Day 23: On the Road in Doha and the Desert

We couldn’t really sleep in today, but at least we had to leave around 8:20 AM. And thanks to jet lag, we were awake anyway.
Our desert tour started at 9 AM. First, we drove out of the city heading south. 

At the point where the road ended, we took a short break. Here in the middle of the desert, it was even hotter than in the city and quite windy - about 47°C. The driver let some air out of the tires. In the meantime, we switched to camels and took a short ride.

Then the actual desert tour began - crossing through the sand and the terrain. We stopped at several places for photos. 

A highlight was sandboarding. We slid down the dune on a sort of surfboard. Unfortunately, we then had to climb back up on foot - which was very exhausting in the heat and the loose sand.

Back near the paved road, the next stop was at the quad station. Here, we could race through the desert on quads for half an hour, which was especially fun for our junior.

Completely sweaty and 'sandblasted', we then headed back to Doha.

We were quite exhausted and looked forward to a shower at the hotel.
After a refreshing lunch break in our air-conditioned hotel room, we started our second activity - the city tour. For this, we had booked a knowledgeable driver with a car. He drove us through the city. At all important and interesting spots, we could get out and explore.

Much to our junior's dismay, we unfortunately couldn’t visit the Formula One track and could only get as far as the gate.

To conclude the tour, we drove once more to the old harbor to see the illuminated skyline. Then it was back to the hotel.

We grabbed dinner from a small snack shop. Then it was time to pack our bags for the last time this vacation.



Statistics:
Travelled: 225 km
Walked: 9.5 km
Accommodation: Gloria Hotel and Suites Doha