facebooktwittertelegramwhatsapp
copy short urlprintemail
+ A
A -
webmaster

AMIT NEWTON
DOHA
If the hustle and bustle of the city wears you down, the Wakrah Souq is where you should be on Friday evenings.
Pristine and yet not a thoroughfare, the construction and layout is strikingly similar to something of a cross between Katara and Souq Waqif, and yet there is a more rustic, earthy feel to the buildings here. They house tailors, abaya shops, novelty and souvenir stores, jewellery shops and more.
It's a single-storey world this a far cry from West Bay's ultra-modern, glass facades. From the road to parking, into the buildings and past alleyways onto the walkway that stretches some 3 km. On one side are the bistros: Arabian, Lebanese, Indian and International and on the other side is the sand with 'beached' life-size models of dhows.
Interspersing the many, many-sized dhows are watch-towers, again made of logs of wood, held together by hemp, to give them that rustic feel. Squeals of undiluted joy break your reverie and it is children, keeping watch on the towers - of all sizes, as they gleefully ascend and descend them.
Beyond these animate and inanimate objects, lies the water, an inky expanse that reflects long, rippling lights of the shoreline across. Gentle waves lap the shore, bringing in sea breeze a welcome respite on a hot, summer evening.
As you sit down to eat, there's a quietude and serenity that one seldom experiences in the 'city'. Though one may have tasted better ware elsewhere, the food seems delectable; such is the ambience of the place. You don't even mind the cat sitting at your feet, looking imploringly at you! One could easily just sit there whiling away time, watching life go by, but, alas, 'the taxi is waitin' , it's blowin' it's horn'!
copy short url   Copy
17/05/2016
711