[MUSIC PLAYING]
JASON MOJICA: Hi, it's Jason.
I'm in Doha, Qatar.
I was in town to screen the Vice Guide to Congo at the Al
Jazeera International Documentary Festival, which
was taking place in one of the oldest buildings in Doha--
the Sheraton.
And while it was a nice place, in a Logan's Run sort of way,
I wanted to get out and see what else Doha had to offer in
the categories of food, sports and culture.
Qatar is a tiny little country jutting out from Saudi Arabia.
Thanks to its plentiful natural gas reserves, it is
the wealthiest nation on earth.
What is your name?
JASON MOJICA: Nasam Bashir.
A friend of mine told me about a shawarma
place called Mara Mara.
JASON MOJICA: OK, can we go there?
NASAM BASHIR: Yeah.
JASON MOJICA: Are we going to be stuck in traffic?
JASON MOJICA: We drove out to Old Airport Road to a place
that I'm almost positive was not the place
my friend had suggested.
But you know, sometimes you just gotta go with the flow--
especially when the meter's running.
A friend of mine told me that this is the
best shawarma in Doha.
Is it true?
Of course it's true.
JASON MOJICA: In my experience it's the Lebanese who make the
best shawarma on the planet, so I was a bit skeptical.
Hey, hey.
What?
JASON MOJICA: Beef?
MALE SPEAKER: Yes.
JASON MOJICA: I was shocked.
It was probably the best shawarma I'd ever had--
ever.
Holy shit, that is good.
I can't stop swearing, it's so good.
It's so good.
It's amazing.
Nope, definitely not the place my friend recommended.
It had been nearly 24 hours since I'd had a drink, and
that needed to change.
But that was something easier said than done.
So here in Doha, just to get a simple drink, you actually
have to join a club and present your passport and get
an ID card made.
But in a country where a drink can be hard to find, it's
worth the trouble.
Now, you could go to one of the expense tourist
hotels for $20 beers.
But I wanted to see where some of the zillion foreign workers
who made Doha function hang out.
Sometimes, though, you have to be careful what you ask for.
The only women were on the stage.
But the real talent was on the dance floor, where men dance
with other men, and it really wasn't gay at all.
No, really, not at all.
[DANCE MUSIC PLAYING]
We're going to go try and see some camels.
This city looks like a chess set
designed by retarded children.
Now, it wasn't just camel racing that had drawn us out
into the desert, but the promise of
camels jockeyed by robots.
[ARABIC]
robot jockey?
[SPEAKING ARABIC]
JASON MOJICA: There's a race?
Is there a race today?
[SPEAKING ARABIC]
JASON MOJICA: No races today?
Is there a coaching practice?
JASON MOJICA: We certainly weren't going to let a
knowledgeable local stand in the way of finding robot camel
jockeys, so we pressed on.
Holy shit, these camels are tied to sandbags.
Hi, camel.
So we came here to see some camel racing, because we were
told that it was a crazy, crazy scene, and that the
camels were raced by robots.
And if you have camels and robots in the same sentence, I
get very, very excited.
And we've only found the camels, and there are no
robots anywhere.
What kind of future is this?
You all right?
You ready?
I don't know that he's much happier than me.
Oh!
OK.
All right, so Doha isn't the most exciting
place in the world.
But I'd happily trade the quote unquote "excitement" of
a place like Egypt for the blandness of Doha.
That is, so long as they keep making the best fucking
shawarma I have ever had in my life.
[CLASSICAL MUSIC PLAYING]