Shopping The Souqs

I decided to brave the 104 degree heat and venture into downtown Doha to visit the souqs, which is kinda like a giant flea market where you can buy rugs, spices, animals, etc.  One of the guys in my office has an off base driving pass so four of us went for the afternoon.

 

Here is one of the rug shops

 

And here is one of the dozens of clothing shops.  Every shopkeeper was trying to get us to buy their cashmere sharves.

I felt sorry for those poor women wearing their black burquas in that heat.

 

 

One entire section sold nothing but live animals like turtles, pigeons and fish

 

 Just outside the souqs is the Islamic Cultural Center, which is one of the tours offered by the base.

 

 

 

 We then hopped back in the car and drove to the new downtown area of Doha.  I was shocked at how many new buildings were being constructed all at once.  Each of these skyscrapers looked different from each other.  From what I've been told, they all have different color lights at night, which makes for an awesome sight.

                                            The obligatory skyline shot to prove I was here.
 

 

Skyline pan

 

 

This shot is for Nate, a playground afficianado

 

To round out the day, we went to a giant mall that was the complete opposite of the souqs.  I stopped in a grocery store to check it out and it had pretty much everything American grocery stores have. 

 I also checked out the higher end stores of the mall.  Sorry mom, and Megan, there won't be any purses in the mail anytime soon.

 

Overall, it was very cool to see how people here live.