Mike Yardley: Dipping into Doha

"As a quick hit to recharge when travelling to or from Europe, Doha makes for an eye-opening stopover in the heart of the Middle East. The capital of Qatar pulses with all the flamboyant bling of Dubai, overlaid with deep pockets of old world Doha, where tradition, heritage and culture abound. Doha seems to have nailed the sense of urban intermingling – the fusion of cutting-edge modernity and traditional vibes."

Read Mike's full article here.

LISTEN ABOVE

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:07):
You're listening to the Saturday Morning with Jack team podcast
from News Talks.

Speaker 2 (00:11):
That'd be my Yards travel correspondens with a snack.

Speaker 3 (00:15):
Go to Mike, Good morning, Jack.

Speaker 4 (00:18):
Greetings from cap'in show week in christ it's been very yeah,
very much fizzing in the city.

Speaker 2 (00:23):
Yeah, it hasn't been because I mean you you've here.
I say, you've probably done a few of these over
the years. I would have thought, makee.

Speaker 4 (00:30):
I have. Indeed, I did go to the Royal A
m P show on Thursday. It was really good, even
though the weather was shite on Thursday. The show it's yeah,
but it's been good for the last couple of days.

Speaker 3 (00:40):
But yeah, the show's fantastic.

Speaker 4 (00:43):
Racing racing, Jack, I think that's you'd be into that,
wouldn't you?

Speaker 2 (00:47):
Am My racing? You know what I actually love most
about going to the AMP show. I love a bit
of wood chopping, and yes you do, well, you just
I don't really engage with wood shopping when i'm I
don't you know they have wood chopping on TV. Sometimes
I don't ever watch the wood chopping on TV. But
just going to the show, it's just I don't know
what it is. There's something about for those of us
with pretty soft hands you have. You know, its been

(01:09):
a bit too long plunked on office years. You know,
it does broughd your horizons a little bit. I realized
what this country.

Speaker 3 (01:17):
Was built on, you know what I mean, that's true.

Speaker 4 (01:19):
I was watching two burly women do the wood chopping.
They were doing it like as pears. Yeah, and oh
my god, I just felt exhausted for that.

Speaker 2 (01:28):
Oh it's crazy. My favorite one when they do it
and then they put the plank in the side and
then they climb up a little bit, you know. Yeah, okay,
you know I can barely change the light bulb when
here you are. Anyway, Hey, this morning, we're focusing on Doha,
which is a bit of a sort of a spot
of increasing popularity when it comes to a stopover for

(01:51):
forty eight hours or so. And what, in your view
would be the quintessential Dohart experience.

Speaker 4 (01:58):
Yeah, there's a lot of things to do, but I
reckon blending old world Doha with the new and shiny
as we had to start, and the best way to
do that is to jump on board a traditional boat,
a dow on Doha Bay, take a sunset float. You
look at those futuristic skyscrapers of West Bay lighting up,
and then you think about the boat you're on and

(02:18):
how over the decades it was the pearl divers who
used those dows powering the Qatari economy until Japan pioneered
cultured pearls and bug it up the whole natural pearl industry.
But yeah, those dow boats, they are just gorgeous. They're
little wooden cuties and as you take away leisurely float

(02:40):
aboard one of those, it just provides a really tangible
link with Kuttars past. And then just watching that sun
setting over the desert and all those high rises spangled
in the nighttime lights, that really is quite something.

Speaker 3 (02:54):
In Doha.

Speaker 2 (02:55):
Yeah, it's an area stack with history and it's a
city stacked with museums. So where would you go first?

Speaker 4 (03:03):
Yeah, if you have time only for one, I would
say the New Useum of Islamic Art.

Speaker 3 (03:07):
It's a cracker.

Speaker 4 (03:09):
I mean architecturally, it's like this chiseled jewel floating on
Doha Bay and it was designed by Impa of Louve
Pyramid fame.

Speaker 3 (03:19):
But inside the museum it just gives you such.

Speaker 4 (03:22):
A great walk through the artistic brilliance of the Islamic world.
You know, calligraphy, Islamic geometric patterns, jewelry, textiles, it's all
on show. One of the big star features is the
necklace that once belonged to Shah Jahn of taj Mahal fame,

(03:44):
studded with these huge diamonds and emeralds. Thankfully, Jack, the
British did not get their hands on that one.

Speaker 2 (03:51):
Yes, if you go just north of the city, lou
Sale is drawing travelers to Lousail.

Speaker 4 (04:01):
Well, of course it would be a name very familiar
to you, as in Leonel Messi because that's where he
raised the trophy at the FIFA World Cup. The Lusale
stadium nicknamed the Lantern. But it's fascinating. I went to
Lusail about three years ago. I went back there a
couple of weeks ago. The place is exploding. It's Cuta's

(04:21):
newest and second largest city after Doha, and it's only
a thirty minute lightning fast metro train ride away from
downtown Doha. But the other thing about Lusale which is
worth checking out, what like Doha, it's got this very
edgy starchitecture. One of their latest skyscrapers is Gatara Towers.

(04:42):
It's the most magnificent, far fetched crescent shaped scraper. It
just looks implausible, you know, the way that it's been designed.
And also it's home to the Lusaale International Circuit, which
will stage the cutter F one Grand Prix in a
fortnight and when the F one isn't in town, you

(05:02):
can get some track time yourself. They've got these souped
up kats and they are really soup dub so you
can channel your in Orlando or Liam and rip around
the F one track. They've actually got a dedicated kids
track there as well, which is very popular.

Speaker 3 (05:19):
You know, if you're traveling with families.

Speaker 2 (05:21):
And what are the kids racing, do you, I ask?

Speaker 4 (05:25):
Are yeah, go karts, not as soup duck, yes, not
as super du as the adult ones.

Speaker 2 (05:29):
Yeah right yeah, so for a different form of racing entirely,
let's talks.

Speaker 4 (05:36):
Oh my goodness, camel racing season has just started jack,
so every Friday between now and the end of February.
This is wildly popular in Doha, highly competitive. The camels
are prized and pampered. Originally I found this mind blowing.
Originally kids were used as jockeys for the camels. That

(05:59):
was deemed a little bit maybe not so the last Yeah, exactly, Jack.
So over the last decade or so they've been using robots.
So you've got these little robots mounted on top of
the camels and they're controlled remotely by the camel herders
alongside the drink. But I thought, you know, in terms

(06:21):
of old and new Doha, that really sort of says
it all. And another great way to sample some camel
time is just head to the sublime suk wak If
in old town Doha. I've got camel rides there around
the clock and also Arabian horses which are just the
most spectacular beasts.

Speaker 2 (06:40):
Yeah, nice, are there you go from the camels if
you go down to the souk. Yeah, to speak of
the other wildlife attraction. Are there falcons in the suit?

Speaker 3 (06:51):
Yes? There are. I was actually a bit taken aback.

Speaker 4 (06:53):
I was wandering through Hammad International Airport, got off the
plane into the arrivals hall and there were these two
lovely old men carrying their sick falcon through the airport
and that'd flown in from Kwait and I was having
a chat to them and they said, we're off to
the Falcon hospital.

Speaker 3 (07:09):
At the SOUK.

Speaker 4 (07:10):
Apparently that hospital is considered the world's best for falcons.
Alongside medical care for your falcon, you can buy falcons
at the Souk and also the accessories. It's like the
animates for falcons, like you can buy landing pads, GPS
guidance systems.

Speaker 3 (07:30):
For your falcon.

Speaker 4 (07:33):
So I didn't have falcon chopping on my agenda, Jack,
But the SOUK if it is the most magnificent atmospheric
sprawling stone complex of restored buildings, and you can just
leisurely explore through those winding alleys. There are spice stalls,
there are perfumeriies, handcrafted goods, great dining and superblo glarts.

Speaker 2 (07:54):
So what is it? Do you know that when I
think of falcons and falconry, I always think of those
little hoods they wear. Yes, what would a falconry hood cost?
Any idea? As you said to me, was dollars? I
would say, yep, okay for it. If you said to
me it was ten thousand dollars. I just have an
absolutely no kind of scope or scale for the falconry
hood costs. Do you have any idea?

Speaker 4 (08:16):
I would imagine it would depend on how wide your
budget spends, because I did notice you can get Gucci hunts.

Speaker 2 (08:26):
Of course you can, wow, and I suppose you have to.
I wonder if they like tailor them, you know, to
your falcons. I wonder if there's a range of falcon
sized heads. I just it's one of those past times
where clearly the people who are partaking have a lot
of money, right, and so I'm sure we're not the
first ones to work that out. And so I'm sure
there are all sorts of accessories and products that are

(08:50):
suited different different budgets. What about something to weak there's
some scher eats and do hard that you would recommend
there are.

Speaker 4 (09:00):
I mean, obviously it's got a massive expet population because
native Kataris only make up fifteen percent of the population
of Doha, which is just extraordinary, isn't it. But if
you do want to tuck into the national dish in Kata.

Speaker 3 (09:15):
It is mac boos.

Speaker 4 (09:17):
So mark boost is like this mesh up of rice
and meat and onions and tomatoes mixed with spices. Generally
you will find it served with chicken, but I reckon
the lamb shank mark boose is the better bet. If
you're looking for a really special spot to dine in
soukwak if. I headed to Parsa and it's this gorgeous

(09:39):
Persian restaurant wal mosaics, mirrored ceiling. I tried the watermelon
and feta salad which was just so delightful.

Speaker 3 (09:48):
It was amazing.

Speaker 4 (09:49):
It had like little bits of cucumber and mint in
it as well, just gorgeous. And then cash Ke Bottom
John which is I thought, this is very jactam. Actually
it's an eggplant dip dish and it's got saffron and
caramelized onions and sour cream.

Speaker 3 (10:06):
Yourself stupid on that.

Speaker 2 (10:08):
Yeah, okay, that does sound like a bit of me.
And honestly, the watermelon fetter slash and you know, watermelon
mint combo always a winner in my prospective, sounds great.
Now I've very quickly cheted gpt'ed it apparently that the
absolutely can go super luxury. So you can if you want, Mike,

(10:28):
and this is probably your end of town. You can
spend more than one hundred thousand dollars on a Falconry
hood if you need there you go. You can get
the TMU version as well, So if you're going with
your TEAMU, if you can afford a falcon and yeah,
you can afford to pursue falconry, but you feel like
you want to go team, you can spend about thirty
bucks on a falconry hood as well, So you truly

(10:48):
is a scale, isn't it. Yeah, hey, thank you so much.
Do you know I've never been to got lots of
friends there of course, and heaps of key wes work
out of the Al Jazeera newsroom, so yeah, I'm sure
I'll have some reason to go and visit some friends
there at some point. But those are very very useful tips. Indeed,
we'll make sure all of Mike's advice for into Dohart
is up and available on the news Talks He'd website.

Speaker 1 (11:10):
For more from Saturday Morning with Jack Tame. Listen live
to news Talks I'd Be from nine am Saturday, or
follow the podcast on iHeartRadio