Home, sweet home

The most asked for piece of information, from family, has been "What's your apartment like?". Please forgive me for not posting about this much requested topic sooner, I feel I had more interesting things to write about. But today I will bow down to your request and prioritise this post. The eventful day I had yesterday concerning lightening storms, rain, sub-zero temperatures, earth quakes, hurricanes, police chases, camel thefts, and a harem will just have to wait.

My apartment layout is as follows: The main entrance door opens to an entrance hall with two further doors. The door to the left is for my apartment and opens on to a short corridor. Down the corridor, to the right is the bathroom (sink, toilet, bath & shower over bath). To the left is the kitchen (sink, electric cooker, fridge / freezer, microwave with serving hatch to the living room). The end of the corridor leads to the main living area (3 piece suite, coffee tables, TV and cabinet). As you enter this room the bedroom is to the right (huge bed, wardrobe, chest of draws). The bedroom and living room each have a window and a rattle-box.

Main entrance hall leading to my apartment

Bathroom

Kitchen

Living room

Bedroom

"But what", I here you ask, "about the other door from the entrance hall?". Ah yes! You see, my living accommodation has a multiple personality disorder (and it's sending me a bit that way too). Through the other door, to the right in the main entrance hall (not visible in the above photo) is an almost exact copy of my apartment! It's exactly the same layout with a few minor differences; the kitchen has a washer / dryer and a freezer (no microwave), the living room has a dining table and 4 chairs, and the bedroom has two double beds. In other words, I'm me in my apartment and Widow Twankey in the other. I have to be honest and admit that I've often thought I was in the other apartment to that which I was actually in.

The widow's living room

The widow's bedroom

Concerning Jebels

Another day, another adventure! My buddy and I decided to head off into the desert to see what we could find. We headed for a peninsula on the Western coast of Qatar where there's a few interesting things to see. There's really only one place to access this area, a small, run down little town called Zakreet (or Zekreet, depending on whether you were approaching from the North or the South). The tarmac ended long before reaching this odd little place, turning into a narrow but well defined and hard packed track through the desert. Obviously the perfect place for a local in a Land Cruiser to overtake!

Once past Z[a|e]kreet we followed which ever of the numerous tracks looked the most used and headed for the Jebels. Loosely translated this means a rocky outcrop or hill of sand and stone. In this area the original surface level cracked and collapsed in places, leaving behind individual plateaus, or jebels.

Jebels in the distance

Amongst these jebels we were hoping to find Film City; an old film set used for a local soap opera set in historic times. The set consists of a small, walled village, and a group of small stone huts set into the wall of a Jebel. This area is quite large and labyrinth like, so finding them would be tricky. Heading for one of the larger jebels we came upon a rocky ramp that allowed us to drive to the top (thankfully my buddy has a half decent off-roader). As soon as we crested the jebel we saw the small walled village.

A small walled village atop a jebel. Honest!

It was at this point I realised the problem with Air Conditioning and a hot and humid climate. I got out of the car to take a photograph of the film set but wasn't able to see anything; the lenses in the camera had completely fogged up!

We peered in through the outer wall and we were both surprised to see a satellite dish setup on the ground; the caretaker had made himself at home! Despite an open door in the main gate we decided against entering as said caretaker was praying in the upper most tower. We returned to the car and headed on our way.

From the top of this particularly large jebel we could see the Gulf stretching around the peninsula, as well as a large mast to the North. Looking out to sea we could just make out the distant shore of Saudi Arabia. At least, we think it was.

An interesting feature of the larger jebels are land coves that cut into the plateau. It was approaching one of these coves where we saw a group of stone structures; we'd found the rest of the film set. Having learnt my lesson I waited out in the scorching heat until my camera had cleared.

Stone huts in a jebel cove

It was an amazing sight to see all these little roofless huts with gaping doorways, nestled against the rock walls and surrounding the cove. The most extraordinary one was positioned alone atop the smallest of jebels, in the entrance to the cove.

Standing guard on a mushroom jebel

Solar powered mast

Leaving the ghostly village behind we headed toward the mast we'd already sighted to the North. The going soon got tough as all tracks seemed to lead into a rock field. Although we were in a decent off-roader, it didn't really have the ground clearance for this kind of thing, so we meandered through the field, picking our way around the larger rocks.

The rocks soon gave way and we were back on a hardened track. In a rare departure for the super rich state that seems to care little for how much electricity is used, the mast was powered by a huge array of solar panels. I figured this was more to do with a lack of available national grid access, rather than some moral sense of saving resources and using renewable energy. Close to the mast was a small, abandoned concrete tower. Inside was a steel ladder that led up three storeys to the roof. The view from here was amazing. As far as the eye could see, certainly, but with the obligatory haze on the horizon, this wasn't actually that far. The searing heat made me leave the tower and make for the cool of the car once more.

Our route around the jebel

Heading away from the tower, we descended from the plateau and pointed inland again. Driving around the base of the jebel led us close to the sea, but the going was firm.

Heading inland

We stayed North of the jebels and and made it off the peninsula. Although a little lost at first, we came upon the main highway we'd used earlier that morning; Zakreet was someway to the South. Things weren't so easy, however, as this stretch of road was completely fenced in and we couldn't get back to tarmac. Pointing South we travelled overland until we met the Zakreet road. Leaving the desert tracks behind, we headed further South to enjoy lunch in Dukhan.

Sun down

I've been on my first Sun-Down; a picnic by the coast to watch the sun set. Everything was very organised; no sooner had we stopped than loads of blankets, tables, chairs, food and drink was all laid out and every one chilled out and relaxed. Dangling ones feet in the Gulf was actually quite weird; the water was really warm and exceedingly clear. As the sun went down the lights of the town over the bay came on and the call to prayer could be heard over the water. A beautiful view made a little strange due to the gas flares at the industrial city some KMs away. After the sun went down the lights and flares kept the dark away, and the heat of the desert kept us warm as we chatted the hours away.

A 20 minute off-road drive thought the desert

Very well organised with tables, chairs, food & drink

Beautiful warm and clear water

Stunning sun set

The sun sets and the lights come on

The gas flares of the nearby industrial city

Hall of Shame

Rambling has taken on a new meaning. Instead of referring to the bobble-hat brigade tramping the moors it means people wandering around the compound with cool-boxes. If you see such a person your best bet is to follow them because there's generally only one thing they're doing, and that's going to a bar. It turns out there are numerous bars here which came as a bit of shock considering it's a 'dry' country. I was at such a bar recently for someone's birthday. It was quite well appointed, with a fridge behind the bar, bar stools, fancy lighting, music, and plenty of people. This particular bar happens to be called the 'Hall of Shame'. Not sure why it's shameful (I could guess) but it really is in someone's entrance hall.

Because, that's what they do; buy a 'bar' and install it in their apartment or villa and people come round with their own drink in said cool-boxes. They're usually open once a week or fortnight and also host special events, such as someone's birthday. There's also an Irish bar and there used to be a Hawaiian bar complete with thatched roof.

Well I, for one, am impressed.

Day One: Mmm, Bacon. Hang on...!

The first day dawned and some time later I woke up. I'd slept very deeply, despite the Rattle Boxes (A/C units) doing their best to make sure I didn't. First order of the day was a cup of tea!

Packed prepared!

I'd already spied milk the night before so all I needed was a kettle and a mug. After a fair amount of rooting around, and a bit ofpanicking, I found the kettle under the towels in the dirty washing basket (where else?). Nearly there! Then disaster struck; no mug! The tide of luck heads out. After that disappointment I showered and headed out to meet my buddy.

On that note it's worth mentioning that the cold water is hot and the hot water is scalding hot. I've been reliably informed that this is because the cold water tank is on the roof (Doh!) and that the water heaters in the apartments aren't thermostatically controlled. In light of this I'm trying something new; leave the hot water heater switched off and use this as cold water (the 50 litre tank is, after all, in an air conditioned apartment) and use the cold water as hot (which, after all, is on the roof in direct sunlight and over 40 degree C heat!). I'll let you know how I get on.

On the itinerary for the day was a breakfast gathering; all the newbies and their buddies large-ing it up in the Al Waha club (behind closed doors due to Ramadan). What we had for breakfast was a big surprise; fried egg, grilled tomatoes, Baked Beans, Bacon and Sausage. Now the bacon, it has to be said, looked a little odd; sort of a dark reddy-brown. Obviously it couldn't be pork. Turns out it was Beef bacon! Regarding the sausages; I'm afraid I couldn't tell you what was in those, I didn't find out. The people I asked didn't know. I tucked in anyway.

Red tape followed breakfast as we had the opportunity to open bank accounts. A strange experience, manually filling a form out. I really can't remember the last time I did that. My hand writing certainly hasn't improved. Still, half the information was simply a bit pointless; Q: How long have you lived at this address?, A: I have an address?

A battle then ensued at the photocopier as we all needed 3 gazillion copies of our passport, including the entry stamp. I had the sense to ask a very pleasant member of the admin department; she went straight to the front of the queue and took charge!

My buddy happens to be the school's network manager. Normally I don't get on with these people (cagey empire builders with rubbish networks) but this one is a good one (the ones with good networks tend to be decent folk). We spent the next few hours chatting in my new office (affectionately known as the fish bowl). I reckon we'll get on just fine. Which is good; he's got a car!

In said car we took off, with a couple of others, on my first shopping trip. The destination was a shopping mall known as Villagio, just outside Doha, and an amazing place it is too! Internally it's designed to look like the streets of Venice with multi-floor buildings extending from the shop fronts to the ceiling, which itself is depicted as the sky at different times of day. There's even a canal, complete with Gondolas! Disrupting this theme, though, is the ice-rink at one end. As with a lot in Qatar, scratch the surface and you see it's all about outward appearance; the building fronts are obviously fake, the canal pretty short and the gondolas are all electric. The ice-rink, however, is real, and the VIP toilets are quite something with their Persian rugs. Still, a wander round a Virgin Megastore, Boots, Marks'n'Sparks and a coffee at Starbucks (after the sun had gone down) made the whole thing rather weird!

In order to obtain all the various permits and cards I needed, I had to get some passport photos taken (on a blue background). The couple we were with also needed them. We decided on a small photo shop in the nearest town to the community; Al Khor. No photo-booths here; rather a back room with dodgy backdrops painted on the walls, a blue curtain, couple of flash umbrella things and a cheap D-SLR. When finished you could tell the sales guy was wondering how much to charge us. I thought he said 130 Riyals, someone else thought he said 140. Wisdom prevailed and we split it three ways and paid 40 Riyals each. Oops.

Whilst in town my buddy took us to a kebab house and I had a, well, I'm not entirely sure what I had. One thing was certainly some kind of kebab sandwich. The second thing was apparently some kind of pastry thing with something vaguely resembling, or at least tasting like, cream cheese, with more cheese. No matter, both were excellent.

It was quite late by this time so straight back to the community and another deep sleep with the Rattle Boxes.

Day Zero: The Flight.

So, I've arrived! Actually, I arrived a couple of days ago, but I've only just completed the duo of free time and a free WiFi connection.

Several people asked me, before I came out here, if I was scared of flying. A strange question given that I've never flown before, so how would I know? Well, I now know.

I'm not.

Everything seemed pretty straight forward. The departure was painless (I'm glad I checked in on-line beforehand) without problems at any stage. My checked in baggage allowance was 23KG; my suitcase weighed in at 22.5KG. That conjured a strange emotion of joy that I wouldn't have to pay £22 per KG in excess weight charges, and also regret that I hadn't shoe-horned another 500g of junk into my case. The bathroom scales, then, did the trick (calibrated with three, 5 litre boxes of wine!). Next time I'll buy some super accurate luggage scales (which several people had suggested I do).

Seeing as I'd checked in on-line I was able to secure a window seat (after I'd turfed out an thieving Indian). I was over looking the port side engine and could look back to the leading edge of the wing (watching it bounce up and down mostly).

The route, displayed on the Oryx entertainment system, suggested we would fly over the Peak District and then over Sheffield. I was therefore disappointed to be only staring at several layers of cloud. It soon brightened as we headed out over The Wash and onto the Netherlands. All very impressive.

The Netherlands

Our route then took us over Germany, Romania, Czechoslovakia, the Black Sea and Turkey. It had soon clouded over again, though, so all the interesting mountains and such were hidden from view. Still, clouds can be impressive. No, they really can, honest!

Pretty Clouds!

The view soon improved, after watching the new 'A-Team' film, as we crossed into Iraq. Mosel appeared beneath my window. After a few strange meanderings in the sky we flew over Baghdad and Basra then out over the Gulf.

Somewhere over Iraq as the shadows lengthen

The sun set surprisingly early considering the time difference, so flying over the Gulf and the approach to Doha was in darkness (note to self: POSH on this flight doesn't work). The descent was in rapid, stomach turning bursts and we were soon speeding a few feet over the runway. The landing was flawless. We braked hard and taxi'd to a halt some way from the terminal, thus requiring a bus to transport us over there.

Coming into land

Stepping from the plane was an experience, and not a pleasant one at that! The cool of the plane gave way to the breath-taking heat and humidity of the open tarmac. Wow! However, that's nothing compared to what I've experienced since!

The bus drive was quite long. All the while I was looking around me wondering; "Are you going to AKIS? What about you?". I tried to overhear what people were saying, but no clues were given. Arrival at the airport was effortless; A short wait for my case (thankfully all present and correct) then swiftly through customs and security to the waiting throng and a welcome sign from the school and a friendly face. I'd made it!

'Twas the night before...

...er, flying, when all through the house
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.

Despite all the ups and downs I'm now as ready as I ever will be; my case is packed and under weight, my hand luggage is ready, I have print outs of my Visa, and I've even checked in. Now all I need is a decent night's sleep! Considering how exhausted I'm feeling, that hopefully won't be too difficult!

Farewell to my green and pleasant land...