Wheels
I have wheels! Just a rental car until we leave for England on the 1st September, but at least we're now mobile and not having to rely on taxi's and other people!
You'd think a hire car would be simple? Not here! I put in a request through the system at work for a car (big car for safety reasons). It took a few days to be approved, I received an Email from our travel desk saying they had booked a (small) car, but it wasn't certain that they had one available and they weren't sure if an international license was required and I had to go to the airport to pick up (outa town). I replied and asked them to book me a bigger car as the roads here are dangerous, check availability and the license as I didn't want to go all the way to the airport to be told 'no'! Received a mail back saying they had booked a bigger car, Dutch license no problem and availability confirmed. Checked the confirmation, they had booked me a 15 seater van at QAR10,000 per week (about 2k). Anyway, I thought I'd change that at the airport and off I went. You can rent a car on a Dutch license, but only for a week and only if you do it within seven days arrival. At this point, we had been here 10! Hertz told me to go to the traffic department for a temporary Qatar driving license. All I needed was my passport. Off I went the next day. The traffic department dude couldn't read the visa number in my passport, so I had to go back to the airport to the immigration office to verify the number. Also, it seems, even for a temporary license, you require a form, letter from your sponsor, eye test and photographs. Letter and form were completed for me by our partner (another day gone as the Sheikh wasn't around to sign), then off to the shopping centre for an eye test which took 60 seconds and cost me QAR30 (a fiver). Back to the traffic department, all going smooth, but the machines wouldn't accept any of my cards (I have Qatar account, American Express and Visa, all working) so I had to go to another desk to pay cash which was then loaded on to a special card which you can use for all government transactions. Anyway, eventually I got the license, it expires on the 6th September (the day we fly back from the UK), but it meant I could get a car for the remainder of this trip.
Back to the airport once more, cancel the van, rent a VW Jetta. Automatic (OMG) never driven one before; managed to stutter out of the car park with about 50 Hertz men watching me and sweating (them, not me in case you were wondering).
Surprisingly I managed to find my way straight to the office via the Corniche (great views) and it wasn't as scary as I had thought (Doha is the worst traffic I have ever seen, although I've never been to India) although the automatic is taking some getting used to; I keep wanting to press the clutch and change gear (weird). Getting home I took a slight detour, but from there, I managed to find my friend's house fairly easy (NJ had a playdate with Adam today).
All in all, another eventful day in Doha, it's weekend now thank crunchie!
You'd think a hire car would be simple? Not here! I put in a request through the system at work for a car (big car for safety reasons). It took a few days to be approved, I received an Email from our travel desk saying they had booked a (small) car, but it wasn't certain that they had one available and they weren't sure if an international license was required and I had to go to the airport to pick up (outa town). I replied and asked them to book me a bigger car as the roads here are dangerous, check availability and the license as I didn't want to go all the way to the airport to be told 'no'! Received a mail back saying they had booked a bigger car, Dutch license no problem and availability confirmed. Checked the confirmation, they had booked me a 15 seater van at QAR10,000 per week (about 2k). Anyway, I thought I'd change that at the airport and off I went. You can rent a car on a Dutch license, but only for a week and only if you do it within seven days arrival. At this point, we had been here 10! Hertz told me to go to the traffic department for a temporary Qatar driving license. All I needed was my passport. Off I went the next day. The traffic department dude couldn't read the visa number in my passport, so I had to go back to the airport to the immigration office to verify the number. Also, it seems, even for a temporary license, you require a form, letter from your sponsor, eye test and photographs. Letter and form were completed for me by our partner (another day gone as the Sheikh wasn't around to sign), then off to the shopping centre for an eye test which took 60 seconds and cost me QAR30 (a fiver). Back to the traffic department, all going smooth, but the machines wouldn't accept any of my cards (I have Qatar account, American Express and Visa, all working) so I had to go to another desk to pay cash which was then loaded on to a special card which you can use for all government transactions. Anyway, eventually I got the license, it expires on the 6th September (the day we fly back from the UK), but it meant I could get a car for the remainder of this trip.
Back to the airport once more, cancel the van, rent a VW Jetta. Automatic (OMG) never driven one before; managed to stutter out of the car park with about 50 Hertz men watching me and sweating (them, not me in case you were wondering).
Surprisingly I managed to find my way straight to the office via the Corniche (great views) and it wasn't as scary as I had thought (Doha is the worst traffic I have ever seen, although I've never been to India) although the automatic is taking some getting used to; I keep wanting to press the clutch and change gear (weird). Getting home I took a slight detour, but from there, I managed to find my friend's house fairly easy (NJ had a playdate with Adam today).
All in all, another eventful day in Doha, it's weekend now thank crunchie!
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