Qatar is a desert they have to import and maintain any vegetation that they have. Their children get free education, health care, electricity in their house, and running water… at no cost. The 80% of foreign workers get anywhere between 300 to 10,000 USD a month with an average being closer to 3,000 USD.

The lights and stars are decorations for Ramadan!

At the bottom of one of the residential buildings.
Armani shop to our left.

Qatar Riyals!

There is a manmade island in Doha with residential housing built around 3 marinas. Each area around the marinas can be home to up to 40,000 people. The ‘apartment’ building had shops and restaurants in them so you never really have to leave. I even saw a Ferrari dealership across the road from one of these residential buildings. You will notice most of the buildings are more of a natural color due to the amount of sandstorms. On average a small sandstorm will go through Doha once a week.

Qatar is a peninsula surrounded by the Persian Sea on three sides with Saudi Arabia to the South. They are the number one exporter for natural gas and the 10^th for petrol. Petrol here is so cheap you can get 4 liters for 1 USD! While water on the other hand is more expensive because comes from the Persian Sea then goes through a desalinated process. After the desalinated process they add minerals although I am unsure of what kind and how much.