Doha

22 January 2013 - Tuesday

Mike and I parted at Charles de Gaulle and then, from the afternoon of the 21^st to the evening of the 22^nd I was either flying or waiting.   

The plane to Doha was delayed by  an hour and a half and arrived at Doha at half past midnight.  I planned to overnight in the airport Oryx Lounge which promised seats, snacks, drinks, showers, wifi and some safety.   Hint to other travellers – don’t bother with the Oryx Lounge.  I had been hoping for a couch to doze on but the seats were all single and deliberately arranged with circular backs to discourage dossing.   Some poor tired souls had pushed pairs of these together and compressed themselves into foetal positions to try and sleep.  There were great looking showers on offer but no towels or toiletries available.  I would have so liked a shower that I toyed with the idea of attempting to dry myself on  my large silk scarf, l but decided against it.   On the plus side the wifi worked, the staff were kind and the snacks were great – hummus, tabbouleh, flat breads and bean salads during the night, and plates of croissants and pain au chocolat towards morning. But it really wasn’t worth the admission fee of $40 and Doha airport has plenty of comfortable free seats available.  Incidentally there are also Prayer Rooms in the airport and the one labelled “Male Mosque”  had a sign in English and Arabic which read “This Mosque is only for Praying.  Sleeping in the Mosque is not allowed”.  It did look as though no-one was paying this much attention.  The three men I saw on the Mosque floor were all offering up their gentle snores to Allah.