If some of these Falcons go for $1 million,
I don't even wanna know how expensive all
those birds in that shop were.
Today, I'm in Doha, Qatar.
I've got a long layover here on my way from Europe to Asia.
So I thought I'd see what markets there are to explore.
And this-- this is Souq Waqif.
It's the main market in town, and it's
got some pretty cool stuff I've never seen before.
Let's go explore.
This is the part of the market that I really came for.
It's the Falconry Souq, falconry market.
Unfortunately, as you can see, there's
not much happening right now.
It's middle of the day.
Everybody's inside resting.
In a couple of hours, everybody will be out.
Here's the other thing I was looking for.
It's the camel stables.
This is not something I've seen anywhere else in the world.
It's really hard to believe how quiet it is right now.
There's just nobody out.
It's like middle of the day.
It's, I don't know, noon, 1:00.
And there's just nobody on the street.
And it's not even that hot.
It's maybe like mid 70s.
So it's-- guess it's just part of the culture here
of everybody takes a midday break and hides out from
the sun and the heat during the summer and just kind
of translates to the wintertime.
I keep feeling like I have to, like, speak softly
because there's so few people around and so little noise.
It's a little eerie.
The Souq was remodeled in 2004, and to be honest, it feels--
I don't know.
It feels a little clean and sterile.
It really kind of feels it was made for tourists.
But I guess locals do hang out here too,
and it is a pretty nice place to hang out regardless
of who it was made for.
Looks like the markets are finally
starting to wake up here.
There are people outside their stalls and goods out,
doors open.
Time to explore.
Behind me is Falconry Souq.
It's a place people come to buy falcons and all the accessories
they need to hunt with them.
Boy-- a lot of birds in here.
I was a little worried that I'd scare them
with the camera lens.
But they're all hooded, so they can't see me anyway.
Those guys in that shop were super nice.
They invited me in for tea and sat down with me
for a little bit and answered a few questions.
They didn't want to be on camera,
but they did answer a key question I had about price.
Are these birds really worth $1 million?
And he said, yeah.
He said, birds range anywhere from like 5,000
riyal all the way up to several million.
It's about 3 and 1/2 riyal to the US dollar.
So I can't believe that.
I can't imagine spending $1 million on a bird,
but I guess some people do.
[INAUDIBLE] ridiculous look.
Making new friends.
What a beautiful bird.
Oh, falcons are way beautiful.
Are you here to fly your bird?
No, no, why to fly?
I hunt with it, but here is the veterinarian
of the falcons, yeah.
OK.
Yeah.
So you're taking it to the vet--
Yeah, yeah, I'm waiting for it to open.
Just for a checkup.
No, no, no, he's ill.
Is this the main veterinarian for the falcons in the area?
Yeah, the biggest one here.
We have a branch of this one and [INAUDIBLE]..
It's a small one for the people there.
Yeah, got it.
But it's better here.
The doctor is better here.
This one is the--
Yeah, got it.
--government one.
What type of bird is he?
He's a mixture between--
A mixture.
--yeah, not a pure.
And so they mix them to be better for hunting?
Is that the idea?
Yeah, the kinds of birds or falcons
depends on what you will use it for.
Like the [INAUDIBLE],, you can use it for smaller birds.
The [INAUDIBLE] is a big one.
It's not like this one.
This one this small.
You can hunt [INAUDIBLE] with this.
[INAUDIBLE] such things like small [INAUDIBLE]..
It's not big [INAUDIBLE].
Yeah, yeah.
Not big [INAUDIBLE].
You are from America?
I am.
You don't have falcons.
You have the eagles.
We have eagles too.
Yeah.
But people keep falcons as pets but not many people.
Just a few.
Yeah, it's a cool hobby.
Yeah, it seems like a cool hobby.
But here in Qatar, it's culture.
Yeah.
Like, I don't like falcons really.
That's for my brother.
I know how to act with falcons, but I don't like it much.
I like horses way better.
Ah.
Way more than the falcons.
Yeah.
Horses are, you know, like--
like our-- I don't know what to say.
They are like brothers to me.
I like them because this country wouldn't be for us if they
wouldn't--
if they was not for us.
Big part of the culture--
Yeah, yeah, it's the biggest part, I guess.
OK.
The Arabian horse is very beautiful.
See how it acts, how it moves.
Very beautiful.
That was pretty cool.
It's pretty clear that life of a young Qatari guy
is different than mine was growing up.
Hopefully his bird is OK and, yeah, it
was a pleasure talking with him.
All the shops that were totally closed before are now
open for business and everything's out on display.
Unfortunately, I got to go catch a flight.
So just as things are starting to warm up here
and I'm seeing all sorts of cool stuff, I have to leave.
So I don't know.
This might bring me back to Qatar at some point.
This is fascinating.
There's just like this deep sense of peace
here as well, calm and tranquility in that
I'm really quite surprised to see.
I expected things to be a little more bustling
and, I don't know, like most of the markets I've been in.
But it's just really calm and relaxed here.
It's pretty cool.
I sure would love to see one of these guys
take their crown out hunting.
Maybe on a future trip here--
we'll see.
I'm Scotty with Strange Parts.
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