We are back in Doha after a one-day delay in Amman due to some drama revolving around our airplane tickets. Adding to that, we were not sure that Jeff would be able to fly with me yesterday as his booking was canceled for some reason.
So, yesterday we headed to the airport hoping that the plane would not be overbooked. After waiting for everybody on the plane to check in, we were lucky enough to be given a seat on the place! Geez, it was nerve wracking!
Anyway, we are back here and ready to face any challenge that might cross our path. One of those challenges is the heat!. Man, it is really an oven here. Even worse, it is a humid oven. Just less than a minute in the open-air will guarantee you constant sweating! God, I miss Amman already.
Natasha said they were speaking Spanish. I was thinking maybe they were package tourists on some sort of Bible tour, seeing the Holy Land. I’m not sure really.
If you can remember the entrance area before you check in at Queen Alia airport, you’ll likely picture it with 30, maybe 50 people there being processed before they go through the detectors. I’ve seen as few as five. This time there had to have been more than 1,000. I’m not kidding. They were spilling out around the corner and out the door. It was a shocker, I kid you not. We were told to sort of sidestep them, which we did — that’s where some pushing and shoving came into play. I’ve never seen anything like it. Queen Alia airport is just not made to handle the crowds the country so desires.
Well! That does sound like a busy gateway to Doha. Where do you think such crowds were going, all over the Gulf area?
Thanks for the news. We’ll be keeping up.
love, Mom & Dad
Heh heh heh,
Those little delays can be quite worrisome indeed 🙂 But yes, we did manage to get one more day out of Amman, one more day with the folks, one more fun evening (a night at the movies) and a bit more time with the banat (the girls). So we made the most of it.
The following day’s drama waiting on standby to see if I could fly was lessened just a bit by the sheer volume of things we got to bring along at no additional cost. We brought so much stuff with us. I managed to ship a 17-inch monitor in its original carton, as well as another 35 kilograms (70 pounds) of stuff. Natasha had 55 kilos too and we had our carryons packed full (probably 20 kilos a piece) plus a laptop bag and a purse stuffed to the bursting.
This was all thanks to the extra luggage allowance provided by Qatar Airway’s mileage club. We’d have gotten a stint in the lounge too, but time did not allow it.
And we must say the flight, once it took off after a 35 minute delay, was very nice: Good food (‘tash ate every bite) and plenty of room. We arrived in Doha, were picked up by our driver, wisked home where we quickly unpacked and cut on the A/C’s. We then were taken to City Centre, where we nibbled, watched a movie and got some groceries while we let the house cool down. It wasn’t as hot at home as we’d feared, though.
And it must be noted, the drama at Queen Alia Airport in Amman was largely due to an unbelievable mass of travelers squeezing through facilities designed for a fraction of their number. There were literally thousands of folks all pushing and squishing. This does not a calm person make, especially when you want to get in early to ensure a spot on the plane as a standby. But we made it. We are back and in pretty dog-gone good spirts too! Doha, be kind to us.
Glad you’re back safe & sound! Those small glitches must be very worrisome. Thank goodness it worked out well.
We send our very best wishes, love, Mom & Dad
Well, I didn’t mind staying an extra day in Amman, I just had to get back to work:(
I wouldn’t mind a delay that will make me stay longer in Amman even if it was the annoying kind of delay 😀 Anyway, happy return, and although I don’t know if Tunis is cooler than Doha or not, but one thing I’m sure of is the fact that Tunis is another hot humid oven as well 🙂