Falcons in the Desert – Part Two of Susan’s Guest Blog from Doha

Up close and personal with a falcon

This post has nothing at all to do with horses, but Qatar is such an overwhelming place and there is certainly a lot of other cool stuff to talk about. I promise there will be horses next time.

Tuesday morning we were taken to a falcon farm about an hour from Doha (hunting with falcons is a very elite sport here – good ones can range from a few thousand dollars to hundreds of thousands). The facility is enormous and has two connected indoor flying rooms – one air conditioned, the other not, so the 60-odd falcons have a choice if the afternoon is too hot (it can get up to 50ºC in the summer). A member of the PR firm handling the media centre here, a lovely German girl, regularly hunts on horseback with falcons in the desert using hounds (Salukis), “just like a Bedouin,” according to a colleague –  another example of an expat who has embraced one of the unique facets of the Qatari lifestyle.

Some more snippets about Doha and life here:

Everything is under construction. It’s like they had a million acres with nothing on it and someone said “Build me a city in a year. Go!” The architecture is stunning and sometimes a bit bizarre, such as this building that looks about to topple:

 Nobody walks, jogs, or rides bicycles. Everyone owns a car, usually a big shiny brand new one from what I’ve seen so far. There are no old beaters in Doha. And as for the cost of gas – brace yourself – it costs about $16 to fill up an SUV. Sorry.

Oh, and it has been 28 and sunny every day, warm but breezy, and the temps drop quickly at night so it is pleasant for walking or hanging out at the marina bar. Sorry again.

Alcohol is extremely pricey and can only be purchased at restaurants and bars and other licensed establishments – no running down to the corner beer store for a six-pack of cold frosty ones here, I’m afraid. A glass of low-end wine will cost you at least 50-85 riyals (about $15-25), but my sympathetic new friends quickly told me where the best Happy Hour 2-for-1 specials could be found.

They have Ikea stores here. TGI Fridays, too. And of course the ever-present McDonalds, which features a “McArabia” sandwich.

Everywhere I go, kind people are plying me with sweet mint or carrot tea, sweet cakes, dates, and delicious flat breads covered in unrecognizable but delicious things. What was that Muslim rule about no inappropriately tight-fitting clothes? Sigh. Also, everyone in the service industry here is always smiling and very accommodating – there is never any “yeah, I’ll be with you in a minute.” I will probably be shocked by the next shirty waitress or condescending sales person I run across when I get back to Canada.

Walking around the mammoth Al Shaqab show facility today, I was once again struck by the juxtaposition of ultra-modern and traditional – state-of-the-art architecture and technology; Qatari men in thobes and guthras, women in abayas and hijabs on their smart phones. At 3:08 in the afternoon, the Shakira tune that had been thumping out of the concert stage speakers was suddenly cut off and replaced by a plaintive, haunting man’s voice singing the call to prayer, one of six daily.

Not to say everything is perfect in paradise. Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt recently withdrew their ambassadors from Qatar after accusing the emirate of supporting the Muslim Brotherhood and other allied Islamist groups in the region. The country has also been in the news lately for allegations of mistreatment of migrant workers and unfair policies regarding pregnancy and marriage for the female cabin crews on the national airline.

Still, the expats I have met here absolutely love Qatar, appreciating the calm, respectful culture and describing it as the safest, most peaceful place they have ever lived.

 Off to the horse show now….. CSI5* starts today.