Doha Diaries pt 2
Welcome back!
This is part 2 to my Doha diaries. So, where were we? Oh yeah, crying into my Chicken Shawarma! The morning after that I still wasn’t feeling great emotionally. I face-timed my mum and Nige and decided to spend the morning around the pool listening to a Mel Robbins Podcast. Her words have always helped me when my anxiety has felt unbearable. The one I listened to was ‘stop doubting yourself: 5 tips to boost your confidence’ She re-defined confidence as the willingness to try. That alone helped me shift my mindset that morning. No matter how difficult some days are, giving things a go and stepping out of your comfort zone is the only way to build the confidence.
In the evening myself and Chloe explored the National Museum of Qatar which was amazing. The architecture is inspired by the desert rose. We later found out that Jay Z was there on the same day so we’re practically rubbing shoulders with the A-listers now! The evening concluded with a gorgeous meal at the Pearl Orient.
Friday was one of the best days ever! We headed into the desert with Amir of Falcon Tours. We drank traditional Karak Chai which is a black tea with condense milk (making it sweet) and spices like cardamom, saffron, cinnamon, cloves and ginger. It was tasty but I wouldn’t be able to drink a lot of it because of the sweetness.
This was followed by some exciting desert activities. The dune bashing was particularly fun. I also did it in Huacachina desert, Peru but that was in a buggy. Amir particularly thrived off the screams when he took us down vertical dune drops. The louder we scream the faster we goooo! We also stopped to do some sand boarding (which I also did in Peru on a larger dune- I still screamed doing this one though). We headed to watch the sunset and dip our toes where the desert met the sea - below are some of my favourite photos ever taken.
Post desert we jumped on the metro and headed to the Villaggio Mall. I loved it here and thought the whole place was so cool. The painted skies, pastel buildings and indoor canal for gondola rides was really quirky. A fancy sushi dinner to finish was the round off to a perfect day!
The last couple of days were so relaxed. We had a few hours at Westbay beach on the Saturday. It was lovely to sunbathe and swim in the sea with a fantastic view of the city in the distance and then Sunday was just mentally preparing for the 13 hour flight ahead!
I absolutely loved Doha and would love to return at some point in the future. It was also amazing to spend time with my cousin who I really look up. I am writing this amongst the chaos of my first week down under so apologies if it’s a little rushed but I wanted to get leg one of my trip posted.
I have a lot to fill you in on even in such a short period of time so stay tuned! I’ll leave you with the last few Doha photos below!
Rach x
