Qatar Link-Up~ The West Coast of Qatar- Dukhan

The Qatar Link-Up topic for the month on places to visit in Qatar has me thinking which place do I introduce. My fellow Link -up Bloggers have published some of the most beautiful and favorite spots of mine and so I am writing a little something different. There is the beautiful mangroves and sanddunes at Shamal, Khor, Dakhira and Mesaid, but there is this unending beach shore, Dukhan which is a beautiful place to go with tourists or for a relaxing day away from the city.

Even though a desert in the Middle East, Qatar, is a peninsula with really rich natural beaches. I love beaches and I have lived close to a beach for 8 years. I was so lucky to get up in the mornings and see the beautiful Dukhan beach through my windows. I had to shift from the beautiful place due to unavoidable reasons, will talk about it some other time, but Dukhan is undoubtedly one of the best places you can visit in Qatar.

Located in the west coast of Qatar, Dukhan is a 100km drive from Doha with perfect highways and views. There is Shahaniya, a small town about 42km from Doha and exactly 25 minutes before reaching Dukhan which is the home to Camel Racing Tracks of Qatar. Pass by anytime of the day I am sure you can see a caravan of camels here and there. Towards Dukhan, after Shahaniya, it is almost deserted with very small villages popping up here and there for the next 25 to 30 minutes. Shahaniya is also the place where the famous Sheikh Faisal Museum is located. I highly recommend this place because there is two aspects here, the museum where literally history plays a drama in front of your eyes and the nature where thousands of peacocks reside. One can see this beauty from the highway but you won’t expect the muster of peacocks inside that wander about. The nature is man-made, but it looks all natural like a small neat forest. The museum has one of the best antique collection in the world. The antique cars are the highlight and you will be amazed to see the shine on these.

After Shahaniya, driving further west and before Zikreet is a place called Jumeiliyah, which is a very small village. There is a beautiful small farm with a nice themed setting. There is a tiny yet wonderful haunted cave. It is a great experience specially for the kids. The farm houses some animals like goats, llama, monkeys, camels, ponies, ostriches, peacocks and other birds. If you are lucky, you get to hold baby animals. My sister being an animal lover was taking playing with a baby goat.

The much known Zikreet is on the way to Dukhan, which is a stunning natural beauty of the desert of Qatar. Zikreet also has very beautiful vast shallow beaches. You can literally walk kilometers in the sea with water just covering your foot. Zikreet also has got the beautiful wind eroded rocks that give them a real spectacular look and I am sure it is seen nowhere else in Qatar. A drive through the rocky Zikreet desert will land you in the film city which is really a beautiful place. You can find Richard Serra sculptures gleaming in the desert sun.

After Zikreet, it is 14km to Dukhan which is a small township. Dukhan has really beautiful beaches. There are some historical sightings too. You have so much to discover off road. Because I lived there, we would often trek into the deserts and find out something that is amazing. There is a small building which is beautifully renovated and preserved which was an Old Airport in the 1950s in Qatar. Walking around in the area you can see remains of the old runway. There is also Mansour Bin Khalil Al Shahwan Masjid, built in 1954, which is a historic landmark and a preserved heritage of Qatar.

Further down there is Umm Bab across which there is a direct road to Abu Samra, the Southern border of Qatar,  is an industrial district and a small diversion into the desert takes you to an amazing holiday spot. A small port where if you are lucky, find small ship docked. It is a beautiful place to go fishing I guess, because you can see schools of fish and also crabs. I am sure you can go crab hunting here. To add to the beauty there is remains of a small coastal village which is rather stunning in between all these. But I seriously feel it should be maintained more.

For the adventurers and if you wanna give your Four wheels a good exercise go further along the Dukhan coastline and discover more. The beaches are rocky in most of the areas, it is really painful to walk on them barefoot and shallow. But you can spot Brown Pelican birds here and there. Dukhan has lower temperatures than Doha which makes it a little more cooler.  The township which is highly secured but accessible is a beauty on its own. The township boasts of  amazing facilities like Recreational Clubs, Restaurants, Fitness centres, Parks, Hilltop views, an open Zoo where Oryx and Deers wander about freely.

 

 

Dukhan is also home to some of the most breathtaking sunset views in Qatar.

 

Most of my pictures are old. I used to not take so many pictures before blogging. I loved absorbing the beauty into my heart and used to forget to take pictures. But now, I take thousands of pictures! I could go on writing about Dukhan. Dukhan will always be so dear to my heart and I highly recommend this place if you haven’t been there yet.

Did you visit Dukhan or are planning to do so? If you need any guidance let me know. Can’t wait to go back again.

With love

Sahar.