Qatar: Doha

Doha is another bonus visit for us. We picked a long itinerary that gave us 18 hours in Doha, then Qatar Airways canceled the original flight, and put us on a new flight that gave us 24 hours in Doha. We were pleasantly surprised by Doha. They seem to be making better use of their oil money than the UAE.

In spite of the 100 degree weather, with humidity too, we went around as much as we could. While Doha has its share of new and traditional shopping, we were impressed with its uncrowded metro (driverless, opened in 2019), numerous public and cultural spaces, and an I.M. Pei designed museum (we didn't have time to visit inside).

Above all, we were blown away by the Education City. It has satellite campuses for a number of top US universities such as Georgetown, Carnegie Mellon, Virginia Commonwealth, Cornell, and Northwestern, a modern architecture mosque, the national library, which happened to be hosting a talk the president of Malaysia during our visit, all connected by a free light rail system.

If we ever change flights again in Doha, we'd definitely spend more time there.

There were some great views from the airplane after take off from Almaty at 4:00am-ish


And there were great views of Doha as we descended to land.




From the Doha airport we rode the swanky, driverless, Metro into town.




Sun-Ling leads to the way, passing the Fanar Mosque with its ziggurat minaret (2nd below), on the short walk to our hotel




After checking into our hotel, we immediately set out exploring. The Police Corps(?) were out walking their camels.






We walked along the waterfront, passing the Pearl Monument (2nd below), towards the Islamic Art Museum designed by I. M. Pei(4th below).








Then we rode the metro to Education City where the tram system was amazing.






Our first stop was the MATHAF: Arab Museum of Modern Art. My fav piece was the socialist realist painting "Al Zaim w Ta'"mim Al Canal (Nasser and the Nationalization of the Canal)" by Hamed Owais.


Next, we hopped back on the tram and rode it to the Education City Mosque (Minaretein), known for its futuristic five-pillared design, and dual aileron-like minarets (2nd below). Sun-Ling had to completely cover herself while inside the prayer hall.












We could not resist checking out the National Library which was on the way between the mosque and the metro station. The President of Malaysia was giving a lecture (2nd below).




As the sun set, we arrived at the closed-for-the-day National Museum of Qatar, to admire its striking architecture.








Even though we were very tired we pushed on to the shops, restaurants, and more of Katara Cultural Village, where we grabbed some snacks, and watched the lights come on.








Back at the hotel with a nighttime view towards the Fanar Mosque.

Kazakstan: Almaty

From Bishkek it is an easy bus ride to Almaty, capital of Kazakhstan until 1997, still the largest city in Kazakhstan, about two million people. We will finally fly home from here. Below is the view out the bus window near Targap, Kazakhstan, about halfway between Bishkek and Almaty, and on the north shore of Lake Issyk Kul.



Founded by Russians in the 1800s, Almaty seemed to be the most developed city on our Stans tour. We happened to arrive on May 9th, Victory Day, (photos below)commemorating the victory of the Soviet Union over Nazi Germany, widely celebrated in the former Soviet Union. It was rather festive. However the holiday is not without controversy. Central Asia was basically Russian colonies. Colonized people were coerced into fighting their colonizers' war. They had a worse deal than the Sri Lankan and Tajiks mercenaries that are fighting in the Russia-Ukraine War. There will be wars as long as there are victory celebrations. Maybe somber remembrance days would make for more a peaceful world







We also happened to be in town on a Friday. The mosque was overflowing with worshippers (photo below). During Soviet time, half of the city's population would have been Russians. Many have since left, today it is about 20%. There are various day trips from Almaty, but none too close. We ended up spending the whole time in the city.



May 12 is Thomas Sunday or Bright Sunday. St Nicholas Cathedral was festive!



As we were headed home to the US, we made several excursions to the Green Bazaar to shop for souvenirs and gifts






On the day after Victory Day, there continued to be lots of activity near the Eternal Flame and War Memorial monuments.






Ascension Cathedral was busy on Victory Day as well.










One day we rode the metro to start a walking tour of Soviet Modernist Architecture (and more)






The Kazakh State Circus (SIRC)




The Wedding Palace


The Fog Fountain at Caspian University = FUN!!!




The Independence Monument


A Mosaic Mural at the Kök-Töbe Sanatorium


The Arman Cinema


Statue of Abay Kunanbayev (front), Palace of the Republic Concert Hall (rear)


The striking Kazakhstan Hotel.








Museum of the Kazakh Academic Drama Theater


The Bauhaus Main Post OFfice.



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