Saturday, August 22, 2020

My Qatar Escapade (Day 2)

 29 December 2019


Headed to the gym in the morning after a great night of rest from the long march the day before.


After getting my hands on some Qatari Riyal, I finally could take public transport. I would like to say, like how locals do, but apparently locals formed the minority in the metro.

Prior to the trip, my travel research did not pick up the Doha Metro, possibly because it was opened only in mid-2019. I was pleasantly surprised to find out the price of a single-trip ticket. For just QAR2 (or SGD0.75), one could take a single trip to any stations within the metro network.

My single-trip ticket


Qatar Rail's Doha Metro

Boarded the Metro at Umm Ghuwailina station





Similar to most of Singapore's MRT trains, the Doha Metro trains are driverless

Seats with the best view



Empty train :)



Alighted at the Katara Metro station to explore the Katara Cultural Village.


That sun...


Popped in this exhibition centre to view the bazaar that was ongoing




The Katara Amphitheatre




A view of the surroundings atop the Katara Amphitheatre


Sculpture of Mother Nature Rotating Earth




Private beaches closed off to visitors


Lunch at Mamig, an Armenian and Lebanese restaurant




Gandhi’s Three Monkeys by Subodh Gupta, with each piece made of cooking instruments, used pails, traditional Indian lunch boxes and glass bowls





Farmers Forum



These Pigeon Towers could house thousands of pigeons. They were designed to collect pigeon droppings used as fertilisers


Katara Mosque


"My Bouqnag"





Minaret of the Golden Mosque


Went in this interestingly shaped architecture to view an exhibition on hunting eagles



Katara Plaza - uptown shopping area



Returned to the Doha Metro to pick the next destination based on the name of the station. Doha Exhibition & Convention Center (DECC) station - this sounded like a place to visit.

Family Cabins!

and this cabin is for the "standards"



The Doha Exhibition & Convention Center (DECC) behind me. Too bad there was no ongoing exhibition


Did some shopping at the Carrefour supermarket inside City Center Mall Doha


Returned to Oryx Rotana Hotel


2 days were grossly insufficient to explore Doha. 

Heading home at Hamad International Airport



The Lamp Bear


An interactive game of penalty kicks

Home Sweet Home

The Middle East region often gets depicted in the news as a troubled region. Having visited Qatar, it was an eye-opener to the beautiful landscapes and architecture. I felt safe moving around on my own. The hot weather was slightly tormenting, and the poor air quality was a slight turn-off, but overall, I couldn't tell it was a country being blockaded by its neighbours. Another country to remain in my to-travel-again list!

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