Qatar - Mangroves, Museum and Signs

Joining Tom for "Signs". Please check his blog for other signs from around the world, that he posts on Wednesdays.

Monday 30th Dec - Thomas (son in law) suggested we visit a mangrove about 1 hour north of Doha - "Al-Thakira". 

Mangroves are shrubs or trees that grow in coastal saline or brackish water. They are good for the environment by removing carbon dioxide from the air, filtering metals from the water, providing breeding areas for fish...

There wasn't much water, there were lots of tiny fish and lots of small crabs, but not much else to see, so it was a bit of a disappointing trip. Apparently you could kayak there too, but either we were in the wrong spot, or there were no kayaks being rented as there wasn't enough water...

We climbed the small hill to see if anything interesting was visible in the distance, but nothing.

On the way back home we stopped for lunch at Tio Sea resort in the town of Al-Khor. The Arabian style resort was quite pretty with lovely gardens, pool and private beach. The owner/s must have liked horses as there were quite a few statues in front of the resort building.

Tio Sea resort and the many horse statues

We were seated outside by the pool, with a view to their private beach too.

A couple of kids swimming an another table with people eating, otherwise it looked quite empty.

Service was good as usual everywhere we ate out in Qatar, people were very polite and friendly. Didn't take photos of the food, and can't remember what I ate :) but the fresh mango juice I had was delicious. Jose had a fresh apple juice.

                             

That evening Karina had a gym class at the City Centre Doha Mall and we tagged along to walk around and take photos.

View of the buildings across the mall

Outside the shopping I had already noticed these big statues but we were always driving by and had only managed blurry photos.

Inside the shopping I found another one - a crocodile. They are all by French sculptor Richard Orlinski. The red deer is 3,50mt high (11.5ft) and both the King Kong ones are probably identical height.

In the Carrefour supermarket the sign for the cashier for customers with disabilities had a wonderful name - "people of determination". It's a term used in some of the Arab countries to recognize the achievements of people with disabilities in many fields. Isn't that lovely?

Tuesday 31st Dec - We did so much in the last day of the year that I'll write 2 posts for the day. 

Karina's friends had recommended we visit the Sheikh Faisal Bin Qassim Al Thani Museum, one of the world's largest private museums, in Al Shahaniya, about 30 minutes west of Doha. I'm glad they did as it was quite an experience!

The 77 year old Sheikh Faisal, who is related to the Qatari Royal family, is one of Qatar's most successful and wealthiest businessmen (net worth $1.9 billion according to Forbes) with interests in petroleum, food services,  education, telecommunications, information technology, pharmaceuticals,  travel industries and hospitality - owning 34 luxury hotels around the world, including the St. Regis in Washington, D.C. and Miami, and the W Hotel in London and Miami, the M Hotel in Mecca, Saudi Arabia...

He started selling car parts in Doha at age 16 in 1964, when Qatar's population was only 50.000 and in 1969 he became the sole distributor of Bridgestone tires.

The mosque tower leans to the right :)

The museum was established in 1998, comprising of 3 buildings that occupy 530,000m^2, but the wow factor was the mosque tower at the entrance to the area, that was built at an angle. 

I asked about the leaning tower when we bought the tickets (Qar 50 for adults, Qar 20 for seniors  and residents don't pay) and I was told it was constructed that way to make it interesting.

Sheikh Faisal Bin Qassim Al Thani

The Sheikh's main passion is arts and culture, hence he has collected over 30,000 artifacts for his museum, spanning from the Jurassic period to the early Islamic era, and up to the present day, most of which he sourced himself - from cigarette packets and lighters, to rocks, fossils, furniture, weapons, notes and coins, watches and clocks, rare books, medical instruments, football memorabilia, kids toys, carpets, Arabian clothing, boats, cars, a small plane... 

Starting at the Great Hall A you can find ancient fossils such as dinosaur eggs and several variations of the country's desert rose, as well as stuffed animals, Arabian desert tents...

Desert tents, camel statues

(I think this was a crocodile skull)

Remember the National Museum in the shape of a desert rose crystal? Below are a few natural crystals.

Desert rose crystals

fossils

The Quran Room - houses rare manuscripts, photographs, etc and there's a section dedicated to Haij, the annual pilgrimage to Mecca in Saudi Arabia. Among the Quran books on display is one of the biggest Quran ever written, as well as a miniature version. Ibn Sina's Canon of Medicine represents the medical encyclopedia compiled in year 1025 that was the standard at medieval universities and remained in use for many centuries.

On display was a Syrian house from Damascus that came dismantled and was then reassembled at the museum. 

One of the entrances to the Syrian house

Syrian house

Ceilings and walls of the Syrian House

An eclectic collection of paintings, beautifully engraved furniture and furniture with mother of pearl inlays and silverware.

The many carpets and rugs in this museum are just a fraction of the 600 carpets from Iran, Turkey, India, and Egypt dating from the 17th to the 20th century that are displayed at the Sheikh's Carpet Museum in the city centre.

Carpets are an essential part of the furnishings in Arab houses covering walls and floors.

 

A series of Samurai paintings, pieces of furniture, swords and Japanese clothing is also on display.

In the Great Hall B, a small collection of vintage cars could be seen. 

Nothing compared to the 600 cars the Sheikh has collected over the years, that are housed in another part of the museum that was closed for repairs.

A small plane and American pick-up trucks

Here you could also see ship models, pearling and fishing tools and dhows (boats)  representing life in Qatar before the discovery of oil in the 1930's.

Various dhows

"Pearl divers"

Equipment from Qatar's first women's hospital was displayed in a smaller room in the Great Hall.

Arab women's dresses and jewellery

A display of dolls, kid's carts, tricycles, etc

A display of football/soccer balls, trophies, medals, signed shirts, some from the 2022 Fifa World Cup in Qatar.

Shirt signed by Cristiano Ronaldo and the Qatar mascot (bottom shelf)

And that a snippet of the tour of this most fascinating museum where we spent probably about 3 to 4 hours walking around.

 Jose and I sitting on a wall surrounding a lake in front of the museum

Signs with fish