CNN —Out in the hot, shimmering desert sands of western Qatar, something alien, colossal and very weird looms over the horizon. The steel plates, located across a kilometer of desert on Qatar’s Zekreet Peninsula, are the work of Richard Serra, an American artist known for creating imposing metalwork sculptures. While hardly overrun, “East-West/West-East” has become a place of occasional pilgrimage for locals, tourists and art devotees alike, adding to a roster of Qatar desert activities that includes dune bashing, Bedouin camps and camel treks. While there’s plenty to take in at “East-West/West-East,” the artwork isn’t the only attraction the Zekreet Peninsula has to offer. Somewhat more mysterious – in appearance at least – are the “desert mushrooms” of Qatar, another few kilometers along the peninsula.

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