Friday 29th June 2012

Night view from bedroom window

Return from hot, sunny but hazy Doha, Qatar.  Hot means what it says with the daily temperature high being around 120F with overnight lows of 93F.

Flights away from Larnaca were fine with a new experience of Olympic Airways to Athens and from there Qatar Airways to Doha.  These routes were taken to avoid arriving in Doha at 0230 in the morning which is the Emirates route via Dubai. I have flown with Qatar Airways a number of times and without a doubt their tag line that they are a 5* airline is so true.  Staff always smiling and accommodating.  The flight from Athens to Doha though virtually flies back over Cyprus.  Interestingly the flight to Doha was full although only myself and 5 others were disembarking in Doha and the rest of the travelers transferring to other flights.  Doha is starting to become an international hub like Dubai.

Main bedroom

Bathroom

This trip meant a stay at the Kempinski Hotel on West Bay.  On arrival I was told that I had been ungraded to a two bedroom suite.  Ridiculous in size for a couple of nights but brought back memories of our stay here in Doha or a year.  Lillian and I lived in a similar apartment.

The purpose of my visit was to accompany a corporate guest who needed to see our schools and have some discussions about plans for future developments.  Qatar is such a growing place there is plenty of room for growth in the education business.  Without good schools international people will not come to do the work the country so needs to continue its plans for global recognition. A visit to Al Khor meant the 50 minute drive I had taken just a week ago across the desert.  My guest was immediately struggling with the heat and having only arrived at 0630 in the morning was struggling to keep awake for the drive back.

Lounge

So two days of school visits and meetings, one 6 hours with architects on our new school project.  The last night was spent in Souk Wafiq so that the visitor could get a feel of the arabic world.  We wandered the small streets, all selling similar wares and made some small purchases of arabic sweets and cashew nuts!  An arabic meze in the square watching the world go by, inhalling the sweet smelling sisha smoke from the next table was a very pleasant last hour.

Reverse trip was no problem although Doha airport was a made house in terms of checking in.  It was the first day of the school summer holidays and you could see so many expat families with the ‘I’m out of here smile’ on their faces.  Away from the heat of the summer although watching the immigration queues many were not returning as they held visa cancellation papers in their hands.  Such is the transient place that is Doha.