Friday was a day off for me to get acclimated to the time change and get some rest from my almost 20 hours of travel the day before.
Attached to the Marriott where I am staying is the City Centre mall. It is larger than the Mall of America in Minneapolis and features over 700 retail stores as well as a 14 screen movie theatre (nothing over PG-13), an ice rink, bowling alley, and a kid's area that is basically a Chuck E. Cheese.
Mall Entrance
Mall Interior
Qatar is a fairly secular country. Although most of the people here are practicing Muslims and follow the daily calls to prayer and the dietary restrictions, most of the people here are very relaxed about the way they dress and women are more integrated into the rest of society than they are in say, Saudi Arabia.
I also used my free day to visit the Souq Waqif which is an open-air market which has all sorts of merchants and you can buy everything from spices to a fake Rolex or even a live falcon. When I first got here I was reminded of this clip from Indiana Jones
Restaurant area of the Souq
You can find just about every type of Arabic food at the Souq, as well as Shisha. During busy times, all the outdoor tables in the restaurants are full of locals smoking this stuff. It is basically tobacco imbued with fruit flavors smoked from a large pipe. It smells like a mixture of incense and potpourri. When there are a lot of people smoking it, the smell can be overwhelming. Speaking of smoking, everyone here smokes - everywhere. Indoors, outdoors, sometimes in elevators, while eating, on a boat, in the sky, while eating green eggs and ham, (well maybe not ham) It's pretty tough to handle.
Shisha Pipes (Hookas)
So I did a little shopping - I think the girls will be happy at Christmas, passed on the live animals, and enjoyed the scenery.
Shops in the Souq
Scarves for sale in one shop
Like many places in the world, copyright is more of a suggestion than law around here. In the clothing shops you will find many brands counterfeited. Judging by the number of t-shirts and other merchandise here, there seems to be a large fanbase for John Cena, Spongebob and the NBA.
The Logo - i.e. Jerry West on the other hand, seems to have let himself go in his golden years as evidenced by this duffle bag.
Next time: Camel - does it taste like chicken? Food over here and more
Well, it was a long day yesterday, but I arrived safe and sound in Doha - the capital city of Qatar. My first flight was from Atlanta to Frankfurt, Germany and took almost exactly nine hours - arriving at almost 4 am Chattanooga time. After a three-hour layover during which I had to go through security again, i boarded my second plane fir a 6 hour trip to Doha.
By the way, if you ever get a chance to fly Lufthansa Airlines, I really enjoyed my two flights with them. The cabin crew gave amazing service, TV screens in the headrest with 19 available movies and a bunch of tv and music choices on top of that. Free (edible) food and drinks (including adult beverages, if that's your preference) and very spacious Airbus jets. U.S. airlines - are you listening?
Here is the route of the second flight.
i' am still adjusting to the time change. I woke up at 6 am local time this morning and am wide awake. As a result, i am heading to bed now. I have actually fallen asleep writing this twice.
Tomorrow: Mall of America, Indiana Jones and Jerry West
