Best known for being unknown, Qatar has a habit of falling off the world’s radar-in facet, it only started issuing tourist visas in 1989. Foreign maps of Arabia drawn before the 19 th century don’t show the Qatar peninsula, and most people in the West don’t even known where it is. Fewer still can pronounce it (somewhere between ‘cutter’ and ‘gutter’). Travel to this thumb-shaped country in the Persian Gulf and you’ll find of ritzy hotels, ancient rock carvings, enormous sand dunes and distinctive architecture. You can catch troops of traditional dance performers wearing costumes resplendent with jewellery. There’s the opportunity for amazing desert excursions, or if greenery and shade are what you’re after, you can stroll along the lovely 7km coastal cornice in Doha.

November to March for milder weather-or during the Stone Age when the inhabitants of the region experienced a more forgiving climate than today

Marvelling at the sea turtles at the Aquarium in the Qatar National Museum in Doha Looking at a restored traditional Qatari at the Ethnographic Museum in Daha Taking in the amazing view of the ocean from the mosque in Al-khor Wandering through the ancient fort at Al-Zubara Watching the locals haggling at the markets

Read Arabian Time Machine: Self-Portrait of an Oil State by Helga Graham, a collection of interviews with Qataris about their lives, culture and traditions

Listen to The Music of lslam: Volume 4, recorded in Qatar featuring traditional melodies played on the oud, a traditional stringed-instrument

Watch Qatar: A Quest for Excellence made by Greenpark Productions, exploring the life and culture of Qatar through evocative visual images and music

Eat labneh, a kind of yoghurt cheese often from goat’s milk matchbous, rice served with spiced lamb or wara enab, stuffed vine leaves

Drink qahwe, spiced Turkish coffee; or fruit juices

Salaam (hello)

Traditonal houses; the Arabian oryx;’ sand dunes; ancient forts; traditional Bedouin weaving; old watchtowers; palm-lined seashores; rambling souks; easygoing people; sandstorms; fierce heat; lslamic culture; coastal towns; historical museums

Aladdin’s Kingdom-the only amusement park in the gulf with a serious roller coaster’ camel races at Al-Shahhainiya, a popular sport

Qatar is primarily a Bedouin culture, and the tribal ethos is still strong in modern society. Bedouins (being nomads) had a culture traditionally based on poetry and song rather than buildings or art. However, the practical art of weaving has produced some beautiful Bedouin artifacts. Traditional Qatari dress is charaterised by gold or silver embroidery, known as al-zari or al-qasab.