Souq Waqif

One of the top tourist destinations in Doha is the Souk Waqif which means "the standing market".  This historic market sells traditional clothing, housewares, souvenirs, material for clothing, handicrafts, spices and so many other things.  This market is quite old but a few years back after a devastating fire, it was renovated using the traditional building techniques. A wonderful way to spend an afternoon or evening is to walk and get lost amongst the narrow alleys.  Since I have no sense of direction, I would still be wondering if not for the help of my companions and a map.

I do not usually visit anywhere if food as not a part of the journey, so of course there are many ethnic restaurants lining the main walkway through the Souk.  Below is a wonderful Egyptian restaurant where I enjoyed a wonderful lamb stew.  Actually we were not sure if it was Egyptian but we were starving, they had food and even better they had air conditioning.  The temperature during our first visit was about 110.
The ceiling in this restaurant was beautiful.

 

 

 

The Souk is separated into different areas:
The Gold souk is somewhere I would like like to visit again soon - preferably after a payday. Store after store of beautiful gold craftsmanship.

 

There are many stores with material for dress making.  There are tailors right there to make anything you need.

Or you can buy traditional clothing already made.

 

 

 

Even children's clothing....

 

 

 

I especially love the Turkish pottery.  The colors are vibrant and the design of the decorations are unique.  I am definitely going to ship some of this back to the US.

You have to be careful in the Souk because the "made in China" products are also abundant.  But if you look you can find some beautiful items.  I made one major purchase so far.  I bought myself a wool, hand embroidered wrap.  This was made in Kashmir.  The owner of the store is from Kashmir and he spent time showing us how to tell if it is hand made vs. machine embroidered and how to tell a quality piece from a cheap piece.  We really appreciated his time and I will be visiting his store again.  (I will not be able to find his store but my friends with the compasses in their heads will be able to find his alley) He said that many people use these wraps as a table runner and it would make a beautiful table.

 

There are ship builders that make miniature models of the historic Dhow boats.  There seems to be disagreement where the design of the traditional sailing boat came from but you can still take a cruise on the Arabian Gulf in boats that have been preserved for tourists.

 



 

 

There is another section of the Souk that is for pets and Falcon.  This is a whole future Blog by itself.  Stay tuned.....

 





If you plan to visit this market - and I would strongly encourage it - just remember to go when it is below 100 degrees, if not the alleys look like this:

 

This past time when we visited the evening was cool and we sat out at a cafe for a long time just taking it all in. The people watching is amazing but you need to go when the people are willing to come out of the air conditioning of their homes!