Qatar National Day 2011

Posted on December 21, 2011 by Sonya

Qatar National Day is celebrated annually on the 18th December as it marks the historical day in 1878 when Shaikh Jasim, the founder of the State of Qatar, succeeded his father, Shaikh Muhammad Bin Thani, as the ruler and led the country toward national unity.

It is a special day for Qatar and during the lead up to the day, the whole country is decorated with flags and Doha’s corniche trees are covered with lights. Cars, of both Qataris and expats, are also decorated with displays of patriotism, pictures of HH (His Highness) The Emir, the Qatari Flag, white and maroon colours, hearts…etc. This is our second Qatar National Day, however this year we made a conscious effort to make sure we didn’t miss the main events (i.e. the early morning military parade). Last year, we arrived on the corniche as the crowd was dispersing… and unfortunately, after the parade had finished. Anyway this year we woke up nice and early and walked across to the corniche. By the time we arrived and found a spot on the road it was about 7:30am, and the place was packed! We actually found it difficult to find a space, but managed to squeeze behind some young Qatari women.

The parade started with the Qatar National Anthem. After a recitation from the Holy Qura’an, the Parade was led by a group of Qatari children wearing national costume, accompanied by horsemen and camel riders in traditional dress. After this there was a car convoy, followed by Infantry Forces, Police, Internal Security Force, and Emiri Guards, and all their associated equipment and vehicles, like tanks, boats and so on. In between that, there was a particularly magical moment where we, the spectators, turned around away from the parade to see hundreds of traditional Dhows sailing across the Arabian gulf towards the city skyline (my favourite moment of the parade). It was such a nice surprise and so beautifully done. The parade finished with an air show by the Qatar Emiri Air Force.

In the evening we headed back to the corniche to watch the crazily dressed up cars and their equally crazy drivers (an experience which warrants a separate post and photos in itself, so stay tuned) parade down the main corniche strip. There was also a Dhow Laser Light show and of course the night ended with the magnificent display of fireworks.

Arab Games 2011, Doha, Qatar

Posted on December 20, 2011 by Travis

Last long weekend, Sonya and I decided to head to the Arab Games that are currently held in Doha. While it was previously 15 QAR for full day tickets, it was announced half way through the tournament that all events would be free (to attract spectators we assumed). A little after midday on Saturday we arrived at the Aspire Zone, a sports city originally built for the 2006 Asian Games, it features well known Khalifa Stadium, and also Aspire Dome and Hamad Aquatic Centre.

On arrival we realised we were a little too early, there was nobody else in sight (well, except for the copious numbers of volunteers), and all stadiums and sports halls were empty. We walked around for a little before deciding to have a quick bite, bypassing time before the wrestling commenced.

Greco-Roman wrestling

Greco-Roman wrestling is a hand-to-hand combat between two men with emphasis on throws. I had briefly seen this style of wrestling on tele back when the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games were on, but seeing it live was much more entertaining. There is an interesting phase of the match when one man will be on hands and knees and the other man tries to perform an Olympic Lift from behind.

The wrestling was also made somewhat more entertaining by a loud, elderly, Iraqi supporter wearing the full Iraqi green and white tracksuit, red and white Keffiyeh (traditional Arabic Turban) and playing a darbukah (traditional Arabic drum).

Chess

Not the first sport that comes to mind, but is a recognised sport of the International Olympic Committee, even more appropriately, chess has origins from Persia where it was known as Shatranj. I convinced Sonya to check out the chess games, and as imagined it wasn’t very exciting, we stayed for no more than five minutes.

Boxing

Back to real sports, the boxing started with the Light Fly Division, a weight class for men under 49kg, the rounds were fast paced and enjoyable. Again, the loud Iraqi supporter was there, and caused quite a commotion when Iraq was announced the winner during a very close match.

Athletics

After boxing we made the short walk from Aspire Dome to Khalifa Stadium. Having attended football games there previously, it was nice being able to simply walk into the entrance and sit at the closest seats as there weren’t many other people, on the field was discus, high-jump, long-jump, pole-vault and 200m running.

State of Kuwait

Posted on December 17, 2011 by Travis

Kuwait, not the first country that comes to mind when tourist destinations are mentioned, but given Sonya was there for a few weeks for work, with company paid hotels and flights, there was no reason not to check it out.

I arrived late on Thursday night (hours were wasted trying to get a VISA in the Kuwait airport) which gave us a full day on Friday and a half day on Saturday to explore Kuwait.

Kuwait Towers

The iconic Kuwait Towers stands 187 metre tall, the three spheres are decorated with sequins of multiple blue shades. We made our way up to the 123 metre viewing sphere which through the dirty glass, gave us panoramic views of Kuwait City

Friday Market (Souq al-Jum’a)

One of the more interesting open-air markets, with everything from Bedouin décor to Afghan coats. The shear scale of the market was unlike anything I had seen before, and the majority of the goods were second hand, it didn’t matter if the cooking pot was rusting or the computer ten years old, it was there on sale. We even purchased an ornamental traditional Arabic coffee pot (Dallah) for five Kuwaiti Dinars.

Souq al-Mubarakiya

Between around 11am to 4pm most places are closed, so we decided to visit Souq al-Mubarakiya, Kuwait’s Old Souq. The under-cover souq supported much fresh produce, including fruit, vegetables, fish and meat. There where the usual perfume, watches and gold stores as well as souvenirs. Outside the souq we decided to have lunch, for roughly ten dollars we had fresh Arabic bread, with grilled skewers of chicken and meat kofta.

Kuwait National Museum

One of the more official of the many Kuwait museums, Kuwait National Museum consisted of three separate buildings.

Al-Bader House

A collection of archaeological findings from Kuwait’s early history, pieces included early stone tools, ceramics and metal works. Many pieces are from Failaka Island, which was inhabited from 3000BC.

Heritage Museum

In interesting museum that presented a diy tour through Kuwaiti Heritage, it starts with a showcase of various traditional items including coins, clothing, weapons and hand tools. The ending finishes with a number of very impressive full sized dioramas with life-like statues portraying the early Kuwaiti way-of-life. Scenes included blacksmithing, basket weaving, praying and stores selling.

Planetarium

A museum unrelated to Kuwaiti culture but more on international space travel and our solar system, we didn’t spend much time there.

Naz Iranian Restaurant

One of the highlights (though it wasn’t even Kuwaiti), for dinner we ventured into Naz restaurant for some Persian cuisine. Our first taste of Iranian food, we ordered the Khoresh-e Ghormeh Sabzi (a stew of lamb, red kidney beans and copious amounts of parsley) , Kashk-e Bademjan (an eggplant spread) and tradition drink Doogh (a yogurt drink with mint). For desert we couldn’t resist the Persian rose flavoured ice-cream Faloodeh.

Kuwait House of National Memorial Museum

The following morning we visited the Kuwait House of National Memorial Museum, a museum detailing the Iraq invasion of Kuwait in 1990, all that led up to the war and details of the post war destruction and rebuilding. The start of the museum is an automated sound and light tour with many miniature sized dioramas depicting the war, it ends with photos, some quite gruesome, in one of the rooms is a head from a statue of Saddam Hussein captured in Iraq.

Tareq Rajab Museum

One of the few museums that survived untouched during the war, we unfortunately arrived too late and it was about to close for the midday prayer.

Red Fort (Al-Jahra Fort)

Thirty kilometres west of Kuwait, when we arrived at 1pm the gates were already closed.

Barzan Towers (Umm Salal Muhammed Fort), Qatar

Posted on December 3, 2011 by Travis

Barzan Towers, also known as Umm Salal Muhammed Fort is a fortification built by Sheikh Mohammed Bin Jassim Al Thani in the late 19th to early 20th Century. The word Barzan in Arabic means ‘elevation’ or ‘high place’, this name given due to the sixteen metre height of the watchtowers. Not to be confused with the similar named modern skyscraper located on the Corniche at Doha city.

Barzan Towers is short thirty minutes drive twenty-five kilometres north-west from Doha city. An easy attraction to reach, it will most likely be the first found when exploring Qatar.

Umm Salal Muhammed Fort features traditional Gulf and Arabic style architecture with wooden elements, including doors and roof. A mosque is located in one of the adjacent buildings to the towers.