Day 8--Qatar Continued

toured the entire day to include: (1) shahania camel racing track and
complex - over 2,000+ camels - watched the trainers and camels by the
hundreds, racing around the track for about 45 minutes) (2) qatar
equestrian center - housed pure arabian, show horses (3) aspire sports
academy and complex - best center of its type in the world (4)
vellagio mall - built similar to bellagio in las vegas w/sky painted
at the top of the mall, gondolas in the middle in water channels,
carrying passengers, etc. - by far, the most extravagant mall i have
ever seen to include only exclusive shops like gucci, channel, etc. -
the emir's wife wants the expand the sports academy, which is next to
the mall. even though the mall structure was just built in 2006, they
are getting ready to tear the entire mall down and rebuild it
elsewhere so the sports arena can be expanded. that's $$ and power!
(5) qatar village - exclusive cultural housing and community complex
(6) the pearl project - exclusive community to include an even more
exclusive mall - had rolls royce and proche showrooms - prices ranging
from $600,000 per car and up (7) other various cultural islamic stops
it is really hard to take in the enormous amount of wealth here. it is
truly unbelievable. i knew these folks were rich, but not like this.
gas for cars less than a month ago was 18 cents for super for a litre.
it's gone up a few cents this month. the qatari people don't pay
income or sales taxes and have free water and electricity on top of
their free housing and cars if they work for the government. the qatar
village has put out an "invitation" to artists throughout the world to
come and design for qatar and live free in these exclusive mansions,
no 2 of which are alike. what a deal. i just can't understand how
there is sooooo much wealth here and so much poverty in other parts of
asia - hong kong, vietnam, cambodia, etc. well, i can.......oil and
natural gas pretty much sums it up. before that, these gulf states
were poor too.
long day today, must hurry and finish packing, as bags have to be out
by our doors by 4:30 am tomorrow for an early flight. in the time i've
been back today, i've been taking photos of the these gorgeous
grounds. rame says the next hotel is much more spectacular, but it's
hard to imagine. the arabian sea here is turquoise and so inviting.
the sands are pure white w/no trash anywhere. the skyline view of the
city is breathtaking. it doesn't "feel" real, but as our guide
says.......it's so very real even though it sounds too good to be
true, it is true. tomorrow we fly to muscat, oman. since we stay in a
grand hyatt like this, i am sure internet is expensive like it is
here. it's over $10 USD for 30 minutes, and like i said some of the
keys are in different places, so it's hard. we'll be there 4 days, so
i'll try to touch base once. take care, angela
i guess it is obvious that this will be one of my most favorite
destinations, primarily because the culture here is so very different.
the arabic foods are my favorite, the arabic people are very friendly
and the dress of both men and women are so very interesting.
enough......  i just wish you could come and see. ps-the weather is
"perfect!"