AL KHOR, Qatar (AP) — For scores of foreign soccer fans, the road to the World Cup in Doha starts every morning at a barren campsite in the middle of the desert.
Visitors who found hotels in central Doha booked up or far beyond their budget have settled for the faraway, dust-blown tent village in Al Khor, where there are no locks on tents nor beers on draft.
Others simply wanted an adventure. On Wednesday a DJ blasted electronic dance music around a fire pit as a smattering of fans lounged on beanbags, sipped sodas and gazed up at big screens roughly an hour from Doha.
“I’m here because I couldn’t find anywhere else,” said Haidar Haji, a 27-year-old architectural engineer from Kuwait. He said it was a pain to trek into Doha every morning from the tent village, but he had no other option. “The hotels were just too expensive. It was crazy.”
Even so, Al Khor fan village is not cheap. Haji said he’s paying $450 a night for his sparse makeshift shelter, which authorities advertise as a “perfect destination for a truly enjoyable and lavish stay.” The tents are equipped with plumbing and basic furniture. The site has a swimming pool and upscale Arabic restaurant.
From the moment that Qatar was named host of the World Cup, fears mounted over how the tiny country would find rooms for the massive influx of 1.2 million fans — equal to almost one-third of the population.
Qatar’s frenzied building program delivered tens of thousands of rooms through new hotels, rented apartments and even three giant cruise ships. But soaring prices have forced many thrifty fans into remote desert campsites and giant fan villages in Doha’s outer reaches, including one near the airport consisting of corrugated box rooms.
At Al Khor Village, many fans complained about the isolation, and lack of alcohol. “Honestly, you can find more alcohol in Tehran,” said Parisa, a 42-year-old Iranian oil worker who declined to give her last name, citing the political situation in Iran. She was gazing into space in the campsite common area, and said she had little idea how to fill her time. Doha’s swanky hotel bars were miles away. “We thought they would open up more for the foreigners to have fun.”
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