Doha Discovered

 One thing I forgot to mention from yesterdays tour was the camel racing. It is a big thing in Qatar and some 25000 camels are kept in the camel stables for racing. The camel races are not like the races we have in Australia. They no longer have jockeys on the camels, instead having little robots that the owner can use to talk to the camel to make it go faster. It also operates a riding crop and the owners drive in tracks alongside the camel track to keep the communications going. The incredible part is the size of the tracks they start at 2 km and go up in 2 km increments to 12 kms. Our guide said it could take about 11 minutes for the camel to complete 12 kms. Thats a pretty impressive effort.

Today marks the last day of our stay in Qatar and also the last day of our holiday. It is a little bit disappointing to know it is coming to an end but a relief that tomorrow night we will be home on our own bed. It also means we will have heaps of dog, horse and donkey cuddles with an occasional goat thrown in. Our flight doesn't leave until 8:40 PM so we have a full day to kill. We have been east on day 1, north and west on day two, and  today we plan to venture south. Qatar is not a huge place, and covers 11, 571 square kilometres. It has a border with Saudi Arabia and that is pretty much it. In fact Anna Creek Station is twice the size of Qatar (23,677sq km) and a bit more. It is predominantly desert of some kind, either sandy in the south or rocky in the north.

Our route to the south will take around 45 minutes and is on a near new 4 lane freeway. There are a lot of trees planted and they are making every effort to green up. That in itself is a pretty mean feat when you consider the annual rainfall is reported to be around 75 mm and in summer the heat can get to the mid 40's constantly. They are bringing in soil for planting and also watering regularly with grey water tankers. Qatar imports water for drinking and for general household use uses desalination and reverse osmosis.

Anyway back to the tour, we stopped after about 45 minutes for a 5 minute camel  ride before we headed out on the dunes. Ann was on Fifa and I was on Mondial, both male camels. It wasn't the most comfortable saddle but the suspension wasn't too bad. After some video and photos we had a nice cup of sweet black tea before we set out to the inland sea. Our driver Taj had already let the tyres down for the sand driving and we set out for the ride  of a lifetime. He had obviously done this a few times and put the land cruiser through its paces on some pretty awesome sand dunes. He took us along couple of dune ridges before doing a sharp left and heading down a 45 degree incline. The dunes seemed to go forever, but a simple left and right and now we were at the shores of the inland sea. People were there fishing and swimming, so Ann and I took the opportunity to get our feet wet. The water was very warm and even as it started to get deeper, the temperature didn't drop too much.

After a short break we got back in the cruiser for some more shenanigans on the dunes. Taj stopped at the top of a steep dune and got out the sand board. Ann went first and sat on the board all the way to the bottom. The only downside was the sand was blisteringly hot and her shoes were back up top. I threw them down as far as I could but she still had to walk a bit to get them. Walking in sand dunes is hard going without it burning your feet. She did manage to make it to the top and it was my turn then. I decided to stand but found myself leaning right back just so it didn't bog down. I did make it to the bottom unscathed and convinced Taj to bring the car down to me. Given the steepness of the slope and temperature of the sand we only had one go at it, but it could be a lot of fun if the sand wasn't so hot.

it was pretty much head back to Doha from there and once back we made one last trip to the souk and the Desert Rose Cafe for lunch. As it was the middle of the day, not many places were open but the cafe was and this time we sat inside. Finally we managed to order a meal we could finish, but the waitress did try to get us to order dessert as well. We declined as we needed to walk off lunch, and after we settled the bill wandered through the souk for the last time. It was quite cool there despite the outside temperature being in the low 30s. Only a few traders were there desperate for a sale, but we had no room left for trinkets and just enjoyed the ambience and aromas. We stopped at an ice cream vendor on the way back to the hotels to spend some last Qatari Riyal and sat and reminisced over a magnificent holiday.

Back at the hotel and it was a waiting game  now for our transfer to the airport. Our vehicle arrived on time an this time we had an Audi Q8 E-tron. It was a pretty impressive vehicle on the inside and it certainly had plenty of pickup for an EV. I know there are going to be plenty of people putting down EVs and conspiracy theorists with their weird ideas about them, but there is no denying these are leaps and bounds ahead of any fossil fuel vehicles. At the airport and everything went smoothly through baggage check, immigration and security  and before long we were on our way to our gate.  

On the plane on time and away on time and we are homeward bound. Somehow through the night we managed to get a little sleep and we also gained a half hour arriving  early at Adelaide. Even immigration and customs in Australia was seamless and we were soon on our way home. Driving up our driveway and Merlin actually lifted his head to look at us as we pulled up. He seemed a little happy to see us and came up for kisses. Murphy was still his evasive self but didn't mind a scratch on the head. Back at the house and the dogs went crazy and our house sitters came out to see us. 

Our holiday had ended and we have a lot  to remember and reminisce about. It was a wonderful 3 weeks and one holiday that will be well remembered.