Road Trip, Day Trip

 http://goo.gl/maps/AUwN (Here is a link of our day trip route)

To the left is the mosque and to the right are the two Barzan Towers.

The Mosque at Umm Slal Mohammed

This is the second tower.

Today we went on a road trip around Qatar to explore our surroundings and the culture of our new home. We left from The Pearl (which is near Doha) and we headed up Northwest to Umm Slal Mohammed. Here we saw the Barzan towers originally built in the 20th century but since has been rebuilt. This used to be a Fort but now all that stands is two towers and a mosque. Admission is free and if the gate keeper is there he will let you in to roam on your own.

This is the first tower.

This is inside the second tower.

 From the top of the towers you are able to see the whole town.  It's interesting to see the extreme gaps in wealth. On one side of the fort walls you can see expansive houses, many still being built. On the other side you can see tiny makeshift shacks in close proximity to each other.

As we drive west a few minutes we are able to see the other tower that is in Umm Slal Mohammed. This one shows it's age as it has not been rebuilt. Also, there is a family that lives at the base of this tower.


 


As we drove through this town we were able see some of the old architecture and an example of the ornate Arabic doors.

Here is a modern mosque in the right photo in comparison to the fort mosque in the left photo. In these photos you are also able to see huge modern homes in the background, a lot of which are still being built.

Next we went to the Al Zubarah Fort, which is now a museum. This was built in 1938 and is one of the most complete and well known forts in Qatar. Admission is free and there are trailers with bathrooms in the parking lot. Very nice bathrooms, if I do say so myself (Western toilets available), with soap and running water. When on a road trip decent bathrooms are sometimes hard to find.









 This site is also famous for it's archaeological dwellings nearby. The newest excavation site was started in 2004 and is still going on now. It is currently closed and we are told it will reopen in September.  We will be coming back for that.

Inside Al Zubarah Fort

 Once refreshed in the bathrooms (it is very hot to do a trip like this in July!) the gate keeper let us into the fort to look around on our own.

You can climb the internal stairs up to each of three watch towers. There are holes in the thick tower walls that allow you to see out and also let light in. These holes are curved so that enemy fire can not enter the fort. I read somewhere that this fort is now a museum with archaeological pieces inside it, but right now it is empty.  They must have had the pieces here at another time. Would have been interesting to see!

Inside Al Zubarah Fort.

One of the watch towers at Al Zubarah.

Next we drove up North near the coast to check out three old fisherman's villages; Al Areesh, Al Khuwair and Al Jemail. All were closed with guard towers and signs not permitting entrance at this time. This knowledge was not anywhere on the internet prior to our trip.  We were disappointed that we were unable to see these villages! They are completely abandoned today but serve as a great insight into the way of life for people along the coast. You have to get special permission to enter these sites. Probably with a guide of some sort since they are gated and locked.

Our next stop was Al Jassassiya, which is another excavation site. This particular location is supposed to have petroglyphs.  But you must have special permission to enter this gated area as well (I believe through the museum in Qatar). We will be looking into this and hopefully coming back to these places!

Next we went to Al Ruwais. This was supposed to be a great weekend get away town with beautiful beaches and resorts and plenty of things to do.  It is a pretty town and may one day have many beautiful resorts and things to do but currently it does not! There is a lot of construction all around and some very nice large homes near the ocean. The water is blue-green and the view is pretty. But there isn't very many places to eat or things to do. We were able to see everything of interest from our car as we drove through.











 Next we went to Al Khor (which means "sea on three sides"). This is really a pretty town about 50km from Doha. We really liked it and will be coming back to spend more time here! This town is a little more built up so there are things to do and see here but yet it still manages to be more tranquil than Doha. This would be a good place to go if you wanted to get away from the hustle and bustle of the "city" life.