Al Khor: No Woman No Cry Land

This past weekend we got a call from our friends Firas and Myriam to go on an adventure! They knew of a town called Al Khor with beautiful beaches about 20 min from Doha and wanted to take a little cruise up there to check it out.

At the sound of a beach, we were in! So Friday morning (work week is just Sun-Thurs) we got up and just as we were putting on our swim suits we saw that it was not so beachy of a day. The weather was more mild ( about 70 degrees) so we decided to still go but more to explore instead. 

It is wild how just a 20 min drive can take you so far across Qatar. I always forget just how little this country really is! 

So off we went! 

I can't forget to mention how scenic drives through Qatar are either. We got to see the city where the FIFA World Cup will be played. (don't let its beauty shock you) 

We saw the arena used for the World Handball Championship last month. ( actually a pretty cool stadium! But man was it smack dab in the middle of no where!) 

And alas, we had made it!

The city gates of Al Khor! 

Inside we noticed one thing right off the bat.

Men.

Yes men. 

All types of men! Fat men, skinny men, tall men, small men -- they were everywhere!! 

But you know what we didn't see? 

WOmen 

NONE!! 

We passed the city mall, little strip centers and still NO WOMEN. 

It was very strange. 

So we did as planned and continued to explore a bit. We drove by the coast and it was definitely not any sort of exceptional beach so we decided to try and grab a bite to eat.

Firas had the idea to go by one of the "beach resorts" in hopes of finding both the beaches seen in pictures as well as some food. It was a neat idea, one that I would have never thought of! 

The resort he found was beautiful. 

Lots of pictures of the king and his son. ( pictures of these two are literally plastered every in this country!) 

A quite large cafe with the sky painted on he ceiling. 

Then out the back there were tons of pools and places to lounge. ( you can see here that the weather just wasn't lending itself to swim trunks and bikinis ) 

Some dorks posing on a bridge 

Can someone please help this girl with her unibrow? 

Then beach! 

Total empty without a single footprint. Ahh it is like fresh snow that no one has touched and you cant help but jump in! I threw my shoes off and went to frolic -- the others let me have my moment then we headed back up to the resort. 

Since we werent so sure how reasonable the prices on lunch here would be we opted to check out the Al Khor Mall! 

On our way we saw this Qatarian McDonalds-- two stories?? .. Must have an elevator, who in their right mind wants to walk up stairs when you have  a Big Mac to chow down on?! 

They also have delivery! For those who don't want to even risk having to walk up the stairs lol 

The mall was nice and quite populated 

Starbucks is always cool to see in different countries 

Then omg again with he stairs! As you can see here, for Qatarians the true purpose of stairs is for sitting. Escalators are for cramming yourself into to go up lol 

Notice all of the MEN! 

It don't take long before the MEN factor started to get to Firas and he suggested we get the heck outta there and go eat somewhere normal. lol 

Turned out to be a great option because back in Doha there is a delicious coffee, "sweeties" and "beekies" ( aka desert) cafe. It is called Cafe Vergnano 1882 and has the most DIVINE Caramel Macciato 

And Moccocino 

And gooey chocolate filled double chocolate muffins! 

Omg so we totally pigged out-- no judgement! 

I also love how they mark the plate with a "1882" in powdered sugar. 

It was such a fun day. I am so far over the moon and beyond thankful to have met Firas and Myriam. They are literally hilarious, totally adventurous and they might be the first couple we have met to actually love travel more than we do! Ha 

PLUS they are having their wedding ceremony in just about a month in ITALY. Way to one up us on every angle guys!! Haha jk y'all are the best 💕

On the way home we joked that maybe the people in Al Khor really do have it all figured out. "No women no cry" and they don't have a tear in sight! 

Shokran & Gig Em!