anyone been to Qatar

and can give me some tips, info, inside knowledge? i might be going on Wed for a month or so of work. short notice but sounds interesting. i’m ashamed to say i know not a great deal about the place!

They’ll have some cracking football stadia in a couple of years time. 😀

you’ve pretty much described the extent of my knowledge there!

Man Love Thursday.

Why are you going?

Dry state when I was there except the two big hotels in Doha!! very very humid

I went there a few times in 2008. It’s an interesting place and is trying hard to make itself the acceptable face of the Middle East. Even though some aspects are still odd. There are ~250,000 Qataris and ~1,000,000 guest workers. The Qataris are petrified of giving the non-Qataris any form of citizenship of permanence. Depending on who you work with you will be unlikely to meet Qataris.

Oh and its hot. Very.

all interesting stuff, keep it coming! i’m going for legal work, to sum up a long story. almost definitely going for feb, maybe a few months longer with a few days back home each month.

Oh and its hot. Very.

Surpisingly very hot.

keep it coming

Errrr..Qatar Airways is quite nice….

No really, make sure you get a decent hotel. The Corniche is a nice spot for an evening.

I assume you will be in Doha?

There’s a (road) bike race there.

If there is an accident / incident with a local, you are to blame and expect to be very deep in it. This ranges from ‘assault’ to anything to do with road traffic accidents. Most people out there drive very badly.

bear – i won’t have any control over the hotel, though i’m told it’s a very nice 4 star with 10 restaurants! i’m basically to be living there on expenses. and yes, doha. TT – will bear it in mind!

don’t really know how i feel about being bikeless as i’m told it’s virutally insanity to try riding a bike over there for safety/heat reasons!

Lots of men I believe. IIRC the ratio of men to women is nearly 2-1

Your left hand is your friend. Forget you have a right one.
Trust me.

FFS don’t drive yourself. Ask some colleagues to recommend a driver.

Standard working day is ~0630 to 1400, then the locals go home and rest and come our later. Can make for some long days as you can end up working for the end of UK day and the start of the US one depending on your firm.

I got asked my opinion of Israeli government policy wrt Palestine a few times. Interestingly the only true Bedouin I met said the Jews and Arabs were the same.

well the work i’m doing will be relatively self-contained so hopefully the hours overlap won’t be an issue, though i’m expecting 6 day weeks to build up extra days for my return to the UK each month. definitely won’t be driving, or am not expecting to be!

A mate works out there for a telecoms(Chinese)company.
His working week starts on the Sunday,Friday and Saturday classed as his weekend.
Very long hours each day,12,but the high wage is tax free(until you bring it back to the UK).
He hires a car but is thinking about buying one.
Lives in a shared flat provided by Chinese company.Doesn’t go out much as its pretty expensive,but there are bars with alcohol if thats you’re desire.
An awful lot of Asians there,in fact my friends married a Vietnamese girl(a lot younger of course!).

that’s interesting, joe. sadly i’ll be paid as a UK employee so won’t get the tax break.

I first worked there in 1999, it was a flea bitten hole at that time, over the years it has grown at a spectacular pace and is now attemting to be the alterantive to Dubai but as it is far behind in the financial stakes I doubt it will manage. Still, some of the new buildings are spectacular. I havnt been for a couple of years now and have no intention of ever going back – I hated the place.

The Qataries are sports mad and have loads sporting of infrastucture – mostly indoors, unsurprisingly given the summer climate. The temperature will be bearable in february and often overcast.

As for entertainment, most of the larger hotels will let you drink alcohol, though only in the resturants or your room. The Mariot used to have a club that was open Thursdays and Saturdays (if memory serves me) the Ramada was the main place to go and get blutered, though dont try getting in a taxi if plastered – my boss was taken to the police station and arrested, due to taking a taxi home when pissed. His only other option was to drive and from all the evidence that would have been the authorities preffered option for him to take)

The corniche was always a nice place for a walk, avoid the roads as all the drivers are homicidal, no matter their nationality.

I went there twice this year and hated the place, admittedly it was only in transit but Qatar Airways stuck me in some Godforsaken and utterly ghastly, vulgar hotel that was freezing cold. It was a Friday and cars were racing up and down outside all night. Give me scruffy, dirty Damascus any day – though that’s not a very safe place to be right at the moment.

What you really need to know:

Laws governing alcohol and other dietary issues[/u]

Alcohol consumption is legal in Qatar, with many restrictions. Luxurious hotels are allowed to sell alcohol to their adult non-Muslim customers.[19][20] Foreign nationals may obtain a permit to purchase alcohol for personal consumption. The Qatar Distribution Company (a subsidiary of Qatar Airways) is permitted to import alcohol and operates the only liquor stores in the country.[21] Pork is also legally imported through the Qatar Distribution Company, and may be purchased by holders of a liquor permit.

So as long as you have a licence, a bacon butty and a beer are not out of the question!

Not sure if it’s still the case, but when I was visiting semi regularly in 2005/6, they wouldn’t let you into the country without a credit card. You had to pay for the visa on entry, and the only option is to pay by credit card. They won’t accept cash for your visa, and debit cards typically aren’t (weren’t?) accepted in arab states.

Doha was a mess when I was out there, but that was largely due to all the development work that was going on – in addition to general construction work, they were preparing for the Asian Games at the time.

more interesting stuff, cheers guys. i’m thankfully not expecting to love the place, safe in the knowledge that it’s not a permanent switch. really don’t know what to expect, though the info so far is helping me get an idea!

A place where modern “Indian Jones” would go …

Enjoy your trip.

The Qatar Distribution Company (a subsidiary of Qatar Airways) is permitted to import alcohol and operates the only liquor stores in the country……

What a small world it is at times. We know their head wine buyer!

I’m sure the hotel we stayed in had alcohol in the mini bar and a proper bar downstairs.
Small world indeed, the security guard told us that he was from a small town in N. Wales called Llangollen, only about 10 miles from our house…

I went to Qatar last year for the MotoGp in late march. We stayed for 10 days in a hotel on the Corniche that did serve alcohol but to be honest we didn’t find the need (it’s odd that most people’s comments seem focused on this issue)
We had a really interesting time and found the peope friendly and generally elated that you would visit thier country.
We ate at the souk in Doha most nights, the food was of excellent quality and reasonably priced (far cheaper than eating in the hotel)
We hired a car for the duration and tried to see a bit of the country, but outside of Doha itself, its fair to say that the place is a big sand pit. The general standard of driving is poor but the highwaays are excellent and signposting very good.
The shopping is excellent, but the majority of Qatari’s are very wealthy and the retail outlets at the “shopping centres” reflects this. Still “bargains”to be had in the Souks though, if taht’s your thing.
We (party of 4) thoroughly enjoyed our stay.
It will be nice when it’s finished – There is a tremendous amount of builing work going on everywhere.

shopping/bargainwise, does the lack of VAT make things like electrical goods cheap compared to UK or is there not much in it?

i’m living in Qatar at the moment, and after almost three years in Saudi Arabia it really isn’t that bad. It’s cool in the evenings at the moment so pack of warm layers, and it hasn’t got hot yet so nothing to be overly concerned about about extreme weather.

Alcohol – seemingly an important topic here – is available in most of the hotels, Ramada, Intercontinental, Ritz Carlton, La Cigale, W, Kempinski, Four Seasons and so on…..and i’ve never had a problem getting a taxi home. The previously mentioned permit is to allow resident expats to buy booze for home consumption, you can drink freely in the bars but some will take a scan of your passport on entry, no passport no entry, no exception.

Ignore the comments that are from years ago, Qatar is growing at a rapid pace.

Plenty of places to bike outside of Doha, and plenty of cyclists too.

If you can get a driver that would be preferential, alternatively taxis are cheap. The driving here is not as bad as Saudi but if you haven’t driven in the middle east before a driver is the way forward, at least for the 1st week until you get a feel for it.

Debit cards are also accepted these days, as stated visit visas can be purchased in the airport on arrival for QR100, presumably you’ll have a business visa already?

Happy to answer any specific questions / concerns you have.

nice one, thanks. i’ll more than likely be back onto you for some pointers! 🙂

Think there are more “Persians” there than the locals …

Interesting thread – I’m currently lookig at a serious job offer there.

Having been in India for the past year and a half I reckon the standard of driving will be far higher!

Not bothered about booze as I would be working 6 days a week. Sounds like quite an interesting place…

I’m also living there but only since November and overall it’s not bad. Weather great at the moment although confess not looking forward to the summer.

Alcohol in hotels / restaurants not a problem, and recently been to a well stocked Burns Supper – although the ban at the Pearl is irritating. Rent is very expensive relative to other ME places such as AD.

I’m out on my road bike most Friday mornings when it’s a bit quieter, although driving standard and particularly with the Landcruisers is shocking. Looking to bring HT out when I next get home.

It’s ideally located to explore other parts of the ME and further afield such as India and Nepal.

We’ll have to have a STW Doha beer!

Just watched BBC World 28 degrees celsius heading down to 25 later in the week not bad for end of January!

Hanky – Member

We’ll have to have a STW Doha beer!

i’m definitely up for that if i end up going.

hot

theflatboy – Member
Hanky – Member

We’ll have to have a STW Doha beer!

i’m definitely up for that if i end up going.

Email address in profile – let me know!

Yes.

It was fun for an hour or so, but you can only spend so long running around a converted warehouse behind a multi-storey car park whilst children in neon jumpsuits shoot harmless beams of infrared at you. Afterwards we went to Pizza Hut.

Actually, forget the above. That was Quasar.

We had a really interesting time and found the peope friendly and generally elated that you would visit thier country.

Rubbish! They were just queuing up to call you an infidel, slit your throat and blow you up (in that order I think).

[edit] wrong thread

I moved out here 2 weeks ago. The weather is currently great compared to Aberdeen where I was working previously. The driving is a bit mad at first but if you are only over for a few weeks I would recommend a driver- we have a good one I can give you the number of. All big hotels serve alcohol (some ask to see your passport).

Found some fantastic beaches up the coast.

I moved the whole family out here and although it obviously isnt mid summer I would strongly recommend it so far if you dont mind a bit of adventure.

Trying to get an offroad ride planned this Friday- if anyone else is interested, give me a shout, I am living off Al Waab St, have a car, just little sense of direction!

Email address in profile

Andy