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.