September 2022

The time had come to undertake our first venture north of the equator with our son. A 7 week trip back to Europe to see our families. Given it was first long haul venture we decided to break it up with a couple of days stopover.

As we were flying with Qatar Airways we decided that stop would be in Doha.

Pre-Flight Check

Packing for this holiday was always going to be different. We would need a ton of snacks and toys and activities in the cabin bags as well as bottles, formula and nappies. No room for John’s books or Karen magazines.

We thought we had overdid it with the snacks but with less than 1 hour inside the terminal at Sydney Airport Cillian had made a huge dent already.

Sydney Airport gets an A+ score for making it easy for families with a special lane through customs and access to a quieter bag scanning queue. Then the airline let us board the plane right after First and Business Class so the whole experience was relatively easy.

Arrakis

Doha is home to around 80% of the population of Qatar. With most of the land being made up of low-lying flat desert, there is not that many settlements. Since gaining independence from the Ottomans and then the British in 1971 it has used it’s substantial natural gas and oil reserves (third largest in the world) to become a modern society with substantial geopolitical pull, thanks in part to it’s Al Jazeera Media Network and alliances with the United States and the Gulf Cooperation Council.

The name of Qatar is derived from a second century map of the region by Ptolemy and their is evidence of stone age settlement in the region. Today it has new roads, skyscrappers, a brand new airport and a ton of new infrastructure – thanks to it’s impending hosting of the FIFA World Cup later in 2022. In fact we were no sooner off the plane when we were reminded of that upcoming tournament – the entire airport was kitted out for it.

We were staying at the Hilton Pearl on the Pearl Island district – a man-made peninsula in the north of the city. Everything felt incredibly new. The roads, the buildings, the sheer scale of the skyscrapers on the horizon. When you are the 14th largest oil producer in the world you can afford to fund these mega-projects.

Our drive took us along the Al Khor Road and past the recently completed Lusail Stadium – the largest football stadium in Qatar and the entire Middle East with 88,966 seats. It was the centrepiece stadium built for the 2022 World Cup and would host 1 matches including the final between Argentina and France in December.

The hotel was great. Nice terraced pool, friendly staff and Cillian’s favourite food – pasta, being served in the restaurant. It would provide a good base to go on some excursions from.

Portland

On our first full day we booked a driver to go on a sightseeing tour of the city. With near 40 degrees heat it would mostly consist of driving somewhere, jumping out for a couple of minutes and then jumping back into the car. Most of the photos had to be captured on the phones as the camera lens kept misting up!

Our first stop was to the Old Doha Port. No longer used for commercial activity since 2016 it is now a vibrant quarter filled with residential complexes, activities and a funky district called Box Park. Old shipping containers have been painted in a riot of colours and put together like a lego set. Each one contains, shops, cafe’s and working spaces. It reminded us of Bo-Kaap in Capetown.

Next up we went and took some up close photos of the Museum of Islamic Art. This really impressive building is located on an artificial island connected to the peninsula of the Old Port. It is a modern twist on Islamic architecture but the best bit about it is the backstory of it’s designer – I.M Pei.

91 years old and living out his retirement in Guangzhou, China – he was coaxed back to build this museum. The preparation involved six months of travel across the muslim world – studying buildings, pouring over texts in Arabic and seeking inspiration. You can see this as the light fountain from the 9th century Ibn Tulun Mosque in Cairo influences the overall aesthetic. The choice of the artificial island was to ensure that no other buildings would encroach over it in the future.

It was a real shame that we couldn’t go in as it was closed for renovations for the, (you guessed it!), upcoming World Cup 2022.

Further along the Al Corniche was a viewpoint with a very special temporary exhibition. A countdown clock to the World Cup Tournament. Sponsored by Swiss Horologists – Hublot – the clock was contained in a dome and leading up to it was a corridor of flags – each one for the 32 qualifying countries for the Tournament. Australia was there and were the 30th nation to qualify (via playoffs). It’s design was like that of an hourglass with a digital countdown and different shades of red light to represent the ‘sands of time’.

Next to the countdown clock, all along the seaside promenade was a series of moored dhows – traditional wooden barges. They provided a contrast to the modern city beyond the bay. Some still are used for fishing or transport but a lot of them now serve as tourist vessels – allowing one to go for a sunset cruise or dinner on the water.

After a couple of hours we headed to a nearby mall in order to get some food, buy some water and let Cillian run around and explore some of the indoor playgrounds. But mostly for some air conditioning and a chance for a proper long walk.

Old Town and National Museum

We had a night time flight back to Europe so we had another almost full day to explore Doha. Having conquered the Corniche and Old Port the day before – we headed into the Old Town and the National Museum of Qatar today.

Like many palaces around the world, especially Buckingham Palace in London, there is a daily changing of the guard ceremony. In Doha this is unique as this takes the form of a camel parade. Every day at 8am and 4pm the guards and royal camels parade around on the lawns in front of the Amiri Diwan Government Palace.

The National Museum, built on the site of the former royal palace, was only recently rebuilt from scratch in 2019. We spent hours here as there was a ton of interactive segments for kids, a veritable zoo full of animal statues and lots of lights and shiny things for a toddler to be captivated by. It was also 99% indoors so a welcome break from the oppressive heat.

It’s exterior was inspired by a desert rose crystal and was designed by french architect Jean Nouvel. Split across a number of floors it covers natural history, the development of Qatar and the wider Persian Gulf states, Bedouin culture and a section on the future. Cannot recommend enough that you visit – especially if you have children.

Exit Stage Left

A very quick two days but enjoyable ones. What was only mean to be a stopover on the long journey from Australia to Europe turned into a great little city break and a chance to add another country to our ‘Visited List’.

It’s very much in the vein of Oman or the UAE – shopping malls rubbing shoulders with nice hotels and some desert culture thrown in for good measure.

We would recommend stopping over if you are flying with Qatar Airways or if you are looking for something other than Dubai or Abu Dhabi for a change of scene.