Ramada Doha

... One falcon was sitting on a rail in the waiting room. She was hooded. (I asked later if they were male or female birds and was told almost always female because they are bigger). Several men had entered before us with falcons on their hands and were disappearing into the back rooms. I was afraid that we would be asked to leave because it was now pretty obvious that this was a bird hospital. But one of the staff saw us and said we were ...

... and it was a later time but no, checked the clock and it was maybe 5 minutes after all the others had stopped. How odd to me. I can get that the mosques don't start on the dot together, that's just logical human starting times. But why was one a full 5- 10 minutes later? Another human error? They didn't get to the mosque on time?

... aux allures de Miami beach...pres de 10 km de long! 3- Des gratte-ciels (en construction) avec une architecture excentrique 4- L aspect cosmopolitain de la ville: anglais, australiens, americains, philipinos... ils ne sont pas en minorite! 5- Le savoir vivre et la politesse habitants! On nous salue sur la rue!!

... that are finished are empty (no offices inside). Also, from the signs posted around this "ghost town" it looks like many of the new buildings will be inhabited by State Ministries and other State agencies and organizations. They do seem to build the glorious Communism based on oil! Anyway, we finally got to the souk. When compared to the souks we have seen in Morocco, this one felt more "civilized" (cleaner, more spacious, shop owners were not trying to ...

... then cross to Souq Waqf. Spend evening exploring the maze of buildings. So hot, sweating so much, clothes are drenched. Meet Ataol at "Tajine" at 8. He's with his friend Göhsu, we're joined by Göhsu's friend Nikolas. They can't get over the idea of living on such a small island and liken it to The Truman Show. Eventually, after 11, Ata drives me back to the hostel. Witness a minor crash at one of the roundabouts. Not surprising, really.

... and just as many towers coming out of the ground at various stages of construction. I'm told its a bit like dubai was some 15 years or so ago. Can't imagine it will end up on the same scale as dubai, although that said, the word is they are looking to nuild 80 towers of various sizes per year for next ten years. difficult to imagine really.

The next morning I got up and checked the clock. It's 7:30 AM. Now my concerns was my personal hygiene.My toothbrush/paste and shaving kits are in the bag that is lost in the airport.So, I went to the hotel lobby but found that the shop will not be open before 10:00 AM as this is Ramadan time. The hotel staff told me that I can find a shop about 500 M away which may ...