For our last few days in Qatar we decided to spend some time in our temporary neighbourhood, the Pearl, and relax. The Pearl is a man made island, part community, part luxury resort. The Pearl is a fascinating place that, at least these days, could only exist in a Gulf country. As Wikipedia puts it:... Continue Reading →
Fish, ghosts and princess towers in Northern Qatar
We’re back in Doha and have a few days left before we have to head back home to reality. While we’ll spend most of our remaining time relaxing, we still had a little more of Qatar to see. Having seen the sand dunes to the south during our first stay in Doha, this time we’re... Continue Reading →
Hanging with the cool kids on Al Dar Island
Like many travellers, we often take a look at Trip Advisor to get a sense of whether something, be it a restaurant, a hotel, or an activity, is worth while. The reviews for a place like Al Dar Island are tricky. People really seem to hate it or love it. The truth? Don’t listen to... Continue Reading →
A Look Around Muharraq
After a day on our own, it was time to get a little more insider help for our adventures in Bahrain. We met up with Birgit, our host from BGIS, so she could show us around a little more. Our first stop was the Muharraq Souk. In a stunning coincidence, the Muharraq Souk can be... Continue Reading →
Exploring some of Manama’s highlights
It’s cliche, but a first visit to a new country in the Middle East doesn’t really feel complete if we don’t visit a mosque and a souk. So, with our first day on our own in Bahrain we decided to check off those boxes. Our first stop was the Al Fateh Grand Mosque. Opened in... Continue Reading →
12 hours, hundreds of camels, and one tiny ice cream truck
Arriving in Bahrain, we probably had even less of an idea what to expect than we did arriving in Qatar earlier this week. I’m pretty sure the first time I even became aware of the existence of Bahrain was when they, like Qatar, started bringing elite Africans in to run for them. Not exactly a... Continue Reading →
Impressions of Qatar
Today we decided to take a spin around Doha. As is our custom, we opted for the local hop-on hop-off bus, though in this case our hopping was limited to the start and end of the ride. If there’s one thing that stands out it’s that Doha (and by extension Qatar) is a place under... Continue Reading →
Dune Bashing our way to Khor Al Daid
Shortly before we left for our vacation, Ella’s best friend came back from a trip to Disney World. Needless to say, Ella came home asking when we would be going so she too can meet Mickey Mouse. When we reminded her that we would be going to Qatar, her response was to ask if we... Continue Reading →
We’re in Qatar. Now what?
As we were planning our trip to Qatar and Bahrain it was interesting to learn how many people haven’t heard of either of them. Among those who have heard of them, a common question was what exactly it is that we’re planning to do while we’re here. Well, Katy is on this trip so you can be... Continue Reading →
Chasing dolphins and turtles in Oman
It's kind of sad that Steve and the gang (a.k.a Canada's current governing party) can cause us trouble, even on the other side of the globe, but that's just what happened. For the GAdventures group that we had arrived in Muscat with, the final destination on the trip was a return to Dubai. However, thanks... Continue Reading →
192 Reasons 