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 Ghost Port
Yes, This Is Real Life Part 5 - When You Layover During Ramadan
Yes, This Is Real Life Part 6 - Birds In Doha
Yes, This Is Real Life Part 7 - Dealing With Dragons
Yes, This Is Real Life Part 8 - A Place Most Exceedingly Rare
Yes, This Is Real Life Part 9- I Still Can't Believe This Is Real Life
Yes, This Is Real Life Part 10- Royally Jordanian
(Fair warning- this post was written in real time... and now published much, much later. What follows is my ramblings from my third and final night in Doha after landing safely back from my tight turn in Amman. Consider it the companion piece to Birds In Doha, but one where I'm left to my own devices.)
Well, friends, it's come to this- I'm currently alone in yet another free Doha hotel room, listening to music on my phone, spinning in a hotel desk chair, making it a decent way through some room service wine at 2am, and texting my mileage buddies about the flags outside my room, and how much I love airplanes...and stuff...
As a caveat, when I go back over this entry in retrospect for editing purposes I will be tempted to delete much of it entirely, but then I'll hold back because the point of this blog is mileage running- the good, the bad, and the ugly, and the name of this run is literally 'yes, this is real life.'
4 more hours.... maybe I'll shower. 3 more hours... I guess I could re-organize my carry-on. 2 more hours...what to wear? One more hour....I should write all of this down. (I shouldn't)
So, how did we get to this moment?? Glad you asked.
I arrived back at the DOH airport yesterday afternoon after the quickest AMM turnaround in history to try my hand at sorting out QR's stopover accommodation voucher situation. I picked up my voucher on arrival, and was shown to the free shuttle, which turned out to be more or less the hotel van. Not fancy, but fine. The voucher included the transport and room, along with the equivalent of about US $80 for hotel food. This could be used at the hotel lobby restaurant, or yes... room service.
The hotel they're currently offering is the 'Oryx Rotana' which is a '5-star hotel' close-ish to the airport. I'm putting the quotes there because once again- location, location. Overall, it's a totally fine hotel. On the level of a nicer Westin or Sheraton stateside, with a little extra Qatari bling. In this town, if we're being honest, this a 5-star hotel it doesn't make.
I got here on the early side, checked into my room, and promptly went to sleep. Since it was 'night' for me until it was night here, I set an alarm for 10pm. No pain, no gain. After that, it was time for a quick stop by the pool until it closed at 11 (every hotel seemed to have swimming lessons for the locals going on...wtf, anyway?), then a midnight dinner at the lobby restaurant, for free, of course.
Free is my favorite number. |
Seen around the DOH airport. What even is life at this point? |
One more meal in Qatar for the year. |
~CruisingAltitude
Up Next: Yes, This Is Real Life Part 12: The Bittersweet Flightpath