Souq

We spent a lot of time in the Souq because other than the hotels, it was the only place to find good food. Doha has an unfortunate number of American fast food joints.

Anyway, although this current version of the souq is a new building, there has been a souq here for hundreds of years.

The souq is known for many things, but probably the most interesting bits are the falcon store and the pet section. And I really liked the stables too.







Yes, those are living chicks that have been died Easter egg colors...












Laura made a friend








Some fun things you can buy...




Shopping carts (no lie)

Doha in the daytime

When I was younger, I was obsessed with city skylines. I suppose I still am. I swear, if I had any talent in the drawing department I would have been an architect. Doha doesn't have any historic buildings, but they do have a very nice modern skyline.

I spent a couple of days taking photos -- during the day and at night. I'll share the nighttime shots later.









I think this one looks like a nuclear power plant cooling tower


And this one looks like a narwhal








My biggest complaint about Doha was that I couldn't walk everywhere. But you can walk (or bike, of which I counted a total of 10 on the streets of Doha and another 6 here) around the Corniche..

Doha at Night

And the pretty lights of the Doha skyline at night...







Qatar, before the oil, was famous for pearls.






This building is the Islamic Art Museum -- I didn't go in.




I've never seen so many active building cranes in my life...

Doha Desert

I was sent to Doha, Qatar to attend COP 18 for work. I'm sure by now you've heard that the negotiations at COP 18 crashed and burned, but I wasn't really there for that.  I mean, we always hope they will go well, actually better than well, but we are realistic.  And so we attend for side events and meetings.  And because everyone who does anything regarding climate change is there, you end up having loads of meetings and not so much personal time.  But you know me, and I like to try to carve out some time to see something of a place.

The desert was my goal for this trip.  So my coworkers and I planned a trip to the desert.  And then the COP organizers decided that was a good idea too, and moved the NGO party to the desert.  Unfortunately, this meant traveling more than an hour to get there from the Expo Center (and it was about 45 minutes from our hotel to there).  And then to add insult to injury, they had one toilet for us!  Hundreds of women drinking and there was one toilet.  Um, thanks.



Obviously the camels were my favorite part...









And then, after getting back to the hotel at 3:00 a.m. we got up early and headed back to the exact same place we had the party. The driver lower the air in the tires of our SUV and we skidded off over the dunes. Don't worry, the irony of working on reducing carbon emissions and then taking this trip, was not lost on us.

And the ride was terrifying. But the desert is beautiful.







The crowd...


Beyond the water is Saudi Arabia








And another camel