Stopover in Doha, Qatar

Today I arrived safely in Doha, Qatar via Qatar Airlines on a direct flight from Chicago. The flight was just over 13 hours long. I was very fortunate in that the flight was not completely full so I was able to have the center row of three seats all to myself. This helped me get more rest than I would've otherwise as unfortunately I cannot sleep sitting up. This still presented challenges for my 6' 1" frame as the armrest did not fully retract upwards on the Boeing 777 and the bucket seats created an uneven sleeping surface that pressed into my rib cage and my hip. But I'm still very grateful for the extra space all the same. Upon deplaning I got the opportunity to feel the oppressive Qatar heat. The temperature was 103°F today as we exited onto the tarmac to board the shuttle bus. The low will be 91 tonight.

Brief observations from the Hamad international airport: The airport is almost brand-new as it was just completed in 2014. The center of the airport is like a mall. There are lots of shops, restaurants, a food court, hotel and spa, as well as play areas for children. For some reason at the duty-free shop it seems like they have more than enough staff to help the customers, so much so that many of the staff are gathered in small groups of 2 to 4 employees and are standing around chatting like they were just hanging out as opposed to at work.




One other thing that I observed at the duty-free shop is that all the cigarette cartons have bold blunt messages that take up half of the carton and warn customers of the hazards of smoking (see some of the attached pictures for example). I wish all countries would require similar messages on their cigarette cartons.









Fast facts about Doha; first established in 1825, the population currently is about 900,000. Doha means "the big tree" and it is located on the Persian golf. It's Qatar's fastest growing city and had been the capital since 1971.

Fast facts about Qatar: richest country in the world per capita. Has the third largest natural gas and oil reserves. Area comprises just under 5000 square miles and sits between Saudi Arabia and the Persian Gulf. Total population is about 2.2 million currently.





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Location:Doha,Qatar