"'Sir, please step this way.' As I was leaving customs, my bagged got scanned, the noise on the scanner was not acceptable. A uniformed Qatari customs worker escorted me to a desk and told me to wait. I had just gotten off a Salam Air flight from Muscat, ninety percent of the flight was made up of young Sudanese men, now in Doha to work the labor intensive jobs to provide for their family back home. Tens of billions of remittances are sent out of Qatar each year to countries like India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal and Sudan. I watched my flight mates pass through customs and lineup in front of an overseer to be processed. 'Sir, please open your bag.' I did as I was told. The customs official removed a duty-free bottle of wine I had purchased in Oman. Qatar was a dry country, minus a few hotel bars and a single state sanctioned liquor shop. 'You cannot bring this into Qatar. It will be waiting here for you when you leave if you chose to pick it up. Please do not do this again.' 'But I bought it in Oman, a Muslim country, in the terminal on my way to Doha.' 'Yes sir, that is Oman. They are happy to sell and we are happy to hold it for you.'"
--Luke's Journal
CITIES VISITED:
MUST DO:
FAVORITE MEMORY:
Doha
Visit the Souq Waqif and the Islamic Museum of Art.
Observe the Qatari aristocrats hold court in the ultra luxurious Gate Mall.
Take pictures at the Falcon Souq where the elite indulge in their hobby of falconry.
Walk around the immigrant-strong Al-Mansoura District and see how the foreign workers that make up 85% of the country's population find Doha.
Spending an hour-and-a-half navigating the byzantine layers of airport security and various "officials" to get my bottle of duty free wine back--I did!
Uber operates in Doha and makes it easy to get around. There's also a very sleek metro train.
Doha is not much of a tourist destination, most who pass through are on "business." The Islamic Museum of Art is very well done and a fantastic collection. Avoid the gilded downtown and stay near the Souq Waqif. There's a nightlife scene if you dig far enough, but dig ain't worth the dirt.
