La Cigale Hotel Doha

... are myriad other choices to satiate my cravings. I’ve even baked a couple of batches of chocolate chip cookies – temperature" 7” on the oven here (the range is from 1 to 10) seems to work best.

Enough of the sweets tangent. There are many people from India here and, though certainly not in proportion to the population, there are several Indian restaurants around. There are also many kebab or shwarma ...

... rules” are different. However, even on the grounds of the spa I saw one women sunbathing on her stomach with her bikini top undone and a hundred metres away I saw another swimming in the pool in her abaya.

I realize that not all of that was interesting but hopefully it gives you a bit of a feel for the place. I’ll write more about the city and living here soon.

PS – the airline found my bag and i was able to get it after only a couple of days.

In Doha the Sheiks are chic. Where am I? Seriously, Doha is not a tourist town, per se, but it is far and away one of the more interesting and in so many ways seemingly contradictory places I have ever been in my life. At our hotel we were told that we could hire a limo driver at 60 riyals per hour to take us around the city and show us the sights, not that there are actually that many of them. The hotel taxis, which are limos, are more expensive than ...

I had a great time in Doha seeing my dad and not having to pay for anything (thanks dad!). Mostly in the day time, after getting up late, I went down the gym and then did something with my dad in the evening after he got back from work. Having a gym at my dad's apartment was really good, as I was able to keep up my fitness, rather than lose it travelling and having to start from scratch when I get ...

On this day we planned to go to the beach via the sand dunes for a small Armenian Youth Committee organized BBQ. We got up early and drove to where the dunes start. We all met at the starting point of the dunes with only 4x4's aligned to venture into the sandy hills. We were approx. 16-18 4x4's and began our journey to the other side of the dunes where the beach was located. When we reached the first main hill we already had cars getting stuck. I have ...

... be halfway interesting. I've got so much to tell you about my overall Middle East experience. I am flying Qatar Airways and it is AMAZING. The Airbus A320 was immaculate and the seats were actually contoured to make sitting comfortable. The footrest was a nice touch, too. Here is a rough outline of the short flight from Bahrain to Qatar: 18:55 took off 18:57 dinner served 19:02 dinner picked up 19:05 descent into Qatar 19:16 landed Full ...

... Francis was one of the only girls at the club who wasn't "working" that night; indeed several guys thought she was one of those girls too. But we still had fun, and Matt even frightened a few people by once again trying to dance - it was scary let me tell you! Doha is an interesting place, albeit very expensive. There is a lot of money to be made here for those who are interested. Thanks to big bro Chris for the hotel help - you're the best! Until next time, ciao amigos

... another night in DC, and after another super comfortable night, I got on the last flight...next stop SF! I love Virgin America...live TV, good food, and empty planes...had an entire row to myself. Getting home was pretty surreal, but the 3 days of travel kind of tempered any culture shock I think. Driving home on 101 was weird, especially because I hadn't expected to be back for another year. But it was soooo nice to see family, and stop ...

... style fast-food joints. Oh yeah and the prayer rooms. Internet is for free though and there's a playstation3 on display on which I crash a few buggies into mountainridges to great hilarity of my Chinese audience. I'm determined to sleep all the way to Mumbai. Raquel has been sleeping everywhere but I've had about 5 hours of sleep in total over the last 4 nights. I just need to get the topscore on 'Who wants to be millionaire' and then I will get some sleep. The game is ...

... at all. I slept most of it. Landed in Doha right on schedule. That just makes the start of a trip so much better. Getting off the plane down the stairs to the bus, I got my first "hit" of desert air. I knew it would be hot but I guess I thought since the sun was down it would be a little cooler. It really didn't make a difference. The air was hot and very humid. While getting on the bus to go to the terminal a lady sat next to me and ...