Discover Qatar Tour - Dinner in the Desert

Link to Discover Qatar Tour

If there was one thing we really wanted to do in Qatar this time round, it would be to dune bash in the desert and to learn about the Bedouin heritage and Arabic traditions. We had used Discover Qatar a couple of times before in some of the shorter lay overs and they are the tour arm of Qatar Airways and work closely with Qatar Tourism. So this time, we had a few days in Doha and decided to finally book a tour with Discover Qatar to head into the desert. This private tour took us on a 4 wheel drive to dune bash in the desert, visit the inland sea and then finish our night with dinner in the desert.

We started our journey from Mandarin Oriental, Doha, which was where we were staying and picked up by our driver from Discover Qatar. Our driver was early and met us at the reception area before we headed off into the desert. The drive was just over an hour and we stopped by a small camp which was very much a tourist spot to take pictures with falcons and also a camel ride, which my partner was very excited to do. Whilst we did the touristy things, our driver proceeded to deflate the wheels of his 4 wheel drive. Our driver explained that doing this increases the surface area and traction and allows the 4 wheel drive to "float" on the sand.

As we drove through the desert, we saw the many camps that the Qataris have set up as their weekend or holiday camps. It is not difficult at all to understand why this is a wonderful place for a break. I can imagine that everytime you visit, the landscape is ever changing, the vastness and tranquility makes this place just so amazing.

The dunes were dramatic and the dune bashing was really thrilling. It is so hard to capture this but when it came time to dune bash, our driver bumped up the music and then went at it. At points it felt like we were going almost vertically down the dunes, which was exceptionally thrilling. Our driver went at it at seemingly impossible angles, sliding and plunging, which was equally exhilarating as it was unpredictable. Thankfully, through our conversations with our driver, we learnt that he had been dune bashing for a significant part of his career and was a trainer for some of the newer drivers, which was definitely very evident in our drive.

We stopped by the famed inland sea, Khor Al Adaid, which is one of the rare places where the desert meets the sea. Khor Al Adaid is located at the south eastern part of Qatar, on the border with Saudi Arabia. Khor Al Adaid is a UNESCO recognized natural reserve and it is home to wild life. It is possible to stroll along the shore and dip your feet in the water. However, when we were there, there was an incoming sandstorm and everytime we went closer to the waters edge, we could feel the sand hit out faces and legs, which was incredibly painful!

Unfortunately for us, as can be seen in the video, the sand storm was coming in and we couldn't have our dinner outside. However, our driver brought us to the nearby Bedoin camp and it was such a gorgeous place and set up a beautiful dinner for us. As part of our dinner, we had Majboos (Qatar's national dish of a rice pilaf cooked with spiced lamb), a selection of grilled meats, mezze, rice dishes, dessert, juices and arabic coffee. When they feed you in Qatar, they really mean it. There was so much food for the 2 of us, we could have probably had the meal over 3 days.

And with that, our 5 hour adventure into the desert had come to an end. Our lovely driver sent us back to our hotel for the night.

Would We Recommend?

Absolutely yes! It was such a great experience! There is something otherworldly about the Qatari desert, it was a vast expanse where the dunes seem to ripple endlessly into the horizon. We enjoyed the thrill of dune bashing, the vastness and beauty of Qatar and then an amazing middle eastern feast in the middle of the desert.

For those who didnt know, you can get pretty good deals with layover hotels as well as a very reasonably priced transit tour via Discover Qatar if you are flying Qatar Airways. Having done that a couple of times know, we knew that we would be able to get a pretty good experience using Discover Qatar this time round as well.