The Yemeni Honey Man

Well there’s this section of Doha that is so interesting. It is called the Karhaba District. We first went there shortly after I got here to go to a lovely Indian Restaurant called The Garden. Well we got lost and loster and then finally we found it. After several more attempts, we have learned to get to this district easily ... with only the occasional screw-up. The district is largely Indian-seeming and has narrow streets lined with shops selling fabric and sarees and jewellery and musical instruments and sweets and bread and honey. There is a little shop that sells Yemeni honey and it has become a favourite destination.

I was interested in Yemeni honey because the day before we went to Al Karhaba, I got a note from my friend Arlene about the virtues of Sidr honey from the mountains of Yemen and its amazing ability to fight infections, especially sinus and respiratory infections ... even killing MRSA bacteria – the superbug!

Sidr honey is pretty costly ... could be the most expensive honey in the world. It comes from the Hadramaut Mountains in the Southwestern Arabian Peninsula, where it is harvested only twice per year. The honey is from bees who feast only on the pollen of the Sidr tree. The Sidr tree is considered by many to be a holy tree and is one of the most resilient, ancient tree varieties in the area. In fact the newest large health facility here in Doha is called the Sidra Medical and Research Center. Sidr honey is reputed to have many medicinal benefits and has an unusually high level of antioxidants, as well as a rich, unforgettable taste.

So Mr Hussein Hytham Askar has tea, ginseng, honey, honeycomb, baskets and who-knows-what-else in his small shop on Al Karhaba. He is a very entertaining guy, who is likely to give you a high five or a very complicated handshake upon entering his shop. He will often have customers sitting near his desk, trying out different types of honey and he mixes special potions. He has at least two cell phones on the go and is always interspersing his various activities. One time I was in his store and he was mixing in a light powder about half and half with the honey for a man who had come in the shop. With some difficulty I was trying to figure out what he was mixing in and I thought it might be ginseng ... he laughed and laughed and said ... no .... for his fourth wife he needs ginseng ... right now, he has a cough! Finally we determined he was mixing in powdered ginger! Mr. Hussein really likes Errol and always compliments him on his Arabic. Yesterday we went and got a daughter discount ... he had us all in stitches. Today we went to Souq Waqif and met his son and little granddaughter Anoud.

Well we recently learned that the Karhaba District will start to be torn down, starting January 1. What a shame ... it is such a vibrant and interesting area and so full of life. Most of the Indian shopkeepers we spoke to the other day were not very happy and felt there was little compensation if any. One store, called Bombay Silk, which has the most beautiful fabrics and lovely sarees and shalwar kameez will be given nothing according to the owner. Some owners will be offered shops in the Souq Waqif, where their rents will be considerably higher. We feel very sorry for everyone concerned. And it is a densely populated area, with lots of small and inexpensive apartments, so of course there will be many people dislocated and needing to find other accommodation. On the weekends, the area is inundated with bachelors, who can get food from Kerala, Goa, Punjab – in fact, all parts of South Asia. So, where will they all go?

Mr Hussein may be better off ... he says he will be happy in Souq Waqif and there will be lots of parking. Who knows? We will miss Al Karhaba with its sights, sounds, smells, and vitality!