Just as it would be quite something to watch Michael Jordan quietly prepare for another NBA championship, it is a privileged experience to watch a gang of camels sprint around a seven-kilometer track as their owner rides alongside in his four-wheel-drive Jeep, looking for the superstar in the crowd.

Only a 20-minute drive from the Sheraton, the trip to the track is worth the time. En route you'll find construction everywhere. Not just regular old boring construction. As you get farther away from this conference, you'll witness the creation of magnificent mansions that remind you of the tremendous increase in the standard of living here in Qatar.

Seeing the hundreds upon hundreds of majestic white palaces that are mere weeks from completion, you begin to wonder whether the locals are familiar with "The Beverly Hillbillies," the American television program from the 1960s that depicts the lives of regular folks who struck oil and optimistically moved into a fancy mansion.

Beyond these sand castles, you'll turn off the main drag and find yourself in camel country, where every sign and every store relates to this ancient sport. If you were a camel owner, you'd stop in at one of these dusty shops to purchase the Australian barley that is imported to feed Qatar's thousands-perhaps millions-of camels.

Drive a little farther and you'll know you've reached the right place when you see the fluorescent-helmeted children who play near the entrance of the park. Originally from Sudan, these four-to-six-year-olds are actually professional athletes who are hired to jockey the camels on race day. Their training is year-round, preventing them from attending traditional schools. Once they grow up and gain too much weight to work professionally as jockeys, the children become trainers.

These jockeys, dressed in numbered jerseys, giggle and make funny faces at Western visitors who drive by, slowing their cars to take photographs. One car, filled with adventurous conference attendees is surrounded by children who playfully smile, wink and blow kisses at its passengers. The scene reminds you that-world-class professional athletes or not-these are children and children will make merriment of any situation they can.

Beyond the area where the children wait for training, the track itself is oval in shape, with the race running counterclockwise, but due to its size, the camel is seemingly unaware that he is running in a curve. At the start and finish line there is a small stadium where the Emir and others spectate the event. Here you will find the predictable advertisements that decorate all major stadiums. In this park you'll find ads for Qatar Air, Qatar National Bank, as well as the local Nissan dealer, among others.

The ground is covered with what looks like regular sand. Closer inspection reveals that the "sand" is actually miniature sea shells, a reminder that this was once beach property if not the ocean floor itself.

As flock upon flock of birds fly around the stadium, groups of camels trot around the track. The camels are dressed with mustard-colored cotton cloth that covers their humps. Strapped to them are colorful blankets that serve as saddles for the jockeys to sit. The main group today is doing endurance training, running at three quarter speed. These jockeys are mostly adults, though one child is among the group. They wave their hands hello as they pass, unable to stop for photographs, though they smile broadly as they go.

All in all not much happens at the camel races, unless this is game day, of course. But the trip offers visitors the chance to see local turf and experience a sport that locals value. Of course, you could just spend all your time in the Sheraton, buying food coupons, attending meetings and taking shuttles, but then you couldn't honestly tell your friends you've been to Doha.