Qatar, an Oasis in the Desert

I was in the mood for adventure as soon as I learnt about my trip to Doha. I am frequent flier and over the last four years in the capacity of a business analyst, I have visited China, Vietnam, Japan, Bahrain, the Philippines, USA, Indonesia, Malaysia, and India to name a few. Some destinations i have frequented more than once in a year.

The first opportunity to tickle my curious/experimental bone fell into my lap when i learnt that my preferred airlines - Singapore Airlines - does not have route Singapore-Doha! and I had to choose Qatar Airways. I was a little hesitant at the start but I quickly brushed it off, telling myself that all will be fine, after all Qatar Airways has been declared as the World's Best Airline by Skytrax for two consecutive years. So here we go!


"Better" and "best" are two words that describe a comparison. Well, at least that was what my English teacher told me decades ago. So yes, I expected that I would have an extraordinary or the best experience during my flight. Sadly, I expected too much. The flight attendances were nice,their smiles were genuine and the distance between row was enough for my knee to be free. But the food was way far from being the "best," there were no ladies amenities in the toilet, the choice of movies was not as great as my favorite airlines, the cutlery was made from plastic, they served hot drinks in a paper cup, and the list went on and on and on. 


I landed in Doha early morning at about 5 am. Doha airport was also lagging in many aspects. There was no trunk connecting the plane to the building. So we went down the stairs and went on the bus. Consequently, I arrived at Ritz Carlton Doha a little over 6 am. 


So the Day 1 began with me staying in hotel for the whole day, fighting the time difference (Doha's time is five hours behind Singapore's time) and trying so hard to keep my eyes open. The room in Ritz was pretty, it smelled nice and welcoming.

There was a tiny balcony from which I took several pictures. I spent the afternoon time swimming at lagoon pool. The hotel had two swimming pools, one indoor and the other outdoor. The indoor pool was an Olympic size pool where you can comfortably do your laps and also time it(Phelps are you reading this...ha ha ha ).The outdoor pool was shaped like a lagoon with a water fall. It was a nice relaxing afternoon before I  headed to a welcome dinner in the night.


I'll be back  with more on the dinner and my city adventures in my future blogs. Till then, stay tuned!


-LN