Football fan or not, you’ll have a ball in Qatar

I’m probably one of the few South Africans who travels internationally who’s never been to — or transited through — Dubai. I’d not visited the Middle East at all, possibly an oddity considering how I try to eat my weight in virtually any food that’s traditional in that region. Instead, my first visit was a recent stay in Doha, the capital of Qatar. And that really was fine, for several reasons.

MARKETS

The Souq Waqif is is a sprawling, century-old network of whitewashed alleyways with shops, shisha (hookah) lounges and coffee shops. It’s literally translated “market standing” because shopkeepers stand outside their outlets and invite passers-by in. The souq was built on the site of a wadi (dry riverbed), where Bedouin traded livestock. Its offering is now more varied.

I saw a smattering of cheap plastic toys and electronic goods, including beatboxes blinged-up with chrome and LEDs, but also more traditional goods: elegant, long-spouted brass coffee pots ranging from dinky to help-me-get-it-into-the-car size, traditional khanjars (daggers), swords and armour, and lots of traditional clothing. I could have spent days there.

At the nearby Al Khaleej Centre were serried ranks of open boxes and baskets of dried fruit, nuts and spices. I did sums in my head and worked out that the pine nuts — perhaps 12mm long, plump and butter-yellow rather than the anaemic, eye-wateringly expensive ones at home — were around half the price. I bought half a kilogram and envisaged pesto-centric meals for weeks to come.

Further on, one of my travelling companions, Laila, beckoned, beaming. In a tiny shop, an elderly, immaculately goateed man in full chef’s garb stirred a creamy-tawny mixture in a pot that could serve as a cosy hot tub for two. His son gave us each a taster: halva, bejewelled with pistachios and walnuts. Helplessly I hauled my credit card out again and left with a tin of Al-Jamal Sweets’ finest.

Later we sat at a cafe in a broad, cobbled concourse through the market. Our guide, the energetic and ebullient Saleh Abujundy, hailed a waiter who brought qahwa: coffee made with green beans and cardamom. It’s served with gooey-in-the-best-way dates and a sweet, tahini-ish dip.

I love all those ingredients separately, but this concoction was less than the sum of its parts. Far nicer to me was the fragrant, strong, sweet karak tea with cardamom.

It was around 9.30pm and warm, in the upper 20 degrees. We watched passers-by, families or groups of friends of all ages in attire ranging from traditional Arab to designer everything.

Saleh had explained earlier that the way the men wear the gutra — the traditional headdress secured with an agal, a length of black cord — varies depending on whether he’s going to work, an important business meeting, on a date and so on.

A shopkeeper carried bowls of cat food and water to a box in a corner, where a cat nursed four kittens. Nearby a group of grizzled, elderly men in thobes (traditional white robes and trousers) and gutras talked quietly. One glanced at his phone and they all craned to see a vaguely saucy video of a young lady sort-of belly dancing while removing some clothing in time to a lively Middle Eastern tune. They grinned like schoolboys while our little group stifled peals of laughter and avoided eye contact.

THE FALCON HOSPITAL

“State-of-the-art” is a cliché and I’d had no idea that caring for raptors went beyond making sure they have enough mice. But the hospital could easily pass as a Medi-Clinic in a plush South African suburb: the list of services offered runs from anaesthesia through molecular biology, oncology, toxicology and urology, and includes feather transplants. The hospital sees birds and their deep-pocketed owners from across the Gulf region. Apparently the services are deemed affordable. The birds, less so: Saleh pointed out one magnificent, pure-white falcon that had sold for $53,000 (about R972,000).

At Hamad International Airport perches a 12m-tall golden falcon, Qatar’s national bird, designed by Dutch sculptor Tom Claassen.

Outside the Sidra Medical & Research Centre is Damien Hirst’s The Miraculous Journey, a series of 14 huge bronze sculptures depicting the gestation of a human foetus from conception to birth, culminating in a 14m-tall baby boy. The work is dedicated to all mothers and their children.

Indian artist Subodh Gupta's 2008 work Gandhi's Three Monkeys depicts Mahatma Gandhi’s ethos of “see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil” and is a comment on war and peace, depicting the Mahatma wearing a terrorist's hood, a gas mask and a military helmet.

In the cavernous lobby of the Sheraton Hotel stands a 4.2m purple rooster, created by Katharina Fritsch. No, I don’t pretend to understand either.

We also had supper at Parisa, which serves traditional Persian fare. The restaurant is at the end of a long corridor off a concourse in Souq Waqif. The corridor, like the restaurant, is festooned with hand-painted art, mosaics, carvings, chandeliers and countless tiny mirrors sourced in Iran over several years. Highlights? Everything, but especially the khoresht bademjan: lamb cubes in tomato gravy with fried aubergine, served with pomegranate syrup and rice, and the mast va moor, homemade yoghurt flavoured with chopped shallots.

La Spiga is an Italian restaurant at the W Hotel: it features a pizza oven like a giant mirror-ball and charming young maître d’ named Charlize, from Boksburg (no, not that one, but it was lovely to meet her anyway). The insalata di spinaci novelli (baby spinach, goat's cheese mushrooms, sun-dried tomatoes and caramelised walnuts) might not be Middle Eastern, but it was immaculate.

MALLS

Yes, there are plenty, ranging from the merely upmarket to the outrageously opulent. Malls aren’t my thing, but if they’re yours you’ll love Doha. Every luxury brand I’d heard of is represented, and more besides.

PLAN YOUR TRIP

VISAS: While the rules are slightly different for the duration of the Fifa World Cup (November and December), South African passport holders are usually eligible for a visa waiver on arrival and will be so again once the cup is over.

COVID-19: From this month, Qatar has cancelled all Covid-19 restrictions, meaning you do not need  a PCR test or proof of vaccination to enter. 

GETTING THERE: Qatar Airways flies daily from OR Tambo International to Doha’s Hamad International Airport. The flight is just over eight hours.