Yes, This Is Real Life Part 7: Dealing With Dragons

 

View from the DOH-CMB flight

It's the turn-around point!  But first, the story so far:

Yes, This Is Real Life - Preview

Yes, This Is Real Life Part 1 - Location, Location, Location

Yes, This Is Real Life Part 2 - Brits in Beantown

Yes, This Is Real Life Part 3 - Shades On, Wheels Up

Yes, This Is Real Life Part 4 - Welcome To Ghostport

Yes, This Is Real Life Part 5 - When You Layover During Ramadan...

Yes, This Is Real Life Part 6 - Birds In Doha

Welcome to Columbo, for the second time.  Last time I passed through here, I dealt with the trials of getting onward tickets from Sri Lankan for Qatar, and the entirely underwhelming absorptive properties of the towels in the shower at the UL (Sri Lankan airways) lounge.

This time, I had vague plans of actually leaving the airport.  There were a few attractions nearby, and while the CMB airport falls into the 'it's fine' category, it's not an epic lounge destination like HKG.  However, as I went on about previously, mileage runs are trips where you react in the moment to what simply sounds the best.  In this case, what sounded the best....was a nap.  So, we took a nap.

CMB Airport

 As it so happens, CMB is a great place for this because there's a small transit hotel right in the airport that doesn't require clearing immigration to get to.  This was even better, because another large factor in our staying airside was that they wanted someplace around $40 a person for a visa on arrival.  While that's not really all that much in context, it starts to feel obnoxious when there's two of you, and you only really have about 5 hours on the ground to start with.

The transit hotel hallway.  Nothing fancy, but perfect for a nap.

The day rate at the hotel was less than the visa price (bless cheap SE Asia), so we split a room for a shower and a solid couple hours of downtime.  To get there, head toward the exit, past the transit desk and shrine in the center of the terminals, and follow signs to the Hotel.  The rooms aren't anything fancy, but they're clean (enough) and quiet.  The timing couldn't be better for trying to stay away from heavy jetlag, since for 'us' it was still the middle of the night. 



This way...

Feeling better, we did of course go for a little lounge time before our outbound flights.  Here's where some shenanigans started up again.  Now, here's an (exceedingly) rare moment where I'll have to admit I was in the wrong.  I know it's impossible to believe, but stick with me.

The Oneworld rules for lounge access state that a OW Emerald, such as myself, gets 1st class lounge access "when the next onward flight is on a Oneworld owned and operated flight."  The same rule applies to guests.  They don't have to be on your same Oneworld flight, just a Oneworld flight.

There are actually a couple lounges up by the transit hotel, including the Emirates and a small Sri Lankan.  The bigger, better, Sri Lankan lounge is in the main terminal though.

Unfortunately this time, my travel companion and I were preparing to go separate ways after flying together up to this point.  I was headed back to Doha on Qatar, and he was flying back to the US by way of Dubai on an Emirates award ticket.  What this resulted in was us each having good lounge access, just to different lounges, and neither of us could rightly guest the other in.  This is not to say we didn't try at both places.... but it didn't work out.  I was hoping that given that the UL lounge was empty, and he did have his Oneworld card on him, we might slide by.  However, the lounge dragons, after some chatter amongst themselves, thought otherwise. 

As I said, I knew I was in the wrong here going in, so there was no point in protesting.  We said our goodbyes, and each spent a few minutes in our respective lounges before going to our gates. 

Bar at the Sri Lankan lounge.  I like the "airplane" motif.

My time at the lounge was, I'll admit, true to form for my jetlagged-delirious self at this point.  I was nearly the only one there, and there were few staff of any kind.  In a matter of about 30 minutes I managed to spill cylon tea on myself, raid the bar fridge and open my own bottle of champagne, and on account of not reading Tamil well, blow right past the sign that said the buffet was temporarily closed while they changed from lunch to dinner dishes, and help myself to the food, distributing my own serving utensils as I went.  Not super proud, but no regrets either.  Really, they should have let my buddy in as I clearly needed adult supervision.

Yeah.... I went there.

 

I ate whatever this was, even though they weren't serving yet.

After all of that, I said goodbye to Colombo and got back on my next Qatar flight. As was becoming the theme of this amazing weekend, I was once again nearly alone on my flight.  The plane was a 777-200, which Qatar has business class laid out in a 2-2-2 configuration.  On this one I had the entire row of 6 seats behind the bulkhead to MYSELF.  Basically a whole mini business class cabin.  Unreal.

Miiiiiine, all mine...

So I flew out alone, right back to another sleepless night in Doha....

~CruisingAltitude

Up next- A Place Most Exceedingly Rare: My triumphant return to Doha (again), thoughts you didn't ask for about IFE, and a primer on Qatar transit visas.

Yes, This Is Real Life Part 6: Birds in Doha

 

 

Preview: Yes, This Is Real Life

Part 1: Location, Location, Location

Part 2: Brits In Beantown

Part 3: Shades On, Wheels Up

Part 4: Welcome to Ghostport 

Part 5: When You Layover During Ramadan

 

In each of these adventures, there comes a point when I wax poetic about the experience of travel.  So, buckle up, because here it comes....in a minute, once I deal with some logistical preliminaries.  

As discussed in the last post, we spent the first nighttime layover in Doha at the Grand Hyatt.  It's a beautifully sited property at the entrance to The Pearl.  The Pearl, for those who 1, haven't been to Doha, and 2, care, is a man-made land form (I guess is what you'd call it) that spirals out into the gulf.  It is still under construction, if the huge cranes are anything to go by, but is home to a ring of high rise commercial and residential buildings, followed by even more outlying 'islands' that, as far as I can surmise, look to be exclusive residences.  It's best viewed from the air, but the 'gateway' is fairly impressive from the ground.

 Thanks to hotel status, we landed a suite with a great view for the night.  

 Now, let me just back up and say that I had my reservations about trying to check into a hotel in Doha with a person of the opposite sex who I'm not married to.  It might be silly, but the blaring notice that a marriage certificate is required for Qataris gave me pause.  I'm on a mileage run, and ain't nobody got time to spend with the morality police between flights.   

As it worked out, there were no questions, and hardly any side-eye.  I was pleasantly surprised after my last major foray into this town, wherein I learned that at night most people don't walk the streets, especially single western female types.  I didn't feel unsafe really, just out of place.  

After we over indulged at Iftar, and spent a few minutes relaxing at the man-made 'beach' out front, we retired to the room, and realized it was about noon at home and there probably wasn't any sense in trying to adjust to the local time.   So, what're a couple of mileage runners to do?

Step 1- Open the bottle of wine the manager left for us to thank us for our brand loyalty. 

Step 2- Drink it & converse all night about the thrill of flying around the world. 

And on this point I need to expand (you were warned) because there's something existentially beautiful about mileage running.  When you're planning the average, or even above average trip, there is generally an accepted purpose that you try to fulfill- Wine tasting in Napa, or skiing the alps.  You start there, and build the necessary plans around it.  You have a goal, you meet it, you are victorious.  

However, a mileage run is a trip in reverse.  The plans come first.  And I don't mean the plans to go on a snorkel cruise, and then a romantic sunset dinner.  I mean the airline tickets, the layovers, and the one nights hotels- what is usually the most pedantic part of the plans.  The outcome of this is that you aren't beholden to preconceptions, or to anything at all.  If you go and come back, mission accomplished.  Everything else is gravy. 

Which means that, when you and your friend just spend the entire night's layover watching rugby, talking about nothing, drinking wine covertly, and then watching the sun come up over Doha, it's perfect.  There's no sense that you were supposed to do a single thing differently. 

So when at 4am, you start to hear bird calls as you stand looking out from the darkened balcony of your hotel, and your friend says he didn't think there were birds in Doha.....you just laugh and have another drink.  Because sunrise will come all too soon over this expensively camouflaged desert. 

Because yes, there are birds in Doha, as there are the world over.  And yes, they wake up at 4 am, as they do the world over.  And it's beautiful to realize this, when for once your only purpose in life is to know that there are still a few universal truths....and then to you yourself to fly on to your next stop along the way. 

 

And that, is what's up next...

 

Part 6- A Stop in Sri Lanka: Dealing with Dragons or, Ceylon With a Side of Naptime
 

Yes, This Is Real Life Part 5: When You Layover During Ramadan....

The main lobby of the Grand Hyatt.  We've arrived.

The story so far:

Preview: Yes, This Is Real Life

Part 1: Location, Location, Location

Part 2: Brits In Beantown

Part 3: Shades On, Wheels Up

Part 4: Welcome to Ghostport

By way of disclaimer, I fully admit to knowing little to nothing about the tradition of Ramadan outside of some rudimentary comparative religion classes in college, and a couple of weeks of googling what it would be like to be a foreign traveler here during the holy month.  Any of my thoughts/observations are purely based on my outside perspective as a mileage runner spending a weekend bouncing around Middle East airports, and may be completely incorrect. 

On arrival in Doha, the flight crew made an announcement about the holiday, informing passengers against eating, drinking, or smoking in public spaces during the daylight hours.  The airport lounges also were not serving any alcohol at any time, though they did have their regular food service running during the daytime.  We didn't stop at the proper arrivals lounge though, since we had the Grand Hyatt waiting.

When in Doha- Ramadan tent.

Getting into town, the combination of the oppressive summer heat, political travel restrictions, and daytime fasting have made this city feel abandoned.  We checked at the Hyatt in before sundown, and the hotel was quiet.  What's more, almost all of the restaurants were closed.  They had one 'international' restaurant open called 'Santa Monica' which, to a Mileage Runner from LAX, just seems wrong.  However, there was another option....

Having realized about a month ago that we'd be doing our Doha layovers during Ramadan, we decided to make the best of it and take advantage of the lavish evening meals that the bigger hotels here in Doha hold nightly.  They put out huge banquet spreads- multiple salad bars, hot bars, carving stations, and especially over the top dessert bars.  Think 8 flavors of ice cream, pies 3ft across, and chocolate fountains.  They generally have two sittings- around 8pm, and a later time around 10 that goes until 1 or 2 am.  They set up special dining areas in a tent outside, complete with uplighting and music.  Needless to say, we each had several plates and made the most of the experience.

Needless to say, I was glad that the Hyatt also had an impressive gym and pools, both indoor and outside.  However, they were doing some promotional photo shoots of some kind outside, and so we were relegated indoors to swim.

Back up to the gym for a moment though.  I actually went on arrival and actually managed to make myself get a good workout.  (You may applaud here) This being Qatar, they have a separate gym and spa area reserved for women only.  Now, this isn't the norm in the west, but I will note that the other part of the gym was co-ed, so women weren't excluded.  I expected the ladies part to be small, or lacking in equipment, but OH MAN was I wrong.  It was full service, and as the rest of Doha was, empty.  There was even an expansive water spa with steam and sauna.  I could get used to this. 

After that, I felt pretty justified in enjoying my Iftar feast.  It was also fun to be out late (read all night) and to watch the city come alive (or as alive as it was going to get under the circumstances).  By the time we left the tent, the lobby area was full of people relaxing after the meal, and the hookah smoke was thick in the air.  We didn't' go that far down our 'when in Doha' path, have to leave something for the future. 

Up next- We stay up to see the sunrise, and the true meaning of mileage running is understood as we ask the existential question: Are there birds in Doha?

(With a hook like that, how can you not keep reading??)

~CruisingAltitude

Around the World In 80 Hours Part 9: And Then, Everything is Perfect

 

 

How we got here:

 

Mileage Run Preview: Best Worst Decisions

Around the World in 80 Hours Part 1: In The Clear!

 

Around the World in 80 Hours Parts 2 and 3: Over the Ocean, and Past the Arctic....

 

Around the World in 80 Hours Part 4: Hello Hong Kong, My Old Friend

 

Around the World in 80 Hours Part 5: Lounging Like There's No Tomorrow (Because Tomorrow Was Yesterday)

 

Around the World in 80 Hours Part 6: A Day & Night In KL, or, All I Want For Breakfast Is Everything

 

Around the World in 80 Hours Part 7: At Least It's Not Jakarta

 

Around the World in 80 Hours Part 8: Doh-HA!

 

Well, my friends, here it is- the capstone flight to my first around the world trip.  We've come a long way to get here, and in record time.  Now all that's left is to kick back and enjoy the next 12 or so hours. 

 

Once again, Qatar's service is in good form.  The champagne corks are popped before the passengers even board, and they get right down to business when you find your seat- Armani amenity kits, comfortable (and more trendy than AA) PJs, and a menu that takes some time to look over. 

 

 

Yes, 1,000 times yes.  You can just leave the bottle, I'll be fine. Promise.

 

 

What's more, we're getting a first look at QR's new a350.  It's not quite the inaugural flight, but the plane's been in service for less than a year.  It's a snazzy thing, if I do say so myself (though, don't let my hometown hear me actually approving of something not made in Everett).  Qatar's done a good job of their business class cabin design- it's a 1-2-1 all aisle access set up with angle seats that lie flat (of course).  There's a decent amount of privacy, and ample tray table and storage space. 

 

 

Oh...and the cabin ambiance is fun.  There's the LED lighting scheme, not to mention the 'walk up bar' in the middle of the cabin that nicely takes up what would otherwise be dead space, or a spare galley, but also.... there's the ceiling.  They've removed the overhead bins on the inside of the business class aisles, since there's fewer passengers and they're not needed.  This opens up the feel of the cabin, and makes it seem much bigger inside.

 

The a350 being Airbus's rough equivalent of an answer to the Dreamliner, it's always worth making a few comparisons.  Overall, the experience is similar- lighting, modern style, composite materials, and smooth ride.  The differences are in the details- the 350 has snazzy windows with automatic shades, but instead of the dimming screens, they use actual shades that give a nice lighting feel over the blue or bluer scheme of the 787.

 

 

The other comparison you notice right off is the 350's modern winglet design which pairs quite nicely with the insanely terraformed 'coast line' of Doha.

 

Because they can

 So, now that I've set the scene....let the fun begin!  We rolled the runway pretty well on time, and we watched our progress from the HD camera on the plane's tail.  Best. Channel. Ever.

 

 

Like the last flight, everything on Qatar is 'on demand' - food, drinks, everything.  I took full advantage of this, and tried a few things from the menu, to the detriment of my potential sleeping time.  No pain, no gain.

 



 

 

 

Now, I know I post a lot about food and seats and airports, but wait, there's more!  Aside from the little luxuries, the most memorable flights come with unforgettable views that give you a sense of the world as you can't see it otherwise. 

 

 

 

While crossing between Kuwait City and Tehran, I looked out the window to see snow covered mountains on the horizon.  They only got more dramatic as we flew closer.   

 

 

It's flights like this that double windows were made for.  

 

 

It was at about this point that I 'helpfully' reached over the front of my TV screen to tap (some might say smack) my brave travel companion on the head, lest he sleep through these views.  And yes, he thanked me for it.... as everybody should.  How often do you get to see vistas like this between Baghdad and Tehran??  I mean, come on....

 

Only complaint about this plane, and for that matter the 787, is that the modern window controls allows the flight crew to take them over and force all the windows to go black when they think it's "lights out time."  While they really lock down on the 787, it appears to be just a 'hard suggestion' on the 350.  Now, I get that it's annoying if you're trying to sleep, and the guy in 6A's got his shade open like a spotlight.  But honestly, that's what eye masks are for.  They even give them to everyone.  On the off chance that you're on a flight that's largely a 'daylight' one, you should have the option to look out and see where the heck you are. 

 

This flight was a prime example of this quandary.  About the time we crossed over into Europe, the windows went dark until approach into Boston.  Unacceptable.  I'm a grown-up, and I'll decide when it's time for ny-nys, and when it's time for pretending I can tell Sweden and Norway from 31,000ft thankyouverymuch.

 

ANYWAY, I did need to get some sleep on this flight, so I got my PJs on, and my bed made up.  They provide a comforter and mattress pad, which does make a difference.

 

 

After some rest, and browsing through the extensive IFE selections, the lights went back up as we got closer to Boston.  I'll admit, it was pretty surreal to see the other coast of the US come up on the horizon after four days spent flying West.

 

 

 



And with touchdown in my once hometown of BOS, all that's left is the conclusion....

 

~CruisingAltitude

 

Mileage Run Preview: Yes, this is real life.

"Double window addiction"

First off- I finished writing up my Havana trip!!  Final post with all the other links in it here!

Okay, so, I figure at this point that of the people who are reading this blog still at this point, 95% of them have classified me as certifiably crazy, 3% are other mileage runners I've met along the way, and 2% are my Mom and Mrs. CruisingAltitude, although at this point I have good intel...the BEST intel...that they don't even read most of it. 

However, I'm of the opinion that my next mileage run is totally something the average person would entirely enjoy.  It's fully understandable to fly in and out of Doha 3 times in 4 days, right? Right.

Here's how this came about- As you probably didn't read (mostly because it was a whopper of a mileage run, and I haven't finished posting it yet) in February, some brave souls and I flew entirely around the world in 80 hours.  The main flight that got us there was from Columbo, Sri Lanka to Boston via Doha.  It was a round trip booking, but that trip only used half of it, so I have the return flight to take in about a week. This, of course, leaves me 'stranded' in Columbo.  So, what's a mileage runner to do?

Well, go to Cairo, of course.  Okay, sure, Cairo isn't exactly on the way back from Columbo to Los Angeles, but hear me out. Remember when the Egyptian pound got un-pegged and took a tumble last year?  No?  Well, it did.  This suddenly made tickets that booked in that currency 'cheap.'  This is one of the strange hidden benefits of booking tickets that start around the world if you get lucky.  So, I found a very cheap one-way business class ticket from CAI to Houston through Doha on Qatar and booked it.  You have to admit that though Cairo isn't exactly 'on the way' from Sri Lanka, it is at least closer than many other places are.  So, I figured that one way or another I could connect those flights.  It's a doable, but fairly expensive mileage flight since Sri Lanka is considered 'Inidian Subcontinient' and Cairo is considered "Africa" for purposes of Oneworld partner awards, but it was an option. 

Then, as it turns out, the Sri Lankan Rupee wasn't having a great time (I assumed) and Qatar has a lot of capacity and competition from Sri Lankan, which is also a Oneworld partner, out of CMB this year.  What this resulted in was another cheap one-way ticket find a few months later for a business class itinerary from CMB to Cairo through Doha, also on Qatar.

So..... that gets me to and from Columbo with just the need for a couple domestic positioning flights- one to Boston to start it, and one back from Houston to finish it.  Since I have to be in Houston that month for work anyway, the latter takes care of itself this time around.

If you didn't bother to sort out all that nonsense, I can encapsulate it this way- I'm spending the weekend flying around the Middle East and India in business class, spending each night in Doha.  I'm going to have between 8 and 15 hours on the ground inn Doha each night, and about 7 hours in Columbo to actually leave the airport and see a few things.

All in all, it's made up of 5 different itineraries, 9 flights, 7 airports, and only two airlines - American and Qatar.  Should be fun...

"The Pearl" Qatar

So..

Now...

Wait for it....

.....Keep waiting

Okay....yes, what follows is real life.....


Imagine at this point in reading (or as I did, writing) this post you took a break to get on a flight, wait out said flight's delay, fly to Houston, land at 2am, get luggage, Uber to a hotel and pass out for the night.  Then imagine you wake the next morning to an inundation of texts/emails/news alerts blaring that Qatari planes are being banned from one airspace after another indefinitely.  First are Saudis, then the UAE, and next ...of course.... is Egypt.....followed by the Maldives, Mauritius, part of Syria...the list continues...

Well.  This sucks.

Update to now, and it's been a strange week.  I'm currently in the middle of an unrelated work trip, and have had to spend every break trying to call Qatar to get some kind of help with this situation.  I have called the US number probably 20 times, sat on hold for hours, finally broke down and started trying to call their worldwide offices - London, Sydney, you name it.  I even filled out a 'call back' form days ago.  They called me back too late, and the call was actually coming from Doha, so I probably paid a few bucks to tell them so.

I finally, finally, managed to get someone on the phone late yesterday and they hung up on me once they saw my travel plans.  I ....think....it was unintentional.  I eventually got past the point of annoyance and just moved on to disbelief.  The specter of flying to Sri Lanka without knowing how exactly I was getting home, even for me is a little much.  Just a little.

After another hour of hold time, I got someone else on the phone and tried to explain myself.  It was a long explanation.  Fixing one itinerary in this mess is a lot, fixing two when they include a tight turn around in a city they can't fly to is something else entirely.  

I have to give credit where it's due though.  It took over an hour of work, but the agent eventually got it done, though not without putting me on short holds to (I assume) control herself since something about my travel plans she found particularly hilarious.  I can't imagine why.  At one point I think I heard her coworkers in the background, also laughing at me.  The words "why wouldn't you just go direct" came up more than once.  I can only imagine the scene at a call center someplace.  I feel reasonably famous.  

But nevertheless she persisted, and re-routed me on a turnaround to Amman, Jordan instead of my Cairo flights.  I'll take it. We're friends now, and apparently I 'made her day.'  That's really all I'm after with this anyway.

So, where does that all leave us?  Well it currently leaves me sitting in the Houston Centurion lounge having a latte and writing about it.  Next up is a quick hop IAH-CLT-BOS to get this thing started.  Everything's cleared for the upgrades, and it looks like a good day to fly!

Wish me luck,

~CruisingAltitude

Read Up Next- Location, Location

Flyover Friday: When a Picture is Worth 1000 Miles

 

With a very few exceptions, all the travel photos I use for this blog are ones I've personally taken.  I don't travel with a fancy camera, or use many filters.  The world as I am lucky enough to see it simply doesn't need enhancement.  I think it's about time for some gratuitous travel photos, because Friday.  Also because I'm trying to convince myself it's still a good idea to get up at 3am and head to LAX for another same day turn to ORD in the morning.

Let's see if we can go 'around the world' in ten pictures or so.

  

While we're on the topic of Chicago, just reminding myself that Oak Park in the Fall isn't a bad choice.  It also gets about 3,400 qualifying miles from LAX.

 

Up next, taking it South, to the lakes of Panama, surrounded by thick jungle and mangrove. 

 

 

Meanwhile in Europe, meet one of my favorite travel photos of all time- A bike ride through Deer Park just outside of Copenhagen.  I'll explain in more detail in another post, but I'm hoping to go back to this region next Summer, since Finnair has released some impressive partner business class award tickets for next year.

 

And a stop in Tuscany between vineyards.  On our first full day in Italy, we got lost in the hills outside of Florence on bikes.  It was gorgeous, but our legs were very tired once we finally found our way back to the villa.  For the record- just because you didn't get lost biking in Berlin or Copenhagen....does not mean you won't get lost further South. 

 



 

From old to new - Doha's harbor, now dominated by ultra sleek and modern architecture, while fishing boats still dock beside.

 



 

 

Then go East.....Far East.  One of the most beautiful sunrise approaches I've seen, going Jakarta to Kuala Lumpur (top) and the staircase to the Batu limestone caves, Kuala Lumpur. (bottom)

 

 

On the home stretch, go a bit north, for a look at Shanghai from the Bund....

 

 

.......And the beautiful ceiling of Tokyo Station, before crossing the last ocean for home.



 

 To finish out, a reminder that sometimes you don't have to go far at all for beautiful sights, and good memories.  Back on the West Coast, Mrs. CruisingAltitude & BabyFlyer enjoy a Summer day in Langley, Washington taking in the Cascades in the distance.

 

In other news, as I said in a recent entry, I'm excited to now offer travel help, advice, and consulting through Altitude Consulting!  Altitude provides personalized assistance planning your next trip, finding the best redemptions for your air miles and hotel points, as well as consulting on any topic you've been wondering about the world of loyalty programs.  This is a new endeavor, so I'm still building out the site, but please check it out & get in touch.  I'd love to help you Travel Well!

 

~CruisingAltitude

 

This post is part of Budget Traveler's Sandbox' Travel Photo Thursday, and Life In Wanderlust's #FlyAwayFriday.  Go check out both these great collections of posts for some amazing travel info and ideas!