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Old 4 Nov 18, 03:01 PM  
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BONZO
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Reef, Rivers & Rainforests – Australia - September/October 2018 - Day 3 - Doha

Day 3 – Monday 24th September 2018 Doha


Link to trip report index – including pre trip report:
Here

We both dozed on and off before arrival in Doha - although we had time for breakfast before landing.

I tucked into a salt beef potato cake and cheese omelette with béarnaise sauce, coupled with the usual pastries and croissants washed down with tea it certainly hit the mark and set me up for the morning. Alison had cereal and pastries, with a cappuccino.

We changed out of pyjamas and had a wash and brush up before getting changed back into shorts before landing at Doha airport.

Because we had a long layover (about 18 hours), Qatar airways provided a hotel room and meal allowance, together with transport. Amazing!

We disembarked then headed (via a long walk through a very quiet airport




to the transit area in the ‘A’ section of the airport where there was a desk to collect the paperwork for the hotel (the Oryx – which is owned by Qatar airways). After that was completed, we headed down to immigration and finally into the arrivals area where we spotted our “greeter” for the Oryx hotel who ushered us to one side. He said that the courtesy car would be about 15 minutes but a shuttle bus was available if we liked to take that instead.

We weren’t really sure what the difference was so jumped on the shuttle bus with a few other people and made our way through the heat and traffic to the Oryx Rotana Doha. We’ve never been to Doha before but it was only a short drive to the hotel past a lot of old airport buildings, and a lot of building sites where development is under way. As expected, it was all very dry and dusty – and very warm (around 40 degrees).

The hotel was clean and comfortable even if a bit “corporate” however I guess it’s really geared up for people travelling on business with all the facilities they need as opposed to a resort hotel. The lobby had an open feel with lots of glass






and the room was actually quite spacious and well fitted out with all the usual items.





We unpacked a bit but then decided to crash for a couple of hours for some decent sleep before getting up a few hours later in an attempt to adjust to local time. We woke up feeling quite refreshed and we decided that the best way freshen up was to go for a swim.

The outside pool area was approached via the gym and the lady at the reception desk asked if we were going to use the gym. I gestured to our body shapes and said “what do you think?” and we all laughed.

Well, it was really hot outside but the cool pool had the desired effect of perking us both up and we spread out on the loungers to discuss plans for the day or what was left of it.



We went back up to the room and changed before heading back down to the Choices Restaurant in the hotel, which is a large buffet with all different cuisines.



As the name would suggest there were plenty of choices including: cold section with cheeses, meats, salmon, salad bar, fresh and dried fruit, yogurt, sweet breads etc; hot section with grilled vegetables, eggs (also prepared on request), beef bacon, curries, rice, noodles and more.

Ample selection of teas, and a coffee machine, plus juices and water.
It was all very fresh and tasty – all the better as it was free!

We headed back up to the room for a change of clothes, re-packing of bags and all ready for a 5:30 pick up from reception in the bus. The motorway looked quite spectacular at night time with its colour changing lamp-posts, almost Disneyesque in a way.

Once at the airport, immigration and security was the fastest I’ve ever experienced and we soon sped into the El Mourjan lounge for soft drink.






Alison popped out for a bit to wander around the shops




before returning back and then we both had a couple of cocktails at the bar




before heading to the gate for boarding for the long haul to Australia.

This time we were on an A350 – not dissimilar to the B787, but a bit better laid out and the IFE was definitely better. We settled into seats 4a and 5a (again one behind the other) and our hearts sunk a little to see not 1 but 2 babies (twins of maybe 4 or 5 months old) a couple of rows ahead of us. However, we needn’t have worried – they made barely a murmur the whole flight! The cabin was almost full – just one spare seat that we could see.



We settled down with a glass of champagne, bowl of nuts and a hot towel and a peruse of the menu before take-off on time at about 9.50.







We changed into a new set of pyjamas each and watched views from the on-board camera showing the view from under and over the plane.









The remainder of the flight will be covered in the next instalment!


Transport count (this will be a running total!):

Flights: 3
Trains: 2
Tubes: 1
Ubers/Taxis: 1
Coaches/Buses: 4
Step Count today: 5906
Total step count for the trip: 30698
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1999 ~ Off site
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Edited at 05:51 PM.
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Old 4 Nov 18, 05:20 PM  
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Melbatb
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That sounds like the ideal layover! Much better than slumming it at the airport!
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Index of my trip reports
2016 Quebec - Kuala Lumpar - New York City 2017 Dubai - Eurocamps France - Ontario and Quebec - So-Cal 2018 Montreal - Bangkok - New England 2019 Argentina - Quebec City - Hong Kong - 2020 Switzerland 2022 Arizona - Costa Med Cruise - Oslo 2023 Hong Kong - Gothenburg
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