Long transit made good

Long Day

I woke at 0430 in Penang to begin a long day:

• 0h55 flight on Malaysia Airlines to KL at 0640 arriving at 0735
• 2h35 of self-connect transit time in KL
• 7h45 flight from KL to Doha at 1010 with Qatar Airways, scheduled to arrive at 1255 but delayed slightly due to headwind
• 7h15 same-booking transit connection in Doha and
• 1h15 flight Doha to Muscat at 2010 arriving at 2035.

Flying into Doha

The long wait in Doha, home of Al-Jazeera TV, was unplanned.  When I booked my award ticket many months ago it was a nice connection but a schedule change by Qatar Airways spoilt it.

I kick myself for not having my camera handy flying into Doha.  The plane flew over the new skyscrapers and I felt I could nearly touch them (like at old Hong Kong airport).  I was worried that I wouldn’t be able to leave the airport in Doha as one is technically required to have a hotel reservation.  I took the chance but ignoring the transit facility and heading to the immigration area.  I paid about EUR20 for my visa, explaining that I wanted to go the Islamic Arts Museum during my long transit … they seemed quite satisfied by my explanation and didn’t even ask for any proof of my onward flight.

Islamic Arts Museum

The Islamic Arts Museum was only 5 minutes from the airport’s arrival terminal.  The building was designed by the renowned IM Pei.  The exhibits covered the usual ceramics, calligraphy, armory, carpets … but went further to include astronomy, mathematics, botany.  And now I know that animals may be depicted but not in religious contexts.  There were quite a few animal depictions in non-religious art.

But I do wonder how the Hindu epic Ramayana (albeit in Arabic script) and a bowl with the Star of David made it into the collection!

The Amazing Souq Waqif

I then walked along the Corniche and crossed it, getting to Souq Waqif … this is the old bazaar area of Doha.  The first few alleys felt like a cleaner version of any souq I’ve seen … spices, pet birds, perfumes etc.

[Edit: I later learnt that the souq had deteriorated and was largely destroyed in 2003.  It was restored from 2006 to 2008 but this recent effort fortunately didn’t produce a Disney-like site.]

Then I hit the restaurant/cafe areas … it oooozed old world charm and with the perfect winter temperatures, was the most pleasant environment for dining, chatting and people-watching.  For that reason, I grabbed a bite (despite not feeling like it) before heading back to the airport … but not without getting lost.

I found the open-air bazaar where women were selling home-made goodies … and very strangely, several falcon training schools and a horse training school.

[Edit: I have been told subsequently that the falcon training schools weren’t that; they are like kennels or catteries where people leave their falcons when they go away]

I made it back to the airport in good time for my short flight to Muscat.  I’m so pleased I made the effort to leave the airport … it’s definitely a bad transit made good.