From the hot tarmac of Doha international airport, the 104-degree heat, clinging humidity, and dusty skyline make the Middle Eastern state of Qatar's capital city appear a rather uninviting and inhospitable place. The broad sweep of the corniche is just visible in the far distance, its skyline slowly being populated by western-style skyscrapers. But around the old town and in the countryside you may be forgiven for thinking that this, one of the world's smallest Arab states, is a rather dusty and introverted place.
