Doha: all the king's horses

The delay of our flight to Nepal was a disguised blessing. How long had it been since we'd just hung out for a morning, lazing in a hotel room? Free hotel, free food, courtesy of Qatar Airways. And this afternoon we walked over to the architecturally stunning Museum of Islamic Art, one of the finest museums I have encountered.

The building was designed by the renowned architect I.M. Pei and sits at the edge of the water looking across at the skyline of The Pearl in Doha.

9th Century bowl

Astronomical treatise with eclipse diagram, 1479

Jeweled falcon

he Book of Fixed Stars by Abd al-Rahman al-Sufi was an attempted synthesis of the most popular classical astronomical work of the time, Ptolomy's Almagest, with indiginous Arabic astronomy, or anwa. This copy dates to 1125 a.d.

After a thorough saturation of art, we went to the Souq Waqif, an recently rebuilt old-style market, the only one of its kind still in existence. On the way, we came across an assortment of ninja-like window washers on the QNB bank building.

Expecting a tourist experience, we were pleased to see the market occupied mostly by locals and offering a wide assortment of shops. One street for herbs and spices, one for caged birds, one for clothing, one for rugs, and so on.

This is one of several gentlemen who wait with their wheelbarrows to transport loads of goods to customers' cars.

In Doha for another day (the Airbus blocking the runway in Kathmandu was nearly ready to tow away),  we wandered out in search of the Falcon Souq, a marketplace of falconer's supplies. Since it was Friday and everyone was off at mosque, we could only look in windows. Turned out the shops had falcons too.

Across the street from the Grand Mosque, we ran across the royal stables, home to the king's race horses, and were invited to show ourselves around.

On the Corniche, a waterside promenade around West Bay, we had a good view of The Pearl, an artificial island filled with residential skyscrapers. It's the only place in Qatar where foreigners may own property, and is expected to house 45,000 people by 2018.

Dhow framed by  the skyline of The Pearl.

Saturday, and though progress had been made toward moving the disabled airliner at the Kathmandu airport, it was not enough yet for the airport to open. We passed the time by visiting a crafts market on the museum grounds and taking a walk on the Corniche. Breezy and warm, it was a pleasant day for a stroll.

On the way back, Judy was delighted to discover these camels. Given their proximity to the royal palace, I'm guessing they belong to the king as well.

Doha was more than a stopover on the trip. Let me explain: When boarding the elevator at our hotel the other day, I hesitated because, when the door opened, the elevator was occupied by a man dressed in a traditional thawb and his wife in a full burka. I didn't know if it would be appropriate for me to intrude, and made some hand gesture about the elevator going up or down. The woman, smiled with her eyes--the only part of her visible--and said, "Going up!" 

For many in the Western world, Islam is a mystery and a contemporary source of fear, and certainly, like other fixed teachings, it has been perverted. But walking among the people here, I came to understand that what seems strange is just a set of customs different from my own. Who knows if that woman as a girl didn't look forward to wearing a burka as a sign of womanhood and devotion to her religion? Many exhibits in the museum likewise carried a sense of deep devotion and love for God, dare I say, more profound than what often seems a superficial spirituality of the West. So just like the new appreciation of Christianity I gained in open-hearted Assisi a little more than a year ago, I now "get" Islam.