Yesterday, a friend of mine and I went to Souq Waqif to run a few errands. We were wandering in and out of shops for about 30 minutes when Esther said she needed to stop into an ATM booth to get some more cash. She casually said, "come in here with me, its got A/C." When I stepped into the glassed off booth, she pointed out an Indian man who was standing next to the booth on his cell phone scratching his privates. She said that she has noticed him when we came out of each of the last 3-4 shops and she thinks he is following us. Sure enough, when we came out of the glass booth, he wasn't waiting to go in, he started walking along behind us. I noticed that although the phone was up to his ear, he wasn't ever talking into it.
We went up an alleyway to drop off a necklace that I had bought Natalie that broke the first time she wore it to be repaired. They said it would take about 30 minutes. As we walked back out of the alley, sure enough, there was the Indian guy again. We walked down to the coffee shop that we like to go to and sat right out front so we could keep an eye on this guy. He stood there at the corner of the eating area pretending to be on his phone again and just stared at us. Esther looked at him and mouthed "go away" and waved him off but he just kept staring. How RUDE! Anyway, eventually he walked off but I noticed that he was standing down the block from the restaurant watching. As soon as we paid and left the restaurant, he took up his following again. There is a police station there and we walked up to the side of it where several local policemen were standing around. We noticed the man went around the other side of the police station. We thought maybe that was enough to scare him off so we went on to check and see if Natalie's necklace was finished. It wasn't, but while we were in the shop, the man working the shop across the alley came over to us and said "there is man following you and waiting for you at the bottom of the alley. You need to tell the police." That was enough to tell us we weren't crazy if even another shop owner noticed the man.
We walked up to the guys standing outside the police station and tried to tell them that we were being followed. Of course, they didn't speak any english. They walked us over to the tourist and info center. A man there was able to understand us and walked us back into the police station to translate for us. We were escorted upstairs into the head guy's office. He explained that he would have 2 of his officers follow us discreetly so we could point out the man to them. This was getting really interesting! Now we were going to walk through the souq with a secret police escort! Exciting!
Of course, when we exited the police station and began wandering through the souq again, the man had disappeared and we never saw him again. We described him to the police as an Indian man with a striped shirt and khaki pants/trousers, but noticed that there were tons of indian men wearing striped shirts. We picked up the necklace and ran more errand then thanked the policemen and went to the car.
I have never felt unsafe in the souq or anywhere else in Qatar until this incident but I will definitely not go to the souq alone now.
We went up an alleyway to drop off a necklace that I had bought Natalie that broke the first time she wore it to be repaired. They said it would take about 30 minutes. As we walked back out of the alley, sure enough, there was the Indian guy again. We walked down to the coffee shop that we like to go to and sat right out front so we could keep an eye on this guy. He stood there at the corner of the eating area pretending to be on his phone again and just stared at us. Esther looked at him and mouthed "go away" and waved him off but he just kept staring. How RUDE! Anyway, eventually he walked off but I noticed that he was standing down the block from the restaurant watching. As soon as we paid and left the restaurant, he took up his following again. There is a police station there and we walked up to the side of it where several local policemen were standing around. We noticed the man went around the other side of the police station. We thought maybe that was enough to scare him off so we went on to check and see if Natalie's necklace was finished. It wasn't, but while we were in the shop, the man working the shop across the alley came over to us and said "there is man following you and waiting for you at the bottom of the alley. You need to tell the police." That was enough to tell us we weren't crazy if even another shop owner noticed the man.
We walked up to the guys standing outside the police station and tried to tell them that we were being followed. Of course, they didn't speak any english. They walked us over to the tourist and info center. A man there was able to understand us and walked us back into the police station to translate for us. We were escorted upstairs into the head guy's office. He explained that he would have 2 of his officers follow us discreetly so we could point out the man to them. This was getting really interesting! Now we were going to walk through the souq with a secret police escort! Exciting!
Of course, when we exited the police station and began wandering through the souq again, the man had disappeared and we never saw him again. We described him to the police as an Indian man with a striped shirt and khaki pants/trousers, but noticed that there were tons of indian men wearing striped shirts. We picked up the necklace and ran more errand then thanked the policemen and went to the car.
I have never felt unsafe in the souq or anywhere else in Qatar until this incident but I will definitely not go to the souq alone now.
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