Doha, Qatar - The Bonus Destination

In my quest to explore as many corners of the Earth as possible, it's difficult to connect through a country and not plan to leave the airport and see what's out there. We also knew the route back to the US, flying west, would be longer than the trip traveling east and we may want a break in the middle. For comparison, the total flight time from Philadelphia to Hanoi via Doha was about 11 hrs + 6 hrs. The return trip from Singapore was 8 hrs + 15 hrs. Qatar Airways also makes it very easy to schedule a long layover into your flight itinerary without additional costs for the flight. Additionally, US citizens don't need a visa to enter the country making it even less hassle to do a quick stopover.

The kids of course slept on the plane ride from Singapore to Doha. The adults did a little. Enough to make it through the day. We arrived in Doha around 6 am local time and quickly made it through security and found an ATM to get ourselves some local currency. We went to get an Uber to find that Qatar has banned Uber from doing airport pick ups. There was a guy in the lobby who quickly was offering to drive us to our hotel for $30 USD. We opted to find the official taxi stand which was the right choice. There were dozens of very nice, official taxis and no line. The drive to city center was again like being in another world. A modern, arab, desert city. We had been to Egypt but this was a very different feel. We passed by the Stadium 974 for the World Cup which was this past year - something my son was excited to see.

We arrived very early for checkin at the Hilton DoubleTree - Old Town in Doha. They unfortunately couldn't check us in right away, understandable, but they did offer us breakfast and to check us in as soon as they had a room available. I didn't realize until we arrived in the breakfast area that they had opened a little early just for us, and they apologized that some items weren't quite ready yet, but that they made sure there was an chef available for omlettes for us. The breakfast was another amazing spread of food, this time with the middle east flavors. Of course they had lots of pastries which take precedence for the kids. After we ate a huge buffet breakfast, a waitress shows up with two massive plates of french toast which apparently the kids had ordered when we weren't there. They were all very attentive to our "needs"! We freshened up a bit in the hotel bathrooms, not exactly super classy but practical, stored our bags with the hotel and headed out to explore the city a bit before we could access a room.

Our hotel was a block from the bay area and the Corniche which is essentially a 7 km water side park area with trails that would take you to the center city which you can see on the other side of the bay. Pretty instantly we realized this place was incredible. The mixture of the old style 'dhow' fishing boats which lined the bay against the backdrop of this extraordinary modern city architecture combined with the architecture of the islamic art museum and historical middle eastern architecture. We aren't architecture or artsy people but you could feel this blend of new and old like nothing we had ever really experienced before.

There weren't many people out walking the paths which made it fairly peaceful - even though there was a major roadway also running parallel to the paths. We were approached by one man who wanted to provide us with a tour. He was friendly enough but didn't really like to take no for an answer and it became a little uneasy. Especially when we walked a half mile along the bay and he came by again with his car to ask us again about taking a tour. We actually saw him again several hours later but he got this hint pretty quickly this time.

Wandering the Corniche in Doha

Throughout the day we wandered around Doha. We rented Lime scooters and road them the whole way around the bay and into the center city. We viewed some of their famous buildings up close. We went to a mall and wandered into a Museum of Illusions for fun. In the middle of visiting the museum, the workers approached us an asked us if we wouldn't mind helping them with a goofy youtube video/reel they were doing. I thought they'd want the kids, but to my surprise they actually wanted me in it. We'll see if they ever publish it and maybe I can add actress to my resume. Getting paid with a gift shop puzzle for my efforts.

The clear highlight of the day in Doha was the Souq Waqif. A souq is a traditional market and it was fascinating. I know this one is considered more for tourists but it still had a very local feel to it. You feel like you have stepped back into biblical times with the traditional qatari architecture, but this one was clearly built more recently. There are many narrow alley ways filled with a variety of shops, including many spice shops which dominates your sense of smell. I could have spent hours just wondering the alleys and examining the items in the barrels, with moment like 'This is what frankinsense looks like??' A yellowish colored rock or gem for those interested. We got coffee early in the day there and came back in the evening for dinner. In the evening, the market plaza area really comes alive. There were turkish ice cream stands, kids getting camel rides and street food vendors. I'm always intrigued by local breads - every part of the world has their own way of making bread and I try to track down a local bakery to try it out. In Qatar, it's more of a pita like bread called khubz. I found a more local stand in the souq that sold fresh-baked khubz with various toppings and we had that for dinner. You can tell it's more of a local stand both because someone ended up helping us order (we generally don't have a problem with this) and the price was lower than most other food options. We sat on a bench in the plaza area eating our kubuhz and a pancake like dish we got from a streetfood vendor - gazing at the families enjoying the evening entertainment for the souq with the backdrop of the city lights from across the bay. It was truly a marvelous scene.

We got a good nights rest in Doha, thoroughly happy that we had planned the stop over. The next morning we set off for the 15 hour flight to Philadelphia. Not going to lie, I was definitely itching to get off that plane by the 8 hour mark and still had 7 hours to go. These are the moments I am most interested in learning more about how people manage points to get business/first class seating. Maybe someday!