We’re in Doha, the capital of Qatar! In some ways, Doha is like Dubai — a flashy skyline along the waterfront, hot and humid, men in white, women in black (also tank tops and shorts). But Doha feels different, more openly connected to its Bedouin roots than Dubai. There are camels in the center of the city!

And our experience here has been less rarified at times. We’ve had a couple of dinners at “Bye Bye,” a funky café serving excellent Asian food that’s practically free. A helpful man on the street suggested we could get adult beverages at a nightclub near our hotel. We went inside for about 4 seconds, and later learned the place is routinely raided by the police.

Not likely to be raided by the police and wonderful….The Museum of Islamic Art has exhibits that trace the history of Islam with decorative arts, technology, and manuscripts. The Qatar National Museum has multi-media exhibits describing the country’s geography and history.

This afternoon we walked through the souk and arrived at the camel barn just as the camels were being beautified for a parade along the waterfront. Nobody seemed very excited about this except us, especially Susan. In fact, I turned around and she was down the road following the procession! Then she got in trouble for following the procession on to the grass! I think she really loves the camels.

To be continued!