We stay at Hotel Ritz Carlton Sharq Village, directly located at the bay of Doha. You have a brilliant view to the skyline of Doha Commercial Area. It is a big resort. Rooms are arragend in villas around the pool area where you can have a bath or a take a sunbath.

Pool area

Main pool

Palm trees

Villas

Night views

It did rain one morning. But an hour later everything had dried.

Christmas decoration was inside the hotel only.

A Ford classic car at the entry of the hotel

The hotel beach

Quite close is the base of Gulf Helicopters. They service the offshore oil rigs with AgustaWestland AW189. We can see them fly quite frequently.

You have a brilliant view to the Doha skyline from the hotel beach. The view changes depending on weather and time of the day.

Panorama Doha

When it rains

When the sun shines

The national museum

At sunset

After sunset

In the evening

Very big cruise ships visit Doha. Here the Aida Prima (4350 passengers, 900 staff)

Cruise ship MSC Lirica (2680 passengers, 750 staff)

Cruise ship Mein Schiff 4 (2506 passengers, 1000 staff)

Independence day is 18 December (Qatar declared independence in 1878). On the two days before we could see training flights. On the 18th we watched the big air parade.

Air acrobatics in formation

Fighters flying in formation

Transporter planes

Helicopters

Another formation

Another time air acrobatics

And again fighters in formation

The day of the parade. First a colored band - in national colors - is being painted over the skyline

Transporter planes eject flares

The air acrobatics

Great flight in formation

Parachuters come from high elevation

Flying in formation too

They are dragging flags

National flag of Qatar

Probably the king

The building looks quite interesting and is quite close to the hotel. It has been designed by architect Jean Novuel and is inspired by a desert rose (a gypsum cristal formation). So I do a little walk. But there is not much to see as the museum has not opened yet.

I cross a beautiful park

The museum on the other side of the road

Traffic sign

The museum

Traffic sign

Construction site

We have booked a sightseeing tour. We go to Pearl Island, the Museum of Islamic Art and to the old market.

Pearl Island is a man made island with a lot of apartment buildings on it

We get explained how it has been designed.

A promenade on the water

We get driven around

Palm trees on the water

Hotel Kempinski with a big horse in front of it

The Museum of Islamic Art is a brilliant building designed by I.M. Pei

The Lobby

The Ceiling

A turkish warrier

Outside

View to the Doha skyline

Sunset over the old dow port

The central mosque

A falcon shop

All in a sudden we are in front of the stage of a live TV show

Police horses

The exercise pen for the horses right in front of the king's palace

The old market Souq Waqif

Narrow lanes

A music band passes by

Fun fair in front of the central mosque

We go into the desert. We drive along the coast line southbound to the border of Saudi Arabia

We pass a stadium construction site for the Soccer World Championships

First stop with typical tourist entertainment: Camel riding

There is also a falcon

A funny bus

There are private desert camps all over the place

Desert

Desert at the coast line

If desert then Toyota Landcruiser

Modern Caravan

At the border to Saudi Arabia

Desert just before sunset

One can also use other vehicles

Sunset in the desert

We fly with Qatar Air both directions. We fly all across Europe, Turkey, Mesopotamia and the Persian Gulf. The flight takes about 6 hours.

Before entering the Boeing 777

Erbil in Iraq

Baghdad in Iraq

Kuweit

Long queues on immigration

At departure a view to the hotel (the white buildings in the upper center of the picture)

Doha port

Doha Commercial Area

Big Archie in Doha

The last view to Doha

Kuweit

Kuweit - on the right bottom one can see the well known water towers of Kuweit

Snow in the transsilvanian Alps (southern Carpathians) north of Brasov in Rumania

Berlin welcomes us with clouds and rain