This is my third blog entry on Doha. Previous two entries:
It definitely makes for an interesting juxtaposition of cultures. Let's see here:
gutra,
thobe, sandals, and no riding gloves on what looks like to be a BMW R 1200 RT tourer.
Not to mention, powerboating and dhows as we'll see below.
I stayed in the high-rise section of Doha (shown in the distance above).
The Al Corniche Rd connects that section to the purposely low-rise section fronted by the Museum of Islamic Art (MIA), which is right next to the location where I took the above photo.
(
Click to see an enlarged annotated satellite view of the area.)
It's a nice 10K run from my hotel along the waterfront to the Diwan (nr. the MIA) and back. That should give you some idea of the scale of the place.
On the day I arrived there was a Class-1 World Powerboat Championship race going on right in the bay. Using the 10x zoom on the Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ5, I found it hard to properly track the boats:
However, I was able to capture the next boat cleanly with my point-and-shoot camera (despite shutter delay) because it was dead in the water:
Qatar has a long tradition of boating given its fishing and pearl diving history. Next to the MIA is the port where traditional dhows are still built:
Here is the view looking south from the
man-made hotel beach (
though I'm sure the sand is locally sourced) towards the port and museum area (in the far background):
Hmm, perhaps the view is clearer from a higher vantage point:
(
Yes, I took a brief swim in the Persian Gulf. It was surprisingly warm even in April. As a sinking swimmer (see here), I enjoyed the buoyancy offered by the sea water. However, as a scuba diver, I rate the visibility as downright murky though.)
You may also have noticed the huge project near the top of the satellite map. That is the Pearl-Qatar, an immense project which is still under construction (like much of Doha). Supposed to be a Riviera-style man-made island complex. Perhaps appropriately, this is the southern view from the patio of
Bice, an Italian restaurant there:
I didn't get to see much of old Doha (if it exists). On a brief visit to the
souk, which looked rather gentrified, I managed to take two 360° spherical panoramas:
(
Use Apple's free QuickTime Player to view the special .mov image files, which can be zoomed and rotated 360° in all directions. Click on the links to see the spherical panoramas.)
That's it for my Doha entries. Hope you enjoyed the pictures!
This is my third blog entry on Doha. Previous two entries:
It definitely makes for an interesting juxtaposition of cultures. Let's see here: gutra, thobe, sandals, and no riding gloves on what looks like to be a BMW R 1200 RT tourer.
Not to mention, powerboating and dhows as we'll see below.
I stayed in the high-rise section of Doha (shown in the distance above).
The Al Corniche Rd connects that section to the purposely low-rise section fronted by the Museum of Islamic Art (MIA), which is right next to the location where I took the above photo.
(Click to see an enlarged annotated satellite view of the area.)
It's a nice 10K run from my hotel along the waterfront to the Diwan (nr. the MIA) and back. That should give you some idea of the scale of the place.
On the day I arrived there was a Class-1 World Powerboat Championship race going on right in the bay. Using the 10x zoom on the Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ5, I found it hard to properly track the boats:
However, I was able to capture the next boat cleanly with my point-and-shoot camera (despite shutter delay) because it was dead in the water:
Qatar has a long tradition of boating given its fishing and pearl diving history. Next to the MIA is the port where traditional dhows are still built:
Here is the view looking south from the man-made hotel beach (though I'm sure the sand is locally sourced) towards the port and museum area (in the far background):
(Yes, I took a brief swim in the Persian Gulf. It was surprisingly warm even in April. As a sinking swimmer (see here), I enjoyed the buoyancy offered by the sea water. However, as a scuba diver, I rate the visibility as downright murky though.)
You may also have noticed the huge project near the top of the satellite map. That is the Pearl-Qatar, an immense project which is still under construction (like much of Doha). Supposed to be a Riviera-style man-made island complex. Perhaps appropriately, this is the southern view from the patio of Bice, an Italian restaurant there:
Awesome pictures! Great sense of humor! Like the BMW motorcycle photo the best. Good catch! Now I want to visit this place.
ReplyDeleteIt is such a nice blog. Really enjoy it.