Trip to Doha
On the morning of 12th November I landed, for the first time, in any country in Middle East. This country was Qatar and the city was Doha. The landscape from up above was just like any desert country. I could see one straight single line of road running through a vast, barren and uninhabitated land. Here and there, some structures were visible but it looked like no one has put a step there for years. As we kept descending, the density of those structures kept increasing until it looked like we were flying over a city. Suddenly, there were houses, high-rise buildings and people and vehicles. And then there was runway and we landed.
As soon as I disembarked the plane I could feel and smell the foreign air and the desert heat. Before coming I was told that this will be time for winters in Qatar but I could not find any signs of it. It was hot. Anyways, me and my colleague came out of airport after completing all the necessary emigration check and baggage collection. After some agonizing wait for taxi for an hour, we finally got one and reached at our appartments some two and half hours after landing in Doha. Although, we had to report at Qatar Airways office that day only but neither of us were in mood. But work is work. We took a quick nap, got ready and reached the office.
Qatar Airways is one of the biggest airlines in Middle East and they were our clients. The main purpose of my visit was to do the project launch and give some basic user training. While my colleague flew back in two weeks time, I had to stay for about 30-40 days. During the first week in Doha, I had realised that this will be tough on me.
Doha is not a very big city and its very hard to kill the time there. Whatever places were there worth visiting, we completed those on our first weekend. Then the boring period started. As Qatar is having some absurd working hours of 7 o'clock morning to 3 o'clock afternoon, there was almost half-a-day everyday when we were free and got nothing to do. People had suggested some Desert Safaris and stuff, but it would not have been fun with just two persons. So we dropped that idea too.
There were primarily two main attractions in Doha. First one is Al-Corniche seaface. It has been constructed just like the Marine Drive in Bombay in shape of a necklace facing the Persian Gulf. But it was so neat and clean and the water was in lovely greenish-blue color. Doha also has some
appreciating modern architectures. There are many high-rise buildings along Al-Corniche having corporate offices of many Multi National Companies. Due to the Asian Games during that period, that area was specially decorated.
Then there was this big shopping mall called City Center Mall. It hosted some of the most popular international brands of clothing, accessories and eating joints. And also had a 12 screen multiplex theatre. During my stay in Doha, I visited this place the most, often to catch some movie.
As the Asian Games started, the face of the city changed. Almost every high building had some huge banner of Asian Games suspended on them. Every road and every street had Asian Games advertising. I was able to catch some glimpse of Mixed Doubles Semi-Finals of Tennis in which Indian Team of Sania Mirza and Leander Paes played and won.
Two weeks went by, and my collegue flew back. Next three weeks were most terrible for me. Alone, I got so bored that nobody can imagine. The weather changed and it got cold. I enjoyed that weather. Living in Bombay for last two years I have missed the winters. So, I got a little taste of the cold this winter.
Slowly and slowly, I killed my time in Doha counting my remaining days. The project launch went smoothly. Everybody, onsite as well as offshore, was happy. I was also delighted primarily because my work there was done and I can come back to India soon.
As soon as I disembarked the plane I could feel and smell the foreign air and the desert heat. Before coming I was told that this will be time for winters in Qatar but I could not find any signs of it. It was hot. Anyways, me and my colleague came out of airport after completing all the necessary emigration check and baggage collection. After some agonizing wait for taxi for an hour, we finally got one and reached at our appartments some two and half hours after landing in Doha. Although, we had to report at Qatar Airways office that day only but neither of us were in mood. But work is work. We took a quick nap, got ready and reached the office.
Qatar Airways is one of the biggest airlines in Middle East and they were our clients. The main purpose of my visit was to do the project launch and give some basic user training. While my colleague flew back in two weeks time, I had to stay for about 30-40 days. During the first week in Doha, I had realised that this will be tough on me.
Doha is not a very big city and its very hard to kill the time there. Whatever places were there worth visiting, we completed those on our first weekend. Then the boring period started. As Qatar is having some absurd working hours of 7 o'clock morning to 3 o'clock afternoon, there was almost half-a-day everyday when we were free and got nothing to do. People had suggested some Desert Safaris and stuff, but it would not have been fun with just two persons. So we dropped that idea too.
There were primarily two main attractions in Doha. First one is Al-Corniche seaface. It has been constructed just like the Marine Drive in Bombay in shape of a necklace facing the Persian Gulf. But it was so neat and clean and the water was in lovely greenish-blue color. Doha also has some
appreciating modern architectures. There are many high-rise buildings along Al-Corniche having corporate offices of many Multi National Companies. Due to the Asian Games during that period, that area was specially decorated.
Then there was this big shopping mall called City Center Mall. It hosted some of the most popular international brands of clothing, accessories and eating joints. And also had a 12 screen multiplex theatre. During my stay in Doha, I visited this place the most, often to catch some movie.
As the Asian Games started, the face of the city changed. Almost every high building had some huge banner of Asian Games suspended on them. Every road and every street had Asian Games advertising. I was able to catch some glimpse of Mixed Doubles Semi-Finals of Tennis in which Indian Team of Sania Mirza and Leander Paes played and won.Two weeks went by, and my collegue flew back. Next three weeks were most terrible for me. Alone, I got so bored that nobody can imagine. The weather changed and it got cold. I enjoyed that weather. Living in Bombay for last two years I have missed the winters. So, I got a little taste of the cold this winter.
Slowly and slowly, I killed my time in Doha counting my remaining days. The project launch went smoothly. Everybody, onsite as well as offshore, was happy. I was also delighted primarily because my work there was done and I can come back to India soon.
