Originally Posted by
cyril evans awaydays
Speaking personally, I think calling Doha a brilliant city was a bit strong.
It exceeded my expectations but they were admittedly low. The atmospheric Souk Watif and a couple of forts aside, you would be hard pressed to find a building less than 40 years old. West Bay and Lusail have sky lines similar to Chicago.
That said, the Corniche along the bay is attractive with some pretty parks and mooring areas. We were spoiled though as it was closed to traffic and the city is pedestrian unfriendly at the best of times where wide concentric highways through the centre dominate.
The modern metro is great, driverless and super swift and frequent. Most of all some of the civic buildings are truly fantastic inside and out. The Museum of Islamic Art, featuring artefacts from across the Islamic world was delightful. The National Museum of Qatar and the National Library are spectacular buildings. Though if money is no object and land is plentiful then you can buy the best architects in the world to deliver this.
To be honest we didn't see many Qataris. The place runs on immigrants from Bangladesh, India, Africa and the Phillipines. Some of these are obviously working for peanuts but many of the Indians we spoke to were working in a vibrant IT sector. As you would expect many immigrants have also set up restaurants and fast food outlets where as others have mentioned the food is both delicious and cheap as chips.
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