Doha Dhow

Friday afternoon I checked another of the "things I hope to do before I leave Doha" off my list. My friend FH generously invited me on a dhow cruise that she had been invited on (thank you, thank you, FH!). What is a dhow, you ask? Well these are dhow:

Dhow in Harbor

And so are these:

Other Dhow in Harbor

Like "boat," "dhow" covers many different sizes and classes of vessels, though they tend to share long, narrow hulls, wide, open decks and one or more masts with lateen sails (says wikipedia; I have next to zero knowledge of boats or ships). According to Qatar International Adventures, the dhow and dhow cruises follow Bedouin traditions of hospitality and craftsmanship (even though most of those working on the dhows do not hail from Qatar or any Bedouin tribe, but I digress). 

Woodwork on Dhow in Progress

Dhow Hulls

View from Dhow Harbor

We had near-perfect weather for the cruise. After about 45 minutes, we anchored off an island (really, a sandbar) for barbeque dinner - chicken, shish kebab, and kofta. Some took a dip in the Gulf, and others of us enjoyed the breezes and views from the top deck as the sunset over West Bay.

Sunset Over West Bay

Sunset and Lights-Rise in West Bay

Doha at Night from Dhow

The tempo of activity has ramped up here considerably with the end of the semester, grant application deadlines, job applications, some reading and writing, and preparing to return to TX. As of now, I will stay in TX for the spring semester. Though Doha has been quite good to me - hooray for home!

XO,
JZog