11/27/16,
“One Day in Qatar”
Doha, Qatar
(Banana Island)
Before the
Gulf States discovered oil, their economy was sustained by a different natural
resource: pearls. The State of Qatar has
not forgotten that heritage, and, throughout the country, signs of it are to be
found in abundance, as I saw today. My
time here is at an end, and what a day it has been. All that remains now is the Return
Journey. A boat ride back to the
mainland, a brief walk to my hotel to change into my travelling suit, a taxi to
the airport, a very long flight back to Kennedy, and then a taxi ride to the
office. It is has been an epic trip so
far, and this magical place is where it comes to a close.
I am now on Banana Island, a privately-owned
island that is managed as a resort and the home of the #1-rated restaurant in
the city. That is the reason I found
myself on the island, and it serves as the apex of my trip. I have just finished one of the most
luxurious experiences of my life, including one of the best meals I’ve ever
had, and it has been a great way to end a great trip. After I finish this entry, I will begin the
Return Journey, and I will reflect more on Qatar as a whole from the airport
and on the trip as a whole en route.
For
now, I will say merely that it has been a wonderful day, and it has whetted my
appetite for further exploration of the Gulf States. I cannot say that my time in Nepal whetted my
appetite for further exploration of that Subcontinent. Usually my entries are designed to fill out
the duration of my smoke, but I am not smoking anything for this entry, so I
will just get to recording the events of the day.
After I closed last night, I headed up and
went to bed almost immediately, though I was delayed somewhat by the awkward
configuration of the lighting controls, which made it unnecessarily difficult
to charge my phone if I turned the lights off.
I slept as late as I could before heading down for breakfast. It was a traditional Arabian breakfast, which
I always enjoy as much as I do a traditional Continental spread. The breads and meats and cheeses put to shame
anything that Europe can provide, with the notable exception of the hotels in
the Black Forest. The hot foods, though,
were sorely disappointing with pork not being available. I managed to put together a plate though, and
I paired the whole meal with coffee.
After breakfast, I went up to my room to get ready and to plan my
day. I decided that I would walk to the
Amiri Diwan royal palace, which would serve as the capitol building, since the
emirate of Qatar does not have an independent legislature, then go to the souq
to get my souvenirs, then come back to the hotel. My plan then was to change into my travelling
suit and leave my stuff at the hotel while I went to the World Heritage Site
and came back. After that, I would have
my meals at the hotel and do some stuff on my computer outside until it was
time to leave for my flight. The first
half of that plan worked well, but the second half not so much. I lit up Vegas Robaina Canada exclusive and
walked to Amiri Diwan, which provided an excellent photo op, then headed to
Souq Waqif to get my souvenirs.
It was a
souq no different than all the other souqs (or shuks or bazaars) I had visited
around the Middle East. I got some
keychains, quickly finding the touristy part of the souq (as in the part that
wasn’t selling live rabbits and spices and clothes), but I couldn’t find a flag
pin. I asked each vendor until I found
one who had them. I bought three. I even got a little replica of the souq
itself. Satisfied with my souvenir
shopping, I went back to the hotel and packed, but it was too hot to wear my
suit, so I left that there, too.
I had
arranged for a car to take me to Al Zubarah, the highlight of which was an
iconic fort that was their equivalent of the Eiffel Tower. It was slightly over an hour away, and we hit
some heavy rain on the way. I didn’t
realize that a desert could get rain that heavy. I just hoped that it would clear up by the
time we got to the fort. It did. Or, more accurately, the fort was beyond the
range of the storm. When we got there, I
was entirely confused. There were a lot
of people there who looked neither like tourists nor staff, so I had no idea
what was going on. There did not appear
to be any kind of souvenir shops or VC, but the fort was outdoors, and it was
dry. I found the spot of the inscription
photo with ease, lit up an H. Upmann, and took my ceremonial picture. Okay, cool, now what?
The people spoke very little English, so that
added to the difficulty of finding out was going on. I was allowed to walk inside the fort, so
that took about two minutes, and then I found the Plaque next to the fort. It was designed to look like an oyster or
pearling ship or something like that.
There was also a little museum, but that was underwhelming. I had not even finished half of my cigar at
this point, and the ruins of the town were still being excavated and not yet
open to the public. We made our way back
to Doha and got caught in the rainstorm again.
The roads were completely flooded, them not being used to such rain,
which caused some brutal traffic and at least one bad accident that we saw on
the side of the road. Eventually we
arrived back in Doha, and I asked the driver to leave me at the souq so that I
could get my replica of the fort, which I didn’t get before. It was exactly like Oman. I lit up a Graycliff and found my
souvenir. It was now time for
dinner.
I had chosen the #1-rated
restaurant for dinner, and Google Maps said that it was short walk away from
the souq. I got there, and there was
some confusion. I left my cigar outside
in the, unbeknownst to me at the time, flooded ashtray and went inside. It turned out that I needed to take a boat to
their private island, which was where the resort was. Okay, I arranged all of that and retrieved my
cigar.
It was quite a process, but I was
soon on the boat to the island, which was quite a bit away. I got to the island and walked to the
restaurant, planning on finishing my cigar before dinner, but it was completely
waterlogged and left me looking like a chimney sweep. I ditched the cigar and went outside for
dinner. It was a completely luxurious
experience with obsequious service.
For
my appetizer I chose an assortment of fried cheese and spinach, which I would
follow with a specialty called lamb ouzi rice, basically lamb over rice. I got some soda water to pair with it, along
with lighting up an Hoyo de Monterrey.
They also gave me holy water from Mecca at the start of the meal. That was something. The appetizer was really good, but the main
course was out of this world. It was an
assortment of heavenly flavors, one of the best dishes I’ve ever eaten. Add to all of this the perfect weather
outside, the nice breeze, and the view of the Doha skyline, it was just an
incredible experience.
After dinner,
they brought me a hookah, and I tried the grape with mint shisha, which was
another incredible experience. Tea and
pistachio-based deserts were soon brought to complement that. I even had a personal attendant tending to
the hot coals for the hookah. After the
hookah, I proceeded to write this entry, which I will now close so that I can
begin the Return Journey. I don’t want
to leave this island or this country even or end this trip, but the time has
come, and I can tarry no longer.
Hamad
International Airport, Qatar (DOH)
I seemed to
have overpacked this pipe, much as I did my luggage with souvenirs and cigars I
have acquired over the past 9 Days. I
have plenty of time, but I do not have enough to say to write while I smoke
this for close to an hour. Besides, the
tight packing makes from an equal tight draw on the pipe. It is my 2015 Christmas Pipe, which I have
only smoked one time outside of the state of New York. It was about nine months ago, also at an
airport (LIM), also at the end of an epic trip (Peru), but it was after
learning news that would change my life.
While the news would become irrelevant only two months later, the chain
of events that it set in motion continue to affect me even to this day. Enough about the morose of the last nine
months of my life. Qatar is the wealthiest
country in the world, and it shows.
The
airport, the roads, the hotels, everything oozes with wealth. To them, it seems, having the nicest airport
or hotels in the world is more a prestige thing than an economic
investment. It is something that I have
noticed to be true in this entire region.
They take pride in having the best airport and airline in the region,
not because it is profitable, but because they want to be the best of the
emirates. Dubai builds the tallest
building in the world, Riyadh has to do one better. Doha gets ranked the best airport in the
world, Dubai has to outdo them. They
want to be considered the go-to tourist and business travel spot in the
region. They want to be the airport
where people want to connect, the airline people want to fly. My experience and my gut confirm this. The idea that someone would come to one of
these countries on business and tourism and not rave to their friends about how
wonderful a place it is to visit would a disaster in their opinion. Yes, I am doing the same.
Doha is a wonderful place to visit. It had the entire feel of South Florida or an
upscale version of the Bahamas or Cayman Islands. My tourist interests were served well with my
24 hours, but someone looking for a relaxing 10 days could easily find that on
Banana Island. The same could be said
for Dubai, and, I’m sure, Bahrain and Kuwait.
This region is a severely underrated tourist destination. Oh, one minor point of correction. Manama is the capital of Bahrain. It does not have an eponymous capital city
like I implied last night.
Wow, I can
barely focused in this smoke-filled room.
I can’t remember ever being in an airport smoking lounge so smoky. Even the one in Kathmandu was just dirty, not
smoky. Okay, I really don’t have much
more to say about Qatar or the Gulf States, so I will, I suppose, reflect on the
trip as a whole. I think it is fair to
say that any trip I take that is 9 Days or more will necessary be a Top Ten
contender. The reason is, I will not use
those vacations for a trip that is going to be anything less than epic. Look at my past three Thanksgiving trips, all
of which I used one vacation day or none.
Egypt, India, and Iran. Even Cuba
was only three vacation days, and that was “Cuba Complete.”
What are the extended trips I took over past
three years? The Christmas Trips were
World War I: The Experience, Antarctica, and The Orient. Summer trips included Eurotrip, the 47th
State, Alaska, TLGSRTA, and Rio 2016: The Experience. Passover trips included my two trips to the
Lesser Antilles and the CA-4 trip. Prior
to that, there was the National Parks of the American West, Greece,
England/Norway, and Israel. Rio 2016
remains the GOAT, and NPotAW is untouchable as silver. Where then does this trip rank among the
others?
It clearly outranks all of my
weekend trips, even the summer Harry Potter trip, which this trip was meant to
remedy of the failings of and did so gloriously during Phase 1. That’s another thing. This trip had 3 distinct phases, each with
their own flavor. Phase 1 in England was
dramatically different from Phase 2 in Nepal, which was dramatically different
from Phase 3 in Qatar. Most of the other
trips were either 1-phase or 2-phase.
Eurotrip had 3 Phases, technically, but that was only meant to maintain
my sanity over 18 Days. Alaska had
phases, too, but the entire trip was in the Pacific Northwest, not each phase
on a different Subcontinent. I suppose
that England and Norway were separate phases of that trip, as well, but they
are very similar places. TLGSRTA
adventure had 2 distinct phases, the National Parks with my mother, then the
Canadian Prairie on my own. That was a
great trip. Okay, so, now for the big
questions.
First place is Rio 2016,
second is NPotAW, and third is Eurotrip.
That’s when it starts to get interesting. What comes next? Alaska and Antarctica are natural contenders,
but I think this trip merits a higher ranking than Antarctica. Everest is on par with Antarctica, so the 3
Phases are what breaks the tie. I do not
think, however, it can beat the epicness of the 18-Day Alaska trip, which I’ll
place at fourth. The shear perfection of
this trip, the flawless way with which I executed everything, making up for my
failures five months ago are what adds to the value of this trip. Everything, and I mean everything was done
perfectly. It had to be done perfectly
to get all three Completes, and it was.
I had no margin for error, and it all came through. That is why it easily beats 47th
State, Israel, and all the Passover trips.
That just leaves TLGSRTA, Greece, and England/Norway. Of those three, I would easily rank
England/Norway the highest, as it was my first trip to Europe, and they both
remain two of my favorite countries in the world. How, then, do I compare saying “England
Complete” to seeing the Palace of Westminster for the first time? How do I compare Nepal to Norway? It is a hard comparison to make, and I’m
inclined to say it’s a tie. Both clearly
beat Greece and TLGSRTA adventure, which, while both great trips, are top ten
trips, not top five.
For the record,
having these two tied at fifth, we would have Antarctica at seventh, Greece at
eighth, Israel at ninth, and TLGRSTA at tenth.
World War I: The Experience and CA-4 would earn Honorable Mentions at 11th
and 12th. Okay, I have to
publish now, so I want to sit on this final determination a bit, whether or not
this trip is tied for fifth with my first England trip, or if I want to break
the tie. On that note, I will close and,
in accordance with tradition, treat the entirety of the Return Journey after I
land in New York.
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