The Empty World

To me Doha seemed like such an empty place, from my very first journey from the airport to my friend M’s family apartment. But we will come to that.

The first silly little episode of mine in Doha began with the fact that I managed to miss the notice for me at the airport. M’s poor driver was holding up a piece of paper with my name on it and I totally missed it. Mostly because when I came out of the exit all I saw were men so I took a quick look around, didn’t see M and just carried on going thinking maybe she was waiting outside. No such luck. I waited about 10 minutes before starting to get very uncomfortable with all the men around me and everyone having been picked up but me. I had my friend’s number thankfully and gave her quick call only to find she had been there all along waiting in her car, as well as her poor driver who I still couldn’t find having gone back inside so Poor M had to come and find me and him!

Anyway on the trip to her place I just couldn’t get over how new everything was, the roads, the buildings, the restaurants, even the grass! It was all just so weird to me especially having just come from the historical overload that is Turkey. Anyway, this “Oh my God, it is so weird!” feeling would stay with me throughout my trip and the words would become a feature that I am sure M got pretty sick of. In fact, the very next day I was at it again except this time with regards to al the empty space, the empty plots of land and large empty spaces between one part of “town” and the other. It was all just so surreal. It not only looked like a brand new city but one that was still in the process of being created. I have never seen anything like it.

Most mornings in Doha we woke up pretty late and I think the general feel of my trip would be expressed in the word “chilling”. ;o)

M worked, I worked, we worked side by side on our laptops on her bed, we ate breakfast, we thought about going somewhere and sometimes actually made it out of the house by noon. We ate lots of desserts, ordered in and chatted. I saw a lot of new things whilst in Doha. The Corniche, the Movenpick hotel (....yes, that’s Movenpick people, the icecream company), the old souk, the new souk, restaurants, the Belagio mall and cinema, the football stadiums and the cultural village.

The cultural village really summed it up for me. It was pretty empty of culture at the time I must say. It was a new complex, mostly built up to look old- like lots of old traditional mud/daub buildings, a beautiful little mosque- all mosaic, a few restaurants, lots of empty space and a private beach. Although there was an art exhibition on at the time so you got to give them that for trying. M, don’t be angry at me but you know it is true!

However they are trying and I think these places can be filled and be amazing once they are filled and there are things going on there. They just need culture. The whole city seemed to be lacking in it and I don’t know whether that is true of the whole country.....

However, there was one thing I loved about the cultural village and that was the amazing Amphitheatre they have created (see pics, although it really doesn’t get it across). It is an old concept and design meeting modern architecture and modern styling. It looks AMAZING! I could have spent a lot longer than the half hour or so we did there, maybe all night, or all holiday.... The stars would have been amazing if they only cut down the light pollution- it is a desert after all.

Doha to me just seemed a little superficial to be honest and that is saying nothing about the people there, in fact I am convinced there is a lot of good there, a lot of forward thinking people/leaders and in many ways a way forward for that part of the world.

They truly can be leaders and may be headed that way. But, right now it seemed like a bubble, a world existing within our world but separate from it. It seemed like a false luxury culture that I lived whilst there: desserts, good food, good service, air-con, nice apartments- money and relaxation and enjoyment. It just seemed a little fake and scary to me.

My visit to Pearl Qatar just crystallised much of this for me. The newest of complexes, luxury shops with top designer labels, the best restaurants, yachts pulled in to anchor, luxury cars....new money. These people from wherever had basically never had it so good, their parents had probably never had it so good and they were enjoying it all as much as they could. They were not from rich backgrounds and many of the ex-pats would probably never been able to live this life in their home countries and so were living it up in Qatar. Nothing wrong with that I suppose but linking it into my main reason for travelling it kind of left me desperately sad and frustrated and to a level disgusted with the wealth. Please understand I do not wish to judge them or their intentions or blame them, this is just how it made me feel.

I suppose to an extent. There would be nothing wrong with living there as long as you didn’t get pulled down into it, were doing things for the right reasons and kept your head above water. There are lots of great foundations in that part of the world which I think could really help those in the third world. Never mind all the money floating around with nothing better to do.

I was impressed by the Sheikha’s (Sheikha Mozah, whose name I kept hearing) work with the Qatar Foundation and Education City was very impressive, along with her drive to get Qatari’s educated. This was one of my reasons for thinking there was so much going for this small state. Not to forget that they just one the bid for the 2022 football World Cup and so have a great chance to impress the world and make themselves unforgettable. However, I do hope it is for all the right reasons and not the wrong ones. I do have a strong sense of foreboding though and I hope it is a false one. My main fears are that the culture of respect for women, lack of alcohol visible anywhere except in some 5 stars and the generally less Las Vegas feel to Doha when compared to Dubai might be lost. We all know that Football fans particularly from the West love their alcohol and their lewd behaviour and I just wonder how the Qataris are planning to “accommodate” this. It will interesting to see how they hold onto their culture. Here’s too hoping.

One thing that I am impressed at is their aim to make all the new stadiums etc, use renewable energy, be solar powered etc for the air-con and cooling systems wherever possible. This sounds like great news to me.

The one other place, other than the Amphitheatre and M’s home, that I loved was the Islamic Art Museum. We got audio tours for free and it was just incredible listening to all the history behind each object and its significance. We hardly got halfway round one floor in the 2 hours we were there before the museum closed at Maghrib time. The whole place was amazing. I was in love from the moment we started up the approach. I absolutely adore the architecture. It is designed by the same guy who did the Louvre and well, wow! Once again a mix of old and new. It looks kind of old, like the Agha Khan memorial, if anyone has seen it, from afar and also a bit like the Qaid-e-Azam memorial in Pakistan but with a more modern twist. Islamic Art is present always in the geometric and symmetrical designs. It is stunning, simply stunning inside and out. The inside just took my breath away, I was off taking photos whilst M tried to get us sorted. The staircase, the ceiling, the windows, the floor, the corners.... I loved it all. I took some pictures which are good but really you can’t quite capture it as usual- all angles and marble and geometric design. LOVE IT! I will definitely be going back to spend more time there and finish seeing the actual exhibit! ;o)