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A typical view here – cranes, exposed building sites, and the yellow ball of fire called the sun.

Was glancing at Seven Pillars of Wisdom by TE Lawrence again and fear I may have been too dismissive in an earlier entry. He may not be up there with Joyce and Eliot, but he did have something. In between the endless treks across the desert and the many descriptions of sand in all its […]

Was glancing at Seven Pillars of Wisdom by TE Lawrence again and fear I may have been too dismissive in an earlier entry. He may not be up there with Joyce and Eliot, but he did have something. In between the endless treks across the desert and the many descriptions of sand in all its […]

Even my camera is feeling the heat (and humidity) as you can see from this picture.On a good day, it’s 38 degrees; at lunchtime on a really hot day 43-45 is the norm. But it’s the humidity that really kills ya – you feel as if you’re breathing in custard and you squirt sweat from […]

What’s the guy doing on the roof? A more typical scene from this town … As you can probably gather from the pictures on this blog, the part of Doha where I live is dusty, grubby and dull. However it is within walking distance of the sea and of two decent supermarkets. The glory of […]

What’s the guy doing on the roof? A more typical scene from this town … As you can probably gather from the pictures on this blog, the part of Doha where I live is dusty, grubby and dull. However it is within walking distance of the sea and of two decent supermarkets. The glory of […]

From a recent court case: A man, clearly immune to personal embarrassment, told the police that as he was leaving a restaurant, a stranger approached him and said he knew magic. By reciting the holy Quranic verses, he could double the cash the man had in his wallet merely by touching it. Not only did […]

Here it is – the only tree left on P*lm Island, a sand bar transformed into a nice day’s excursion from the Corniche by the addition of a luxuriant covering of – what else? – palm trees.But then came a problem. Beach volleyball, featuring scantily clad women, is going to feature at a forthcoming major […]

Another view of where I live Only 15 days to go and I’ve got my ticket! Originally there was a problem getting me on the August 31 flight, with no ordinary seats available until September 12. My kind bosses here decided to update me at a cost of Eu250-ish. Since my visa expires on September […]

Another view of where I live Only 15 days to go and I’ve got my ticket! Originally there was a problem getting me on the August 31 flight, with no ordinary seats available until September 12. My kind bosses here decided to update me at a cost of Eu250-ish. Since my visa expires on September […]