Doha, capital city of Qatar, was the first destination of our two week holiday which also included Singapore and Borneo. While en-route to Singapore with Qatar Airlines we had decided to have a one night stop over in the city rather than a straight through transit.
Doha is located on the Persian Gulf coast and has a population of around 2.5 million. The international airport is close to the city and upon arrival we took a taxi to our hotel for 42 riyals (£9.19) which we paid in cash, although payment by card was also possible.
We hadn’t really planned an itinerary however, leaving Chris in the air conditioned hotel staying cool, I spent a few hours walking in 35 degree heat around a small part of the city. I began by making my way to the ‘East Mound Skyline View Point’ to get a view of the city skyline.
There was a couple of shady open air cafes which tempted me in for a refreshing mocktail overlooking the skyline.
From there I walked to the Museum of Islamic Art which was well worth visiting for its amazing collections and exhibitions.
The Manuscript of the Ramayana from Lahore, Pakistan dates back to the Mughal period 1594.
This textile fragment comes from 9th century Granada, Spain.
This manuscript was once part of a copy of the Qur’an and was produced in ink and opaque watercolour. This dates back to 1020.
This large headdress came from North Sumatra, Indonesia and is from the 13th – 14th century. It was worn by noble Karonese women at weddings, placed on top of a head cloth.
Next to the Museum of Islamic Art is the Dhow Harbour with its traditional wooden boats and offers more great views of the city skyline. You can also take a ride on a dhow from here.
This concludes my sightseeing in Doha – unfortunately I didn’t really make the most of this short stopover but I would fully recommend spending a couple of hours in the air conditioned Museum of Islamic Art which was fascinating.
Accommodation
We stayed in the 5* Shaza Doha with a fabulous room for just £100 for the night which also included a fabulous breakfast. The Shaza Doha is located just a 20 minute walk from the Museum of Islamic Art although there wasn’t too much in the immediate vicinity.
Having arrived during late afternoon, we had a short wander outside in the early evening in search of some dinner. However we couldn’t find much so we came back to the Shaza hotel and had a delicious Lebanese meal in their Midan restaurant. Here we shared small plates of spicy pattas bravas, grilled haloumi, spinach parcels and hummus Beirut together with a basket of assorted warm breads and some bottled water for under £30 for us both.
Plug
Very handy and quite rare to travel to a country which uses the same 3 pin plug as the UK so worth a mention! This is also the case in Singapore and Malaysia, the other two destinations on this trip. For once, we visited 3 countries and no plug adaptor was required.
Flying with Qatar
Following the best ever economy flight from Heathrow Terminal 4 to Doha with no turbulance, no screaming kids and an on time departure here is a tip for a great experience:
If you are flying economy and find yourself on a double decker Airbus A380-800 try to select seats 25A and 25B. They are located in the upper deck of the plane behind business class. This is a separate small cabin and these 2 seats in particular have loads of legroom and with a seat config of 2 – 4 – 2 upstairs we had no 3rd person sitting next to us.
We pre-booked these seats for around £70 each so a fraction of the cost of premium economy or business. The food and service was great and with the extra legroom and nobody in front it was well worth it. And with the added bonus of being in Group 1 for boarding.
Doha airport is super modern and this was the walk from the gate of our newly arrived flight to the immigration and baggage claim.
For our return to the airport we used Uber and it was just 19 riyals (around £4). Using my complementary airport lounge pass we enjoyed a couple of hours in Qatar’s Al Maha lounge before boarding our overnight flight to Singapore. This lounge was quite pleasant but the best so far (from my limited airport lounge experiences) has been the Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse at Heathrow Terminal 3.
Summary
In hindsight I’m not sure why I thought it would be a good idea to walk in 35 degrees (in the shade) from the hotel to the Museum of Islamic Art… this may be the thing to do in the lower temperatures of winter but we could have easily got taxi’s or uber, seen more of Doha and been more comfortable. And Chris would have probably come with me to do some sightseeing!
From what I saw of Doha, as a stopover I would suggest a night or two is worth doing. Excursions are available to participate in activities such as desert safari’s, city tours, camel rides, rock formations etc for an extended trip.
frombluetogreen.com 
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