A stopover in Doha

Some people don’t like to have long stopovers and prefer to get to their destination asap. For me it’s an oportunity to explore a new city. I don’t mind having to spend a few hours in a city I have never been before. My trip to Bangkok included a 10hour stopover in Doha. I hadn’t heard a lot about this city before so I was curious to find out more. As I touched down on Qatar ground I was first of all impressed by just the airport already. This was insane, the airport is big, very well organized and it has everything you would need to kill some time. From duty free shops, to multiple foodcourts, a hotel, a swimmingpool and quiet rooms where you can catch up on some sleep. I had done some research on what options I would have to kill some time during a long stopover. It is always worth checking things like these with your airline or just on the airport’s website. Qatar Airways luckily has several options and I chose to do a citytour. As I got of my plane I rushed towards the main hall of the airport where there would be an information counter of Qatar Airways. It is really not that hard to find your way around this airport since there is a huge yellow bear in the centre of the airport so you will always find your way to where you are heading. My flight had landed at 16:00 and I was just in time to sign up for the citytour. If you plan to participate in this tour I would recommend you to check their schedule so you can aim at what time you want to join them. Don’t be late because there are only so many spots to be given.

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After we got through immigration we boarded the bus and drove into the city of Doha. Wow, this city is just flabbergasting. You can clearly see that it is a city still evolving, everything looks new and they keep building more impressive buildings and skyscrapers. Our first stop was at the harbour, the harbour itself is quite ok but nothing special. The interesting part about this stop was the view we had from the harbour; from here we could see the insane skyline of the city and it’s skyscrapers. On our righthand we could see the Museum of Islamic Art. We didn’t go inside but the architecture itself is already very impressive. Second we went to Qatar Cultural Village. This is not very big but it had a very beautiful mosque. Seeing this really brought me to a totally different world, the beautiful architecture, a totally different culture and religion and local people in their traditional clothing visiting the mosque. I love it, I love being in a world that is unfamiliar to me.

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The most impressive stop would be the Souq Waqif, a traditional market where you can wander around and get lost (literally) in the narrow streets. This was so beautiful, everywhere were stands and shops with people selling their stuff; mostly souvenirs but there are also people who sell herbs, candy or even birds.

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I am very happy that I took part in this citytour and I would definitely recommend anyone to do so when having a long stopover. A citytour as this not only helps to kill some time, it also shows some great highlights and gives you an opportunity to get to know a city in a quick manner. Always check with your airline or just the airports website, there is always options. This tour was 40RIAL/11USD/9,50EUR and took about 3hours. You are expected to meet up one hour before the tour kicks off because everyone has to get through immigration and that takes a loooot of time. After I got back at the airport I still had about 4,5hours to kill before I should be boarding my next flight so I decided to find one of the many quiet rooms where the are laidback chairs so you can take some rest and sleep if you want. An interesting side note; the quiet rooms are separated for men and women so make sure you’re entering the right one. Doha and Qatar really impressed me. Boy do these people know how take things to the next level. One word to discribe Doha? Insanely luxurious….ok that’s two. Go explore!

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