Doha driving tip #549: If you see a driver in Doha using their turn signals, they're probably not from around here. And you'd best steer clear of them, because they're likely to cause an accident.
We went to the camel races the other day. I should say we attempted to go to the camel races. A group of 16 people chartered a bus with Arabian Adventures, who has a great reputation (and, anyway, we work with the wife of one of the owners), to take us out to the racetrack--an hour's drive outside of Doha. Once we arrived, though, we were denied entrance.
Apparently a member of the royal family, an uncle or a brother of the Emir, had decided that he and his entourage would have the whole place to themselves. They were letting Arabs in, but not us Westerners. I guess he didn't realize that we all work for Her Highness. Our guides told us that they've had problems in the past with PETA-types taking pictures and then raising cain about animal rights violations, which may have been a partial cause of the sheik's unreasonable behavior. Yet another reason to dislike PETA (as if we needed one), even if the sheik was just on a power trip, as I suspect. Chalk it up as a cultural experience!
I don't know about animal abuse--the camels looked pretty well-fed and well-groomed to me--but the camel jockeys might be another story. The jockeys are all little Bedouin kids (the Arab version of gypsies), maybe six or seven years old on average. There were a couple of kids that looked two or three years old. All of them were scrawny, the better to ride camels I suppose, and were equipped with riding helmets and crops. While our tour guides were off trying unsuccessfully to convince the sheik to grant us admission, a bunch of the jockeys swarmed around our bus begging for money. We had to chase them away from the bus (minding our wallets, mind you) to keep from running over them when we drove off.
We were able to see the start of the race, in the distance. Nobody stayed in the stands; the spectators rode in 4x4 SUVs alongside the racing camels. Crazy! Since we weren't allowed in, our guides drove around a bit so we could get some photos of camels that weren't in the race, and we were able to get off the bus and get up close and personal with a small group of the animals that were tied to a fence. While we were there, some CID agents (the Qatari version of the Secret Service) pulled up and informed our guides that the sheik wanted us to leave the premises immediately if not sooner, and if he saw us again he would be Most Put Out. So, we went home.
The guides were flabbergasted about the whole thing. It was the first time they had been denied access to the racetrack. They didn't charge us, of course, but we gave them something for their time and trouble, since it wasn't really their fault. Maybe next time the sheik won't be around. Or maybe we'll at least run into some PETA loons, so we can have a good fistfight (and if you dress like an animal, I hear they won't hit you). Either way, it'll be worth another bus ride.
Lessee...what else is going on? We're back at work, our boxes may actually finally arrive sometime this week, inshallah, and our car is supposedly on a ship, heading this way.
Posted by jon at January 5, 2004 06:22 AM