The sun was actively climbing its peak, the air was starting to warm, slowly eroding the cold feeling from hand palms and face strokes.
I left Al Ghanim Bus Station…..
“Hello, Filippino”, three Qataris Mowasalat officers greeted me at terminal gate .
“Hi, Sir”, I briefly answered while thinking “Thank God I was blessed with a magical face which fits faces of various Asian nations”. Made me like an adaptable chameleon.
Al Ashat Street wasn’t longer spitting dust, now dust was be a collection of fine particles which shroud every corner of street. The dusty streets of Qatar, cann’t be justified as “dirty”, that is precisely what is an identity of gulf countries which tourists can enjoy.
Every high-rise building on either side of road was uniformly brown in color, just like Kuwait, which I had seen from the air a few days earlier.
By now I was at an edge of Banks Street, a three-lane main street on each side and separated by a stainless wire fence with colorful hydroponic flowers at base of fence. This main road smoothly flowed without traffic jams.
I was a little wary when crossing on Ali Bin Abdullah Street because vehicles flow was so fast and certainly not coming from the right, like road flows in Indonesia. Even I haven’t crossed yet, I must look to both sides of street, traumatized by stories in the past that only inches would be struck by a car in Phnom Penh and Bandar Seri Begawan.
At the end of second block, at small lane of Al Tarbiya Street, I turned right to find Al Fanar Mosque, a worship building integrated with Abdullah Bin Zaid Al Mahmood Islamic Cultural Center.
That isn’t the topic of discussion this time. But on a two-story square building filled with signboards on its ground floor. This is one of the oldest shopping malls in Qatar. Famous in 1970s era, Souq Faleh is still a special choice for Qatari citizens to shopping. Maybe Souq Faleh had a heyday that coincided with Sarinah Thamrin Plaza in Jakarta.
This is a mix of traditional market and modern mall. Its small shape and the existence of bargaining activities are traditional market characteristics, while the large mall building is its modern side.
In general, this shopping center provides stalls selling Abaya (Middle Eastern women’s clothing), good quality perfumes, cell phones, watches, golds and silver jewelry, office stationery and children’s toys.
Let’s took a peek at some spots at Souq Faleh:
In connectivity side, Souq Faleh can be easily reached by anyone, because it’s located near Al Ghanim Bus Station and Souq Waqif MRT Station. There is nothing wrong to stopping here because of its strategic location which is flanked by Souq Waqif and Doha Corniche.
This short visit to Souq Faleh was closed by the sound of adzan which coming from Domes Mosque. An old mosque which located about 100 meters at the east of Souq Faleh.
Let’s pray Dzuhur first!
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