Home to Al Jazeera and site of the UN Climate Change Conference 2012, Doha, Qatar, is a mind-bending place to stop, en route from Asia, and spend 48 hours immersed in double-culture shock. The journey begins on plush Qatar Airways, recently awarded Best Airline in the World, where Qatari families—women in burkas and men in the impeccable dishdash—may be traveling with falcons chained to their wrists (falconry is a hugely popular activity in the region). In the business lounge at the Doha airport, endless varieties of sumptuous global cuisines are served up to a cast of characters that seem to have stepped from the pages of a John Le Carre novel. The city itself, with its constellation of five-star hotels and spas, is a vast construction site in the desert, expanding at an unprecedented rate to keep up with rapid economic development. The exquisite Sunday brunch at the Ritz-Carlton Doha is a weekly fresh food feast for expats and Qataris alike, with its fusion of Western, Middle Eastern and Asian cuisines. (Take a peek at the nearby pool scene, where burkaed Qataris co-exist with bikinied Brits.) Visit the Ritz spa for A Perfect Date, featuring a full-body mask, hand-mixed, from fresh dates, milk and honey. Then get lost in the maze of alleyways and shopping at Souk Wakif, where you can find, literally, anything. But whatever you do, do not miss the dazzling Museum of Islamic Art, designed by I.M. Pei, with a gorgeous view of the city, above. ritzcarlton.com/doha