Qatari Layover
November 19th, 2023
Table of Contents
- The End of a Dream Trip
- A Room for an Emir
- Midnight National Dish
- 4 Hours of Sleep Later
- We’re coming home
Qatar was the 8th and last country we visited in our Southeast Asia 2023 Trip. If you want to read through chronologically, start here.
The End of a Dream Trip
We’d just had 3 weeks in Southeast Asia. It was the time of our lives. We’d explored 7 countries, been on 8 flights, and fallen in love with this corner of Asia. But now it was time to get home, and we were definitely ready to be back Charleston. However, first there was one last pit stop before we could enter the good ole United States. Our flight from Hanoi set off at 7pm and would take 8 hours. We were exhausted and longing for the comfort of our big bed back home.
We pulled into Hamad International Airport at 11pm, our flight would be leaving at 8am the next morning, giving us about 9 hours in Doha. I was actually pretty excited about being in Qatar. The most entertaining World Cup I can remember had just been held there, and the country seemed to be still running on that high. Even the sticker that held together our napkins was still branded with World Cup 2022 logos.
After taxiing and going through customs, I opened up Uber to get us a ride home. “All pickups from Hamad International Airport have been temporarily stopped.” Shit. When did that happen? Apparently last month, the Ministry of Transport had suspended all Uber pickups at the airport. We would have to find a Taxi.
Making our way out of baggage claim, we immediately found the Taxi area. I was impressed at the efficiency. We were guided to a room where everyone waited in an orderly line until a man pointed us to a taxi. Simple as that. No hailing one down or bartering a price. It was that easy.
A Room for an Emir
We were staying at the Ramada by Wyndham Doha Old Town, a nice, sleek modern building in the heart of Doha. It was too late and we were far too tired to appreciate the surroundings, but we could have slept on a rock bed that night and been happy. The lobby was clean and modern with photos of the Emir staring down upon us.
The receptionist told us we were staying in a very ‘special’ room. I gave an ‘Oh great’ while internally shrugging it off. That’s what every hotel says about every room they have. We got to our floor and walked to our room expecting a typical Best Western type room, but were incredibly surprised. It turns out, he wasn’t lying. Our room started with a long corridor stretching out to a massive room with a full length, 180 degree window. The walk from bed to bathroom was a workout. My first thought, ‘Damn, I wish we had more nights to appreciate this’.
Midnight National Dish
As with the Philippines, we didn’t have much time to try the National Dish. In fact, by the time we had gotten to our hotel, it was already midnight, but we couldn’t let this stop us. This was our 8th and final country of the trip, and we hadn’t failed yet.
I asked the receptionist if he could order for us, gave him the cash, and went back up to the room to fight falling asleep. Earlier in the trip I had found one of the few places in Doha still open and delivering at midnight, Majboos Al Walaida. From here we would have their famous Mutton Machboos, the national dish of Qatar.
Around 1am, a knock on the door. It was finally time, and we had both managed to stay awake. The plastic bag was heavy, really heavy. It was only supposed to feed 2 people, but felt like it was enough for an entire family.
It already smelt divine, and peeling back the aluminum foil revealed a majestic sight. An entire hunk of mutton, yellow rice, and some chickpeas.
We sat on our bed, half awake and naked, and began munching. And, wow, it was incredibly tasty! Each grain of rice was packed with spice and flavor. The mutton was so tender that the plastic spoon was able to to cut through it with ease. The chickpeas gave a great contrast in both texture and flavor to the rest of the dish. This was the type of dish you could eat every day and not get tired of it. Bellies somewhat full, our heads hit the pillow and it was lights out.
4 Hours of Sleep Later
After a couple hours of sleep, the dreaded alarm went off. It was 5:30am. We were zombies. We watched the sun rise over Doha and got our first glimpse of the city in the light. It was now that we could fully appreciate our massive window in our special room. Emily was quick to throw up a pose.
As we stepped outside, the already hot desert heat hit us. We’ve felt tropical heat in Thailand, swamp heat back home in Charleston, but desert heat was a different beast. It strikes hard and hits you at your core. No sweating, just straight burning.
Our hotel was close to the Doha Bay. Our our side was Old Town, and in the distance, across the water, clouded by dust, was the famous Doha skyline. It reminded me of Dubai, everything was ‘Middle Eastern Modern’. It was clean and quiet.
And then it was time to get home. We ordered an Uber and set off for the airport. It was a quiet 15 minute ride as we travelled through Doha. I wish we had more time to explore and get to know the city more. Being one of the richest Middle Eastern countries, you could tell a lot of money had been pumped into getting Doha to one of the leading, modern cities of the world.
We’re coming home
And just like that, we were back at Hamad International Airport.
We’d love to have spent more time here, but we successfully accomplished our mission. We will probably return one day. With Dubai, it is one of the most popular layover connectors between the Western and Eastern world. And for that reason, it served its purpose for us. Qatar was the first and last stop on this incredible adventure we had undertaken, and that’s why it will always remain in our memories. Also, the Machboos was great too.
The Hungry Voyagers 