Life in Transit...

It’s almost 11pm in Doha.
Just where is Doha you ask? In the state of Qatar.
Where?
Admittedly I had no idea where Doha was either, until I learned I had a 7 hour layover here. Doha is the capital city of the State of Qatar, a sovereign Arab state, located in between Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates, a tiny offshoot of land attached to Saudi Arabia.

landing in Doha

As some of you know, I am here because I’m headed to Africa on a work assignment…(more on that next time),  for now, here’s a little bit of life in transit…
My colleague and I are flying Qatar Airways for our two long-haul flights. Montreal to Doha and then Doha to Johannesburg. And long flights they are – the first was over 10,000km to Doha and from here we flight another 6500km! We left home on Wednesday evening and we will arrive at our final destination on Friday afternoon!

Flying business class is a complete luxury, especially on QA. The seats are very roomy, tons of leg room (not that I need it) and service extraordinaire. The flight attendant assigned to us “Shri” was absolutely sweet and literally tended to our every need. We were welcomed with champagne, had two huge meals (with white table cloths!), and Shri even offered to make our beds for us! It was luxury…wait - did I mention the seats vibrated? They were massage chairs too!

Instructions on how to operate your seat!

 

The business class cabin not even close to being full

Once in Doha, we realized we had SO much time, we decided to explore. Getting visas on the spot is a piece of cake (at least for Canadians it was), approximately $20 USD, a look into their camera and our passports were stamped! Once outside of the terminal we negotiated with a taxi driver to take us for a ride all over the city. We got to see the new and the old and a whole lot of construction. Google “Qatar” and learn that it is an absolute monarchy ruled by the Al Thani family. Qatar was a British protectorate until 1971 and has the world’s third largest natural gas reserves…AND as we saw with all the high end shopping malls, Qatar is the world’s richest country per capita! There’s a lot of money in Qatar. Doha is the capital city and will be home to the 2022 FIFA World Cup (there are ads EVERYWHERE already!).

"New Doha" skyline

Doha Museum

Hanging out at the “Premium Terminal” – no seriously, they have an airport terminal dedicated to their First and Business Class passengers! (my kinda airport!) There is a ton of food here, two buffets, a deli counter and dessert and drink stations sprinkled throughout. So far I’ve managed to only have one meal of foods including: seafood thermador, butter chicken, mulligatawny soup, and a delicious dessert of chocolate mousse and baklava.

  

There are lounge-y type chairs and tables but no beds…There are, however, showers with L’Occitane products! And this is just on the Business Class side! Apparently there is a spa for the first class passengers…maybe next time! :) Apparently the duty free is pretty good here, but I’ve yet to check that out (I know…that’s SO not me!). I still have another hour or so before boarding for our next flight.
This is just the beginning of what I’m sure will be an experience of a lifetime…stay tuned and enjoy it with me!