Souqs and Skyscrapers

Wandering through the labyrinth of narrow, twisting alleys in Doha’s Souq Waqif gives visitors an enticing taste of a traditional Arab marketplace with its colorful, packed stalls, crowded sidewalk cafés with white-robed men smoking shisha (a syrupy tobacco mix) and women in black abayas doing their shopping.

Not far from the Souq Wagif is another side of Doha, the capital of the small Gulf State of Qatar.

It’s a city of gleaming, architecturally daring skyscrapers and brilliant neon lights that inevitably prompt visitors to compare Doha to neighboring Dubai in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Yet Doha refuses to consider itself a new Dubai. In its bid to develop U.S. tourism, it’s promoting the mix of old and new that’s brought to life by the juxtaposition of the Souq Waqif with Doha’s futuristic urban landscape.

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Discover Qatar, a recently created destination management company, is focusing on the country’s cultural attractions, historic sites, desert adventures and natural wonders. Although it won’t neglect Qatar’s urban appeal—from restaurants and luxury hotels to shopping malls and public art—it believes Americans are most interested in cultural immersion when visiting the Middle East.

Both Qatar’s cultural and cosmopolitan side were showcased on a recent visit.

Souq Waqif represents Qatar’s efforts to preserve its traditional culture. For centuries, another souq occupied the site. Souq Waqif is the result of a project to rehabilitate the mud-rendered shops and original Qatari buildings to re-create an authentic 19th-century souq.

Although watches, electronics and other contemporary goods are in abundant supply, they reside alongside more authentic wares like brilliantly colored ornate fabrics, traditional Qatari dress, perfumes, spices, pottery and crafts, along with such unusual sites as a taxidermist’s shop—whose spooky interior houses a collection of stuffed animals. Visitors can also catch a glimpse of alhmalah—porters in numbered maroon waistcoats—transporting shoppers’ purchases in their wheelbarrows.

Just off Souq Waqif is the Falcon Souq. Falconry is a fascinating part of Middle Eastern heritage, and a room filled with hooded falcons—perched side by side in a kind of elongated sandpit—is another not-your-everyday sight for Westerners. Next door is the Souq Waqif Falcon Hospital, which tends to the birds.

Tour operators like Falcon Tours (falcontoursqatar.com) offer full-, half- and overnight tours to the desert outside Doha. Visitors are driven in 4x4 wheel vehicles to Messaid, about 45 minutes from Doha.

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Just short of the desert, the drivers stop to deflate their tires to enable the soon-to-come “dune bashing.” (If tires are fully inflated, they’ll sink in the sand.) This Middle Eastern version of off-roading takes visitors on a thrilling course up and over the sand dunes, often at high speed.

Also featured are camel rides, which are fun and make for superb photo ops. The desert safaris include stops at the Khor Al Adaid—a UNESCO natural reserve where the waters of the Gulf reach deep into the desert—and lunch at one of the area’s “desert camps.” Such camps as the Regency Sealine Camp (regencysealinecamp.com) also offer overnight accommodations.

Back in Doha, a must-visit is the Museum of Islamic Art. Located on a purpose-built island off Doha’s Corniche—the city’s waterfront promenade along Doha Bay—the museum was designed by I.M. Pei and inspired by Islamic architecture. A stately palm-lined walkway leads up to the museum, whose three floors house the world’s largest collection of Islamic art.

Doha’s Katara Cultural Village is a multicultural center for theater, literature, music and the visual arts. Its open-air setting includes an array of Qatari-style structures housing galleries, conference halls, two mosques, a Roman-inspired amphitheater, multi-purpose cinema, restaurants, gardens and a beach.