Recent events in the Middle East between Israel and Iran threw a wrench in our travel schedule. To avoid flying over Iran airspace the incoming Doha to Almaty flight was an hour late, as was our outbound to Doha flight. The 2-hour delay (plus de-icing) ate into whatever cushion was built into the schedule and we landed in Doha just as our LA connecting flight was preparing to take off. Before leaving Almaty we had already secured seats on the outbound connecting flight to LA for the following day, so it was just a matter of making sure that Qatar provided accommodation, meals, and transportation for us for the night, which they did. This serendipitous twist of fate worked out well for us since I had previously considered staying in Doha for a night to check out the city. However, applying for a tourist visa just for a day’s visit seemed uneconomical. I wasn’t interested in seeing Doha that badly. Now with this missed connection, we get to see the city for free. After having seen the city, I am neither surprised nor impressed. Doha is like Dubai’s little sister – overdeveloped and charmless. Doha is a perfect visit during a long layover, but I would not recommend going out of your way to get a visa to see the city. In fact, if you have lounge access at the airport, just stay in the lounge. Nothing in the city is really worth braving the scorching heat and oppressive humidity.
The overall impression is that this is a city of expats and migrant workers building a city for who knows what and for whom. There are only 300k Qataris in a population of 3 million in this country. Building a mega city in the desert somehow feels futile especially with climate change making the earth’s hottest spots even less habitable.
FIRE'd @ 47 