The minute we landed in at Doha International Airport from Kenya to when we arrived at our hotel was quick and easy. As we left the cool air conditioning of the airport, we were greeted with a blast of desert heat. The bus we needed was outside waiting for us and we hastily made our way onboard. There was none of the usual hustle and bustle expected at an airport, it was eerily quiet and relaxed. Even when leaving the bus, the driver pointed out how to get to our hotel. These are the friendliest locals we have encountered on our journey sofar.

Doha skyline

We checked into the hotel and relaxed until sundown. Qatar is an Islamic country with strict laws during Ramadan. We first learned that we’d be traveling during Ramadan while in Zanzibar. During the religious month, Muslims fast from sunrise to sunset. In Qatar, it was actually illegal to eat or drink in public during Ramadan, even for foreigners. Because of the fasting, most shops were also closed during the day. After sundown and once everyone had their Iftar meal (the first meal after fasting), shops and restaurants started to open. We walked to Doha’s main market, Souq Waqif, and wandered around to find reasonably priced local food. While exploring, I fell in love with the architectural style of the souq. There were arches, minarets and small passageways just begging for exploration. We were on a mission for food and would have to explore another time. There were many restaurants outside of our price range but we eventually found Zaatar w Zeit. It was Lebanese and very tasty.

Selfie at Doha Corniche with Qatar Mosque in the background

Luckily, our room at La Villa Palace Hotel included breakfast which was served for tourists and foreigners at normal time even though the sun was up (or else we would have been eating breakfast at 3 in the morning). Breakfast was a surprisingly nice buffet that included olive salad, hummus, pita bread, and a spicy rice dish. We didn’t make it out of the hotel until early afternoon but there wasn’t much rush with everything closed plus it was really hot outside. Before going out, we made sure to cover properly. Women should at least wear pants and have their shoulders covered. It seems like men can wear whatever but I wore pants just in case. As soon as we stepped outside, I almost turned around to go back in the air conditioning. It felt like we were walking into an oven – way too hot!

We pressed on and wandered the empty streets making our way to the waterfront. Doha is located on a large c-shaped cove. Along the waterfront, we had a nice view of downtown. After snapping a few pictures, we made our way back to the hotel. An hour in the heat without being able to drink water was starting to wear on us! We waited out the rest of daylight in the comfort of our air conditioned hotel room.

City lighting up at Iftar

Before sunset, Sara and I filled up some water bottles and left the hotel to join the locals in the park. From our window, we could see locals bringing picnics to the waterfront park for Iftar at sunset. We relaxed on the grass enthralled with people watching. After enjoying a drink of water at sunset, we walked back to Souq Waqif for dinner. While online earlier, Sara found some local eateries for us to investigate. In the complicated market, we made a game of trying to find the restaurants. There were five restaurants we wanted to locate – who ever spotted one first got a point and the winner chose where to eat. While looking for the restaurants, we found the “pet” area of the market where anything from dogs to chickens and even toucans were being sold!

Dinner at Bandar Aden Restaurant – shared beef olga and chicken mandy

I won the game (by one point) and chose Bandar Aden Restaurant for dinner. I think because of Ramadan they only had a couple menu items available. With the waiter’s help, we picked two dishes and hoped for the best. The food was excellent – big portions and very tasty! After dinner, we wandered through the souq admiring the local shops in the cooler evening air.

The next morning, I noticed the telltale signs of bedbug bites on my arm… not again! Bed bugs like to hitchhike in bags and clothing but there was no time to check our items for bugs before our flight to Dubai. Fingers crossed they didn’t crawl into any of our bags that were the other side of the room!