Last month I went back home to Adelaide for my dad’s 50th. Unfortunately for me, the check in process at Heathrow with the airline I chose was a complete shitfight. From the talk in the line, it seemed the flight before us was delayed, some of those people missed their flight, some of the people on my flight were put on the earlier flight, just a whole mess.
After being delayed boarding, then having to wait for a new take-off time we were airborne. There was a bit of confusion as to if me (and 13 other passengers) would make our connecting flight (plus about 50+ other people on other flights) but unfortunately we landed 20 minutes AFTER the connecting flight had taken off.
On the plus side, the food was pretty good. Chicken for breakfast – but it was decent chicken, full of flavour and moist. The gluten free snack was a fritatta which was amazing – definitely beats the snack on my next flight – a tiny ass sandwich with tuna and a sliver of cucumber. YUCK!
Anywho, as we got off the first plane in Doha, a representative from the airline told us that we had missed our flight and the next flight to Adelaide was leaving in 24 hours. They offered another alternative flight which required going to Sydney first, but it would have only gotten 7 hours earlier than the direct flight.
A few of us opted to collect our luggage rather than have them loaded straight to the next flight. Seriously, stuck in 30 odd degree heat (talking celcius) with a long sleeve bodysuit and jeans? Yeah, nah. So even though we had been off this flight for about 45 minutes/an hour at this stage, the baggage people told us it would take 3-4 hours for our bags! Luckily they did delivery to the hotel.
We got transferred to a 5 star hotel in the heart of Doha, with a meal voucher of about $90 (to last around 22 hours). After a quick dinner at about 11pm made it to the room which was huge! And had it’s own kitchenette which I did not take advantage of.
In the morning after breakfast I decided to see what Doha had to offer and made my way over to the Museum of Islamic Art. Unfortunately it turned out to be closed as they were getting ready for an event that weekend. It did have an amazing view across the bay though. I also met another solo traveller – in town for a food festival – and we decided to head to the National Museum of Qatar together.
On the way we met another couple from my flight who were stranded as well, and we all headed to the museum. It was QR50 (standard adult ticket) but Qatar residents get free admission.
The museum had just recently opened – 3 days prior! – and is a marvel of modern design. The building reminds me of The Flintstones a bit, and the flooring inside did seem a little drunk (it definitely wasn’t me!)
The museum showed the history of Qatar and had some beautiful artifacts. Check out this priceless Pearl Carpet. Full of pearls and other gems!
After spending a couple of hours in the museum, we headed back to the hotel and said goodbye to our solo traveller friend. It would have been nice to check out the souk but the heat had gotten to me so I planned to have an afternoon nap. I watched a couple of episodes of Grey’s Anatomy instead.
Then it was time to head to the airport. Turns out I had left my passport holder and UK residency permit at the baggage desk so I checked in my luggage and made my way to collect. Doha staff didn’t really seem to have any sense of urgency, but I did get it back with plenty of time to spare before the flight to Adelaide. No luck on it – it was fully booked.
On arrival into Adelaide, I went straight through customs collected my bag and Mum was waiting for me with a carton of heaven – commonly known as a Farmer’s Union Iced Coffee.
