I caught the airport shuttle bus in Istanbul at midnight on Wednesday. The airport was quite far away and I made it to Air Arabia with only seconds to spare. I was very lucky they let me on the plane. The flight was pretty unpleasant with people fighting and arguing. There was also a choir of crying babies. I got to Sharjah and passed through their immigration. The place did not seem particularly friendly. I had the whole day to wait. I considered going to Dubai, but the taxi driver wanted 100 USD for the 15 km journey. Ahhhh, no thanks! Hurry up and wait. Because of Ramadan there was nothing to eat or drink and most of the airport shops were closed. I was tired, hungry and thirsty. I finally found a duty free shop and bought a liter of water. I asked the cashier about the best procedure. He said that if I drank where people could see me, the police would arrest me immediately. Hmmm, plan B - to the washroom stall, where I closed the door and enjoyed my water. Stangely enough, in the departure lounge, all restaurants and shops were open. It was busines as usual.
I met Rainer at Doha airport in the evening. We went to the Souk and had dinner at a Moroccan Restaurant. I had a Moroccan salad and camel burger. Not bad! The next day we took Rainer s 4 by 4 for a desert tour to the south of the country. In fact, at times the border for Saudi Arabia was only a few kilometers away. It was an interesting experience. The tires for the SUV had to be deflated to 15 psi. Sand, heat and quiet. Everything looks the same in this landscape. It looked like the classic postcard shot of the Sahara Desert. In fact, this part of the world is the Arabian Desert. In the evening, we rented some quads and drove around the sand dunes. That was a very cool experience.
Each Qatar citizen gets 10,000 USD a month to live here. There are no taxes. Education and housing are free for citizens. It is a place where money does not seem to be an issue. Yet, on the other hand it is unpleasantly hot with average temps between 35 and 50 degrees. It is also very, very humid. The other strange thing here is that there is no cold water. Even tap water comes out luke warm.
Today we will tour to the west coast of Qatar. Rainer says that you can see Bahrain in the distance. I look forward to seeing something new, getting some more photos and having a swim in the sea. Tomorrow it s back to Sharjah and onward to Kathmandu.
