My Travel to Qatar

I decided to visit Qatar because I have a cousin and some friends who are working there and I haven't seen them for quite some time. So when we got a two-day holiday for the UAE National Day, what better time then to take this trip than now.
Day 1: November 29, 2013
Staying overnight at my friend Raquel Gamicera Mayo's place in Dubai, I woke up early so I can catch my Gulf Air flight from the Dubai International Airport. I left my car with Raquel as I took a taxicab to the airport. Checking in was very easy because it was really still very early. After having a quick breakfast of masala dosa at an Indian stall in the food court, I was on my way to Doha with a brief stopover at Bahrain.

Arriving at Doha International Airport, my cousin was already waiting for me at the arrival area and we took a ride with his friend on our way to the city proper. I checked in at Fuda Hotel in the Doha Corniche area and then freshing up, my old college friend Engr Rafael Centino showed up to take me and my cousin to lunch at the Katara Village.

The lunch was sumptuous: grilled salmon, baked green mussels, fried calamari, deep fried fish and grilled shrimps. It was a great way to start my tour of Doha.

It was time to catch up with news regarding our classmates back in college and it was from Paeng that I've learned another friend of mine in college, Engr. Pepito Buhawe passed away a couple of years ago.

Katara is a cultural village located just outside of Doha city proper. It is supposed to be a recreation of a typical Qatari village which they would have been really successful if not for their open-air auditorium which was clearly out of place. My first impression was the architect was watching too much "Triumph of the Will" if you know what I mean.

After visiting Katara Village, Paeng was kind enough to drive me and my cousin to the Our Lady of the Rosary Cathedral to fullfill my pledge of visiting all the Catholic churches in Arabia. The cathedral is the largest of the churches that I have visited around Arabia so far. As per instruction from the ruler of Qatar, the church is not displaying any Christian icons outside.

Beside the building housing the convent, me and Paeng found our classmate Engr Tito Bontilao supervising the choir practice for the mass next morning. Tito is still active in church activities same as he was back in college. Unfortunately, I forgot to take a picture of all three of us but then again it would be awful for me since I will be the only non engineer in that photo. Back in college, there was only two of us senior physics students (me and Janites Gonzaga who ended up going to a convent to become a nun as soon as she got her Physics degree) so most of my college buddies are from the Engineering department.

After visiting the church, me and my cousin took a cab to the Industrial Area of Doha where most of the foreign labor force are living. I got a first-hand look of the miserable living conditions in this part of Doha but suprisingly, the Filipinos will always find a way to make life bearable. I got to watch my cousin play basketball in a league the Filipino community organized among themselves. Never really like basketball so after a few minutes, I told my cousin I have to go, took a cab, and I am off to the opulent Villagio Mall. Outside the mall is the Aspire Tower, which was designed to look like a giant torch for the 15th Asian Games held in Doha.

At 300 m, the Aspire Tower is currently the tallest building in all of Qatar (but not for long).

The Villagio Mall itself is designed to look like an Italian village with the ceiling painted to look like the sky. In the middle of the mall is a canal where mall shoppers can ride a gondola for that added Italian experience.

Watching a movie in a city that I've visited is a tradition for me and here at the Villagio, my movie selection for the evening is the new adaptation of a Stephen King novel "Carrie".

After the movie, it was time to go back to the hotel since another friend of mine was already waiting to take me to dinner. I haven't seen Norman Lluisma since 1995 when he left IIT to transfer to Cebu for his studies. He is now working as an aeronautical technician for Qatar Airways. He took me to Ponderosa for dinner which was pricey for me (grilled salmon for 62 rials) but with the main course comes unlimited side dishes buffet style.

After dinner, Norman took me to the corniche area to get a good view of the architectural designs of the building in Doha. I have a passion for unique architectural building designs and Doha has a lot to offer. In one section is the WTC building which looks like a giant condom and behind it is the Tornado tower, designed to look like a twister with a slender middle section.

After having some nice evening breeze at the Corniche area, it was time for Norman to drive me back to the hotel so that I can have a rest from a very long day. He promised to return tomorrow morning so that he can drive me to some of the places that I still need to visit. But along the way, I got a glimpse of Fanar (Doha Islamic Cultural Center) and its unique watchtower.

Day 2: November 30, 2013

Norman was on time when he showed up outside the hotel at exactly 8 AM. First stop in our destination is the Museum of Islamic Art.  I know the museum is still closed but I really need to get a picture of the building which was designed by master of modern architecture I.M. Pei.

While driving along the Corniche, I asked Norman to stop for just a minute so I can take this photo of the Doha skyline on a hazy morning.

Next stop is to visit Qatar's largest mosque: the Muhammad Ibn Abdulwahad Mosque, named after a famous scholar of Islam. It is unique in the sense that it is one of the very large mosque in the world with only one minaret (but it has 32 domes).

 It was not time for me to be at the airport since my flight is around 11:20 AM so Norman drove me to the airport but along the way, I got a glimpse of a place I was planning to visit the day before: Souk Waqif, Doha's largest traditional marketplace. So I asked Norman for a quick stopover so I can take this photo.

The flight back home was uneventful except for the first few hours of my 5-hour layover in Bahrain. I got to scout for some banknotes, postcards, FDC, and other souvenirs. 

I have to come here in Bahrain since it is where St. Christopher Cathedral (headquarters of the Catholic Apostolic Diocese of Northern Arabia) is located.

My Travel to Oman

Located at the southeastern tip of the Arabian peninsula, Oman is blessed with both a beautiful desert landscape (in the central region), and majestic mountains in the north and south regions. The chance to experience the mountain landscape of Arabia is the reason that brought me to Oman.

Day 1: November 1, 2013
I have to skip Gary V's free concert in the Abu Dhabi corniche the night before so that I can wake up early today for my flight to Muscat. Taking a taxi to the airport, I was able to board my Oman Air flight with ease and arrive at Muscat just about 8AM. The line to pay for the visa was empty so I was able to go through the entire visa-on-arrival procedure in less than 10 minutes.

After getting my visa, its now time to rent a car. Being a client of Budget Car Rental in Abu Dhabi, the choice was really simple. Budget Car Rental Oman offered a Nissan Altima with full insurance for a daily rate of 26 Omani rials. I was so excited to get out of the Muscat airport but before I can even reach the city center, the car started showing signs of trouble so I have to go back to the airport for a replacement. All in all, I lost about 2 hours due to this fiasco. By 10 AM, I am on the road to the city of Sur, just before the Wahabi desert region. The drive is never boring as I get to see some of the peaks along the Hajjar mountain range which forms a natural boundary between Oman and the UAE.

 My destination at this time is the Wadi Shab. A wadi is an Arabic term for a valley and Wadi Shab is one of Oman's famous wadis as seen from this snapshot that I took upon reaching the wadi.

Here is where the difficult part lies ahead...a 5 kilometer hike from this point to the narrowest point of the valley where there is supposed to be a cave with a waterfall inside. I need to first take a boat ride from the parking lot to the other side of the valley since this is the portion of the river that is deep. The boat ride cost only 200 baisa (or 1/5th of a rial). After that I have to start navigating the widest portion of the valley.

After this point, the valley becomes narrow that hiking starts becoming difficult. I passed through the area where the Red Bull Cliff Diving Challenge 2012 was held. I can still see the posts supporting the planks used for the diving event.

This is one of the area where the valley is at its narrowest. Walking through the cliffs at the side of the valley makes this portion one of the best.

Sometimes I am tempted to just jump into the blue waters of the wadi but I keep telling myself not yet for the best is yet to come.

After this point, the valley starts to widen again but at the same time huge boulders and rocks are along the way, making the hike really difficult.

After an hour of hiking, I am almost at the end of my exploration of the wadi. This is the point where the valley can only be navigated by swimming through this side of the river...hiking through the sides of the valley is not anymore an option. I have to leave my camera with some tourists who decided not to proceed while i swim through this portion of the river.

After a short swim, you get to see the cave and as expected, a waterfall is inside the cave. It is almost like the same cave that we used to visit in Dalipuga, Iligan City wherein a waterfall is inside the cave itself. Unfortunately, there is no way to capture this on photo. I need to purchase a waterproof camera bag next time.

The walk back was uneventful (as the usual case for any return trip) but I was able to get a glimpse of the Tiwi watchtower on the side of the valley.

Before going back to Muscat, I decided to do a short stopover at the Bimmah Sinkhole. It was a nice drive since I get to see the wonderful coastline facing the Gulf of Oman.

The park itself is in a remote area, cordoned by a steel fence to keep away the wild goats like the one below that seem to be everywhere in this part of Oman.

Inside the park are just some small trees and some tables for public use, nothing spectacular until you notice an area in the middle of the park surrounded by a short wall. In this enclosure is the Bimmah sinkhole, a 40 meter wide, 20 meter deep sinkhole with a vibrant turquoise-colored pool. Took a quick photo of the place then took a quick swim in the cool waters of the sinkhole.

After a refreshing dip in this sinkhole, I am off to Muscat. As soon as I reached Muscat, I checked in to the hotel then I am off to the corniche area to enjoy the serenity that the sea provides. The corniche area is not in Muscat but in the port area of Muttrah. I got to see something familiar also.. Riyam Park, which was featured in the Amazing Race.

By nightfall, it was time for me to drop by the Muttrah Souq to see if I can find some restaurants that serves traditional Omani dishes and to buy some souvenirs for my trip (frankincense, myrhh and a small incense burner).

Its really starting to become a little late so I am off to the City Plaza Mall for a movie.

Day 2: November 2, 2013

I woke up a little bit late this morning but like my previous travel, I need to visit a Catholic church as a promise to do a pilgrimage to all Catholic churches in Arabia. My destination is then the Church of St. Peter and Paul in Ruwi, a suburb of Muscat.

There was no scheduled mass that morning so I went inside the church for a silent prayer then I am off to Muscat. The old city of Muscat is a walled city hence to get into the city, one has to pass through Muscat Gate.

Inside the walls of Muscat, the streets are narrow but following the road that leads to the coast takes you to the seat of government of Oman. At the very heart of Muscat is the grand palace of Sultan Qaboos, the ruler of Oman. In between the sultan's palace are two forts (Al Jalili and Al Mirani) that protects the palace from any threat coming from the gulf.

Its now time for me to go back to the hotel, check out and then drive to the airport. But along the way, I got the chance to take some more pictures along the Muttrah corniche, including this one with the Muttrah Fort and the city of Muttrah itself.

All of these were done within two hours and its almost 9 AM, need to be in the airport. But along the way, I caught a glimpse of Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque, Oman's largest mosque so I decided to do a quick stop.

Upon arriving at the airport, its time to say goodbye to that reliable Nissan Altima as I returned it to the car rental company with some minutes to spare. So I decided to see if I can find some nice Omani dishes for brunch. Unfortunately I can't find one so I have to settle for some hot Samosas, an Indian treat that I learned to love back during my trip to India last month. After consuming my samosas, it was time for me to get to my plane and go back to sunny Abu Dhabi.