lebanese doha

During the day, with no air pollution to refract the light, the sun beats down in the desert. It's about a 100 degrees and its good weather. However it's fairly humid and there's always a breeze. At night it cools to 80 with the same wonderful breeze. The sand gets everywhere. Where am I? Qatar, on one of the most inhospitable land masses on earth. Why do people live here?

Much to my surprise, Doha is quite lovely. We went to a Lebanese restaurant, in the form of a sprawling castle on the Corniche (a concrete upscale boardwalk along Doha's shore). There we enjoyed fantastic mezzes, followed a fantastic dish of grilled fish. Afterwards I smoked possibly the finest smoothest sweetest hashisha. The buzz was instantaneous.

I took some pictures. On photgraphy etiquette: for the most part we're not supposed to point our cameras at locals without asking permission. They could take offense. One being in a Wahhabi Arab country: I was surprised that not only did I see Arabs in their traditional dress, but I saw Arabs in contemporary dress. And not as conservative on the women as you might think. I wore jeans, a blazer, and sandals, whereas I saw women in knee high skirts and sleeveless tops. The locals seemed very friendly and pleasant. Most know some sort of English, and the place we went to wasn't entirely frequented by Westerners but by Arabs as well. People didn't stare or give us unpleasant looks. All in all, a very enjoyable and lovely evening.