During the winter months in Qatar, locals and expats spend long hours outdoors, enjoying the cool air. It's really nice and you can get quite a lot of things done, recreationally speaking. So from late-ish October till about late March, Doha comes alive with sporting events galore, people enjoying picnics at the beach or on the lawn by the Corniche, camping, catching a camel race, dune trailing, etc. It's also a great time to spend lounging at open air cafes and restaurants. Souq Waqif is a great people watch area in the late afternoon till late night.
Alas, tis summer, and the air is hot and heavy, with temperatures racing towards the 50deg.C mark! Many will take refuge indoors, away from the sweltering summer heat. But life still goes on, and I would still busy myself to find something to do, albeit an indoor activity. Doha doesn't find you, you find it! You just have to make the effort to find it, then get out and do it.
There are things to do in Doha *surprise* aside from shopping and eating. Friends are a good source of finding things to do in town. And having the company of friends to do it with is twice the fun!
Take my recent excursion to Villagio's newest attraction GONDOLANIA - an indoor theme park to cater to kids of all ages. There's a 4-D cinema (that extra 1D lets you feel the thrill and excitement of the movie, including a water-spritz in the face), roller-coaster ride, ten-pin bowling and other usual arcade/fair-like games. But the main attraction for me is the indoor go-cart circuit! For 10-minutes, you buckle up for a good dose of adrenalin-rush, whizzing round a 250m track, being the Schumi, Weber or Hamilton in the bucket seat. You tackle tight corners, controlling the wheels with two foot pedals - one for brakes and the other for acceleration. The air is filled with the revving sound of go-cart engines and the smell of burnt rubber. At the end of it, it's just very happy faces having gone out for a spin on the fast-track.
So, to sum-up, Doha isn't all that boring, well, at least for 5-6 months of the year, but admittedly, you do have to have a circle of friends who take the effort to look up for happenings in and around Qatar, who bother to plan outings, arrange gatherings and include little ol' me in such sessions. Call it "group therapy", as it has surely kept me sane and alive!
Till next time, Mart
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