Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Omani Market
SOUQ
OFFLINE MAP
(Wholesale Market St; 10am-1pm & 4-7pm)
This small market, near the Thursday/Friday Market,
offers a curious mishmash of items, such as Saudi dates and hand-woven baskets, Omani
dried fish, tobacco and lemons, Iranian honey and pots, camel sticks and incense, and
fronds of pollen-bearing date flowers (to fertilise the female date palms). Buying anything
here renders the satisfaction of taking part in a trade that has existed between Oman and
the Gulf for centuries.
Animal & Bird Market
SOUQ
OFFLINE MAP
(Salwa Rd; 10am-1pm & 4-7pm)
Located behind the colourful Wholesale Market (selling
wholesale fruit, vegetables, meat and fish), it comes alive with local Qatari families just
before the
eid
holidays.
DON'T MISS
FALCONRY
If you want a glimpse of heritage alive and well today, don't miss the Falcon Souq (
Click here
)
. You only have to
see the scale of the souq, afforded its own traditional arcaded building off Souq Waqif, to understand the place of
falconry in Qatari society. It can be quite unnerving entering a falcon shop. Birds, some hooded in black leather,
others watching intelligently with wary eyes, perch on the open railing at a hand's distance, waiting to be taken
home, fed less than a square meal and put straight to work.
Falconry is an ancient art that dates at least from the 7th century BC. The first falconer, according to Arabic
tradition, was a violent king of Persia who was so entranced by the grace and beauty of a falcon taking a bird on
the wing that he had it captured so he could learn from it. What he learnt, according to legend, changed him into a
calm and wise ruler.
It is no easy task to train birds of prey. Bedu, the falconers par excellence, traditionally net their falcons (usu-
ally saker or peregrine) during their migration, using pigeons as bait. They train the birds through complex sched-
ules of sleep deprivation and sparse feeding, retain them for as long as it takes to harvest fresh meat, and then set
them free again at the onset of summer.
It is estimated that 2000 falcons are still employed on the Arabian Peninsula each year. Today, birds are more
usually bred and 'imprinted' from hatchlings to create a bond that lasts a lifetime. Sporting achievement is meas-
ured not through the number of quarry caught but in the skill of the catch - and in the wisdom of leaving enough
prey for tomorrow.
Activities
Dhow Ride
BOAT TOUR
