Being a Tourist for a Day
Being a Tourist for a Day
The person in charge of orientation for the summer faculty, Dina Al Baradee, arranged a guided bus tour for the group of new summer faculty. We met at the CMU-Q campus and started our tour around 4 PM. The plan was to make several stops. First was at the Emir’s horse stables to see the very expensive Arabian horses he keeps and some European jumping/show horses. The complex was rather overwhelming in size and scope. It had air-conditioned stables and indoor arenas and a special section just so that women might ride. The second stop was at the site of the 2006 Asian Games that were held in Doha. One of the most impressive sites there is the very, very tall monolith that held the “flame of the games” during the sporting events. There was a very dramatic opening ceremony that has been captured on YouTube <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=awxthN7-ybE>. At the very end of the clip, you can see fireworks emanating from the top of the monolith as it lights up. From there we went to the main Souq, or market place. We saw the place where animals are sold including the camel souq and then went into the main part of the souq where there we an abundance of restaurants and shoppes. From there we went to the Corniche, the walkway along the waterfront in the main part of Doha and then finally to the “Pearl”, a new, very exclusive, residential area being built across the bay from downtown Doha.
It was quite an amazing tour and now I know where to go when I want to spend more time at some of the sites...the Main Souq for sure. I took lots of pictures and so did my tour mates. I’ve saved them as a separate iPhoto web page. Go to HERE.
Enjoy
Saturday, May 22, 2010
Saturday Bus Tour