Sometimes fate can be capricious and forces us to do interesting things that we wouldn’t normally want to do That’s exactly what happened during our trip to China, when we flew via Qatar As a rule, I try to find the most efficient flights possible, so I’d rather pay a few per cent more to ensure the journey doesn’t take two days. That was the case this time too, but various complications meant that, in the end, the flight ‘that way’ left us with a layover of over a dozen hours in Doha. Fortunately, it was at a fairly reasonable time, so we decided that heading into the city would be well worth it.

And that’s exactly how it was… until we stepped out of the air-conditioned metro. The weather conditions outside were quite striking – nearly 40 degrees, high humidity from the sea, and a lot of dust in the air. It was truly shocking, and it was in the evening, after sunset It took our bodies a good hour’s walk along the Corniche waterfront to adjust to these conditions.
However, it wasn’t until we reached Souq Waqif that we felt relief, as we’d stumbled upon an a i r c o n d i t i o n e d street! On top of that, we found solace in some delicious Yemeni food, after which a stroll through the bazaar’s alleyways was a real pleasure.

None of us, however, ended up complaining once we were back on the metro…

So, in those few hours, we managed to see almost all of Qatar. Well, perhaps a third of it, as there were still a few places left to visit. That’s why we won’t complain next time about having to spend a longer layover at Hamad Airport. After all, a quick trip into the city offers plenty of experiences