The State of Qatar is a country located in the Middle East or as some would pronounce it Arabia. The only land border is with Saudi Arabia to the south, with the rest of its territory surrounded by the Persian Gulf. A strait in the Persian Gulf separates Qatar from the nearby island kingdom of Bahrain. The population is around 2.1 million with 300.000 Qatari citizens and the rest with expatriates. It gained inipendence from England in 1971 and today its ruled by Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani. Qatar is one of the worlds richest countries with high income and a developed economy backed by the third largest natural gas reserves and oil reserves.
Our first visit here was with a flight from Oslo to Doha with Qatar Airways the 23.rd of april! Flying Qatar Airways is good, its one of the few 5 star airlines in the world and the service you get is awesome. We arrived a bit late after transiting in Dubai for a few hours. We entered Horizon Manor Hotel near the corniche (promenade by the sea) in Doha after 01.00 am with partys going on in every floor. Partys you say, oh yes. In many countries in Arabia/Middle East its strict sharia rules with ban of Alcohol etc but people do get it anyways.
The 24th of april we started the day with a swim on the roof where it was a nice pool with great views over the Doha skyline. The temperature down here was mid 30`s and lots of sun.
Later the same day we left the hotel to walk down to the Corniche (beachside promenade) for closer views over the new city. From here we took a taxi down to the biggest shopping center in the new city to get some food, after 12 hours without food it gave us some new energy. Back at the old city we visited Souq Waqef where we bought some traditional thoubs (qatari dresses). Finished the sightseeing day with some pictures over the pearl monument and a visit to the Islamic Art Center.
More iformation here:
http://www.qatartourism.gov.qa/
