The Qatari desert presents a few of the planet’s most surreal and splendid surroundings – a land of wide-open magnificence, formed by the regular forces of wind and solar. It’s additionally a spot of solitude, the place a gradual camel trip throughout time-worn tracks connects distant campsites to settlements that appear to mix into their environment.
Look nearer (or ask an area) and also you is perhaps shocked by how a lot there may be to see within the sand. The Qatari desert presents historical past to be discovered, enjoyable available, sights to be explored and recollections to be made. Come see this religious tapestry, one of many few locations on the planet the place the ocean meets the desert, and depart modified eternally.
Get to know the deserts
In Qatar you’ll discover two various kinds of deserts. Image-perfect sandy dunes hem the Khor Al Adaid, the Inland Sea. They’re an extension of the Rub-al-Khali, the Empty Quarter that stretches alongside Oman, Saudi Arabia and the UAE and is the world’s largest sand desert. Then there may be the hamada, a land of otherworldly rock formations like those discovered within the north-western area of Zekreet.
The astonishing Khor Al Adaid, on UNESCO’s tentative world heritage record for its ethereal magnificence, is among the most important points of interest in Qatar. Beautiful ever-shifting sand dunes lie beside the turquoise waters of the ‘Inland Sea,’ a salty inlet from the Gulf.
The dunes appear to beg to be explored and in the event you reply the decision, you must positively go by 4WD. Rent an area, expert driver to take the wheel and present you what’s doable, going at excessive accelerates, down and throughout the dunes in an exhilarating joyride.
Find time for a picnic alongside the shoreline of the inlet – between November and March it’s alive with pink flamingos who spend the winter right here. You can even trip camels by the dunes, slide on sand boards down the mushy swells, go scuba diving within the heat, inviting waters, or keep the evening in a Bedouin camp. Quiet down after sundown for a barbecue dinner by a bonfire, gaze on the stars within the seemingly limitless sky unspoiled by gentle air pollution, then wake to observe the solar rise over the dunes.
For an sudden audio expertise you possibly can’t get anyplace else, get your hands on the so-called Singing Dunes, which lie inland between the communities of Al Wakrah and Mesaieed. Whereas it is perhaps a stretch to say they ‘sing,’ lots of the dunes do appear to groan as you slide down them on a sandboard. That is reportedly because of the compression of the grains of sand – however since not all dunes exhibit this phenomenon, the horseshoe form of particular dunes may need one thing to do with it as nicely.
From sea to dune, journey abounds in Qatar
Historical past on show
North of the capital of Doha, there’s a wealth of historical past to find within the Qatari desert. On the principle highway to the north you’ll discover the Barzan Towers, constructed with coral, limestone and dirt within the late nineteenth century as lookout towers for approaching Ottoman ships. The constructions’ partitions are 40 inches thick, with wood poles marking the flooring. The towers, which appear to rise out of the desert itself, are at present being restored and a guests’ middle is being added.
Additional on you’ll discover one thing few individuals anticipate finding in Qatar, or within the desert in any respect: pre-historic rock carvings. At Al Jassasiya you possibly can see these well-preserved petroglyphs on flat rocks at a website you’d usually drive previous with out pondering twice. However cease and get out, and you’ll uncover greater than 800 carvings of fish, sailboats and what many specialists consider to be recreation boards. You’ll be able to virtually image the individuals who lived right here 1000’s of years in the past throwing shells or small pebbles into these symmetrical holes within the rock – enjoying a recreation like mancala whereas ready for the fishing nets to fill.
There may be some dispute as to precisely how previous these petroglyphs are, with estimates starting from 8,000 BC to the tenth century AD. Both method, contemplating the nomadic life-style of the area’s individuals, these rocks present a glimpse into desert tradition and a wealthy historical past of Qatar.
Discover the mysterious indicators and symbols of Qatar’s Al Jassasiya rock carvings
Artwork and structure
In these everlasting deserts of otherworldly magnificence, the dry air has preserved a number of forts value exploring for the tales they inform of Qatar’s historical past. One of many oldest is Al Wajbah Fort, constructed within the 12 months 1882 – it’s solely 9.3 miles west of Doha close to Al Rayyan, with a particular purple border to its sturdy wall. The very best preserved is Al Zubara Fort, which was acknowledged as a UNESCO World Heritage website in 2013. Inbuilt 1938 by Sheikh Abdullah bin Jassim Al Thani, the fort is situated close to the abandoned city of Zubara and incorporates a small museum and a fairly modern monument.
Alongside the shoreline, towards Al Ruwais, there are the deserted picturesque Al Jamail fishing villages, that are enjoyable to discover, and south from there you’ll discover the Al Thaqab Fort, sitting on a website which archaeological proof suggests had been inhabited for the reason that tenth century. ‘Thaqab’ means ‘the water within the backside of the valley after the rain,’ which references a deep fountain close to the fort, which might have introduced prosperity to the area.
Probably the most stunning sights within the Qatari desert is the wonderful artwork set up by Richard Serra, titled East-West/West-East. Within the northwest of the peninsula 50 miles from Doha, within the area of Zekreet, with its wind-eroded rock formations, stand 4 50ft-tall metal plates alongside a stretch of desert spanning greater than half a mile. After making your method there, with components of the drive off highway the place the journey turns into a part of the journey, the rusty-red metal plates rising towards the shifting, sand-colored background makes for probably the most spectacular and highly effective artwork set up in Qatar.
