After nearly a week’s stay in Doha, we finally hit the road again toward Al Samriya. On the way, we stopped at our favorite hypermarket, LuLu, and bought a few goodies for our fridge. (we still feel it’s the most expensive country in the Gulf). After a 30-minute drive, we entered a wealthy sheik’s property through a massive gate. Then, we took a peak at a museum (🎟️ 50 QAR) featuring the sheik’s collection of artifacts dating to prehistory, along with historical objects from the early Islamic era and those in daily use in Qatar until technology took over. Sheikh Faisal handpicked each piece on his travels worldwide, and the entire museum pays homage to Islamic traditions and the Qatari lifestyle.
Sheikh Faisal has spent a lifetime collecting beautiful things. His vast, remarkable collection of artifacts includes carpets, furniture, swords, ancient tapestries, Bedouin outfits, and a whole Syrian house (transported and placed inside the museum). All collections are displayed in an enormous fort-like building, hand-cut from limestone, purely to house all these weird and excellent items.
The seemingly endless displays include dozens of classic American cars, dhows (traditional wooden boats), motorbikes, full-sized stuffed camels, other desert creatures, and controversial pieces such as an elephant’s foot. It took us a good two hours to take everything in. We also got a permit from management to stay overnight on the premises, so again, we could sleep quietly.
Parking location – Al Samriya: 25.350140N 51.260133E (🚻,💦)