Our thursday night in Doha is like a Friday night. Its the end of the week (T.A.I.T - Thank Allah its Thursday). Our favorite restaurant to eat out at is called the Thai Shack. The decor is very trailer parkish but the food is deeelicious and cheap. 7 of us went out and pigged out for under 100$. Our friends the Carlsons (David, Michalle and Nikko) taught in Bangkok and they say the food is first rate. The green curry is very good.
We left the restaurant and braved the traffic (about 30 minutes to travel 5 km ) to head to the "old souq"or Souq Wakif.
This a bit of a misnomer because the souqs were built to look old and authentic but in reality they're quite new. But never the less they are fun to walk around and there are deals to be had if you look carefully. It reminded me alot of the markets in Tiajuana in the 80's, lots of little alley ways filled with merchants who love to haggle over prices. There are hundreds of stalls that sell everything from the latest mid eastern women's fashions ...
to birds... parakeets and falcons
Then there was the candy and spice store. The proprietor in the back of the photo was encouraging us to sample everything. I think its less about getting you to buy some thing and more about getting you to just appreciate their shop.
But we weren't there to buy candy we were hunting for wall hangings, namely rugs with interesting patterns and colors. We found a great souq with an impressive selection and a manager with a sense of humor and an itch to bargain. Funny guy, kept trying add more rugs to our stack and he'd knock down the price per rug/ We had to keep telling him 3, we only want 3!
That's him on the left. It was good funAfter the haggling was done we were served tea!
Outside the souqs there are other things to do ...
There are outdoor cafes that serve a variety of juices, coffee and tea. While sit sip you smoke sheesha. It's a paste that you heat with coals, smoke through a water pipe. The pastes have more flavors than Baskins and Robbins. It's very mild you can't even feel a nicotine buzz.
There's also entertainment! Its not exactly Aerosmith but you can't help tap your toe to it.
And the locals seem to like it. I think its like a Qatari version of the Chieftains, hard to know, the lyrics are well beyond any of us.
There was a Film festival in town that night. Apparently Robert DeNiro was in attendance. The evening finished with fireworks, it was an impressive display.
This guy with the donkey was doing great business with the kids, he had customers all night. Yes, that's Baskin and Robbins behind him.
And then all of a sudden it closes, and everything just disappears. Its quite eerie walking through the maze of walkways, with no one in sight.
Here's what we have to show for our evening ...
