Doha Trip

My thoughts about Miami

I hadn't planned to visit Doha, but it became a must-stop destination for me while traveling from Miami to Baku. I preferred exploring the city, even at night, rather than spending 12 hours at the airport. Experiencing the Arab culture up close made me happy.

City View Point

After landing at the airport, my first task, along with my hand and backpack, was to call a taxi. While I had previously marked some points of interest on my map for sightseeing, I had to prioritize them. I wanted to give priority to the City View Point, so I headed there.

There was an inexplicable brightness in the air. Despite it being night, it shone as if it were daytime. Initially, I thought it was because of clouds, but later I realized it was actually a dust cloud, blending with both its own color and the city's, creating a bright appearance.

Souq Waqif

Later, a close friend (Onur Oztutuncu) of mine called me. He said, 'If you're there, you absolutely have to visit Souq Waqif and try the kunafa there.' He even mentioned that it would be closing soon due to the late hour and that I shouldn't miss it. At first, I thought it was just a restaurant, so I quickly called an Uber taxi. But it turned out that it was so close to the City View Point that I could have easily walked there and saved some money. I ended up wasting money for nothing, hahaha.

When the taxi driver dropped me off, I couldn't see any restaurants. There were bird sellers, souvenir shops, people walking around, but no restaurants. That's when I realized that Souq Waqif was more like a neighborhood area. My friend then told me to go to the place where The Golden Thumb Statue was located, and I set my navigation to walk mode to get there.

Al Aker Sweets

According to my friend, there's a fantastic dessert shop here that makes amazing kunafa. I already noticed that there's only one dessert shop around, and there are actually people queuing up in front of it to buy kunafa. Normally, I'm not a big fan of syrupy desserts, but the cheese inside the kunafa makes it quite delightful and enjoyable to eat. I lined up and got myself a portion of kunafa. It truly tasted amazing, and I don't remember feeling any discomfort in my stomach afterward. Usually, when I eat things like that, my stomach hurts."

Fanar Mescid

After finishing my kunafa, I began strolling through the streets of Souq Waqif. I followed wherever the crowd was heading. Seeing these old buildings prepared with Arab culture gave me a different feeling. It resembled an old market area and probably was once the heart of Doha. While wandering the streets, I entered a spacious area. The Fanar Mosque stood before me in all its splendor. I took many photos. In Turkey, mosques may resemble Hagia Sophia, but mosques in different Muslim countries can vary. Seeing such a unique mosque made me happy. Additionally, this is not just a mosque but the Abdullah Bin Zaid Al Mahmoud Islamic Cultural Center. After exploring this place, I wanted to head to the city's new center.

New City Center

Then I called a taxi to go to the new city center. At first, a taxi arrived, but there was another woman passenger inside. In Muslim communities, it's not considered normal for a man and a woman who don't know each other to be in the same car. So, we couldn't ride in the same taxi, but Uber had already charged me $10. This situation dampened my mood. Later, I found a different taxi, but the driver didn't speak English. I told him I wanted to go to the city center, but he couldn't understand me. After going too far, I told him we were going the wrong way, and he turned back. When I spotted a building I had seen at the City View Point, I asked him to drop me off there.

Friend from Singapore

When I went to the smoking area, I approached a young boy. He asked where I was from, and he said he had friends in the city where I lived. I was very surprised, and at first, I didn't realize he was a Muslim. Then he played a song by Müslüm Gürses. It was very surprising to me that a young man from Singapore was listening to Müslüm Gürses in Doha. I think I can only encounter such a situation once in my life. We had a nice conversation and followed each other on Instagram. He had just returned from Umrah and I think he was going home. He was one of the people I was glad to meet. We talked about life and our professions.

22 March 2024