A beautiful place in Qatar you cannot see

Noor Odeh

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By AmerahE

There is an amazing government garden in Qatar that is not open to the public, but ILQ has the scoop. ILQ went on a little field trip to cover a super creative government initiative. While out-and-about, we learned a couple of interesting facts that were too cool not to share. Have fun looking at our pictures and the details and stay-tuned for our story (nerdy hearts everywhere will be excited!).

We went to Um Gharen, which was about 20 minutes outside of Doha. We had a couple of fabulous guides who worked for the government and were very passionate about their work. While walking on the grounds, which are not accessible to the public, we were shocked at how diverse the landscapes in Qatar can be.

It’s one thing to look at a picture taken on a phone, it’s a completely different matter to experience a setting like this first hand. It was so peaceful and quiet, the atmosphere created a calm tranquil feeling in all of us.

The guides then showed us these little berries (below) that they said were traditionally eaten in Qatar. Being daring, we tried them and were surprised to find out they tasted like mini-tomatoes!

Would you believe these plants (that look like scragly twigs below) are the last of their kind in Qatar? Old Arabic Poetry used to revere their scent and appearance. These saplings are almost all that are left in the country.

This is no simple fruit! It was taken from the ancient Lote tree, mentioned both in the Bible and by the Prophet Mohammad (PBUH), this tree and it’s leaves have been spoken and written about for thousands of years.

For those who have never been to Jerusalem or Bethlehem, the picture below delivered a sense of nostalgia to all of us who have come from the region or ever visited it. Although still in Qatar, many of us felt we were all transported back to the holy land.