Well I arrived safe and sound in Doha, Qatar at what would have been Monday just before noon, Toronto time... and I have a whole new appreciation of the word "hot"!  It had cooled to a balmy 38 degrees Celcius when I landed, and that was after the sun had set!  And that's about where the temperature stayed all night long.

I've now experienced one full day of the desert heat and it truly is like nothing I've ever experienced before!  Basically today was a quiet day - quite literally the soul purpose was to get used to the heat.  I started the day early and went on a walk around the compound on which my friends live, and then we took a drive around Doha.  I spent a couple hours this afternoon in one of the local shopping malls which is where everyone in Qatar hangs out in the middle of the day - they're either at a mall or in their homes.  In many ways the mall wasn't dissimilar from malls we've been in all over the world, but it was wonderful for people watching!  And it's interesting driving around the city (with the car's air conditioning going full blast)... for obvious reasons you don't see a soul walking out on the streets.  I mean, literally no one!

The city comes to life again later in the afternoon and after the sun has set, and many of the little shops etc. that close in the afternoon open again at 4:00 or 5:00 and are open until 8:00 or 9:00 pm.  Even after only one day it's easy to see how I'm going to have to do my sightseeing either before 11:00 am or after 4:00 pm - with down time in the afternoons.

It appears my luggage may have been a little scared of the heat though - whereas I arrived in Doha as scheduled my suitcase apparently wanted more time in Montreal!  It's been found and is on its way to me.  Qatar Airways has promised to deliver it to me at my friend's house, tomorrow if I'm lucky.

No pictures to share with you yet although hopefully I'll have some for you soon.  I didn't take any today ... and the other stumbling block I may have is figuring out how to post photos using the iPad instead of using my computer.  I tried to attach a photo to my last post written at the airport but didn't meet with any success (obviously), so that's going to take some figuring out on my part.  If anyone reading has done it before and knows any tricks please let me know.

In the meantime, at least you know I arrived safely and I'm definitely in a place very different from home!