In October 2006, I attended a conference in Doha. At that time, the Middle East was in the midst of a building frenzy. I was excited to go so as to be able to see the construction first hand.
I took a Gulf Air flight from Kuala Lumpur to Doha. After an uneventful 7 hours of flight, I woke up to some very interesting scenaries from the plane.
Doha city - brown with sand. Nothing much to be seen except for the vast expanse of construction sites.
Could this be a hotel with attached harbour for luxury yachts? I bet its an apartment.
Historically Doha is a port city. From the air, the vast waterways indicates that it remains to be a port city for generation to come. May not be for trade but more for recreational.
I realised that Doha, like Dubai is reclaiming a big chuck of the sea for development. Heard from the pilot that the land in the picture below is a reclaimed island.
Like any typical GCC cities in 2006, the skyline is devoid from tall buildings.
Petrol station for the planes. Surprised that their airport was not as modern as ours. By KLIA standards, all fuel piping is underground and goes directly to the various plane lots around the airport.
I then realised that Doha airport was under a massive renovation project. The terminal was messy and dusty.
Nevertheless, the Ritz-Carlton Hotel is a class act. They sent a BMW 7 series to pick me and my colleagues from the airport. I am going to enjoy this trip.
One of the many palaces in Doha.
The Doha City skyline. The white building on the extreme right is the hotel.
For a country in a desert, there is a lot of greenery.
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