A week of adventures

On Monday (12 October), Pat attended the Doha Debate (sponsored by the Qatar Foundation) on the topic: “This House deplores the release of the Lockerbie bomber to Libya”. The debates are moderated by ex-BBC hard-talker Tim Sebastian & are pretty lively affairs. It is extremely difficult to get tickets (free but very limited) & we have been trying for over a year. Pat managed it as an accompanying teacher (four students) but Roger will have to wait. The participants in this debate included two Libyans (one for & one against), a British M.P. (for), & Jim Swire, father of one of the victims (against). The outcome (voted electronically by the full audience) was 53% for & 47% against. The full debate will be shown on BBC & will also be available eventually as a DVD.

On Wednesday (14 October), we decided to explore a different restaurant & so ended up at an “Afghan” restaurant (Al Afghani Brothers) just a few minutes’ drive from our place. It’s the kind of restaurant that is more comfortable with fast-food (kerb-side) than sit-down customers, especially those that belong to the privileged white ex-pat community. With barely a moment’s hesitation, they took us upstairs to Room 13. It resembled a sauna (cedar planks & all) & was very warm, at least until the air conditioning was turned on. Room 13 had only two tables, a washbasin (that was not hooked up to the plumbing) & a telephone (presumably to call when we needed anything). The food was copious & quite good: chicken, fish (hamour), or lamb (“Arab meat”) on a huge plate of rice. When we asked for tea, we were told that “no tea in the restaurant”, but for us there appeared three cups of Lipton tea. It was all very odd but quite satisfying, & we would go back (maybe).

On Thursday (15 October), we went for a four-hour dhow trip (along with about thirty others, mostly teachers & spouses). Meeting at 18h.00, we embarked & set sail in the Arabian Gulf but never very far from land. The view of Doha is spectacular & there is plenty of opportunity for photos, although few do justice to the city lights across the water. Some rather poor quality Arabic hors d’oeuvres were served & most people had brought their own alcohol. It seems that it is legal (or at least permitted) to drink once you’re on the water. After an hour or so, the dhow stopped near a sandbank & those who want to swim did so. Ten people or so jumped into the water from the upper deck, or stepped over the side & swam (& drank) for almost an hour. Last year, on a similar trip, several people were stung by jellyfish, but this time all was clear. We headed back to the harbour & disembarked at 22h.00. The Corniche was buzzing with activity & people were out enjoying the (relatively) milder (i.e. cooler) weather.

On Saturday (17 October), we drove about 40 km. to the south-west to find the famous “singing dunes”. With our trusty GPS we were able to reach them without difficulty & our little car made light work of the rough desert track. The dunes are quite amazing & made of very fine golden sand which, at midday, appeared blindingly white & was extremely hot. We parked the car at the bottom & scrambled up the fifty or sixty feet to the top. Sitting on our backsides we slid down thus creating the “singing” which is more like the sound of a heavy plane in flight. We were unsuccessful in getting good pictures (much too bright) but here is a short video clip taken by Pat as she slid down. If you listen carefully, you will hear the “music”.



On the way home, we stopped at one of Roger’s birding haunts (a vast water treatment lagoon) & found thousands of Grey Herons & a flock of 200+ Flamingos. I (Pat), was in awe and I can almost understand Roger’s obsession for the birds. Really, thousand of elegant herons and hundreds of pinky-white flamingos all facing the same direction was actually awe-inspiring. Some Blue-eared Bee-eaters on a wire provided a cheerful end to a great day out.