Doha Diaries: Part 4

Continuing on with our fun day at the hotel. After the beach we decided to go check out this new development called The Pearl. It's a lot like Dubai's Palm island getaway. On the way there we saw these cool looking towers.


And a lot of the compounds where everyone lived looked similar to this - every house looking the same and not a lot of color. You pretty much have to with all the dust and reflecting off the heat.

This was taken from inside the car - sorry for the window reflection. This is a photo of two men in Thobes and two younger boys also wearing the same thing. If I had the guts then I would have gotten one for Justin to wear for Halloween. The men would treat their headpiece like hair - they would flop it over their backs like we girls do in the humid Houston weather.

Some of the women wearing their Abayas. Some would only have an eye opening, others would only have their face (with their exquisite eye makeup) exposed, and a few had a metal cover over their face. Very different. They would have their Louis Vitton purses with the occasional embellished sleeve link or the bottom of their dress. I guess it's the only way to distinguish themselves from the other women all wearing black.

One view of the Pearl establishment.

We were on a bridge and looking one way...

... and then the other.

Definitely a touch of Arabic in these buildings.

And the advertising. I almost want to send some of the jobless people over there to help think up some better slogans. I was crying through the laughter at these billboards. So why don't you by that.

Well good for you. I like it to but don't want to spend that much. Reminds me of a saying that Justin has - he is always saying that he loves it.

And this photo - what can I say?

A picture (while we were driving, so sorry for the fuzziness) of one of the many round-abouts in Doha. We don't need no stinking traffic light, just a round-about that will slow everyone down. Apparently there are very few wrecks there, so maybe they are on to something. It only just aided in the carsickness, if you ask me. Whenever we were in the car with Barrett, and a bus would pass by, he would yell out, "Doha bus!"

They don't drive or park well in Doha. This person is literally hanging out in the middle of the street.

So we went back, showered, and got ready for dinner. Their aren't a lot of nice restaurants outside of the hotels, much less the hotel is the only place to get an alcoholic drink. So we walked downstairs for dinner. The flowers were gorgeous.

Three hungry ladies.

A photo of the pool - can only take photos like these without a flash. Just put your ISO on 800, put your shutter speed to pretty slow, and there you go. Manual photography 101.

At dinner we got to eat our own caprese salad. Here was their version of it.

Me, Ashley, & Wendi

After dinner we decided to head back to the Pearl for some coffee. We got a ride from the parking lot to the establishment in this lovely mobile.

We realized that the natives were roaming about. We were some of the very few white faces in a sea of red and white headpieces. Notice how we strategically took this photo. But the view was gorgeous and the weather was so pleasant.

That little bit of caffeine got us acting like junior high girls with lots of giggles. Wendi is looking very similar to that women's restroom symbol.

Running through the hallways.

Impersonating the store models. I think we look just like them.

And another night photo, this time of the bridge walkway from the Pearl to the parking lot.

We've worked out way through Thursday night in Doha. We all three popped an ambien and slept like champs that night. Getting closer to the end of my 1 week stay...