So here we
are……at long last, back on The Road again.
The Travellin Bob Global Tour re-starts after a 12 month hiatus. It’s good to be back.
It’s been
enjoyable spending my time at home, getting to know my wife and kids again, and
we’ve had some good times – documented elsewhere here. But it’s been incredibly frustrating and (at
times) downright scary too – also documented elsewhere here. So getting back in the saddle, so to speak,
has come not a moment too soon, and has preserved my sanity at least, and
probably Ania’s too…..I know I’ve been getting under her feet a bit lately!
And a
decent first assignment too – back to the Gulf, this time to Doha in Qatar: a
new destination – for a good six months or more. Plenty of material to write about I’m sure –
watch this space.
First
things first, of course, was digging out the suitcase, and hoovering off the
coating of dust it had gained from its long storage under the bed. Then re-ironing all my shirts and making
sure my various suits were clean and pressed (unusually for a Gulf country, I’m
having to go to the office suited and booted rather than business casual). Shoes ok?
Nope – both pairs of work shoes needed attention from my friendly
neighbourhood cobbler, to mention nothing of a good Polish polish. What about ties? Yep, plenty of those – but a bit of practice
tying the damned things was needed since I had not worn one for a few
years….now how do you do a decent Windsor Knot again? Oh, and make sure the camera battery is fully
charged, and all my electrical bits have got the right plugs and/or adaptors
(UK standard 3 pin replacing my European standard 2 pin)….yep, all in order.
Ordered my
taxi – and noticed an empty wallet, so galloped off to the bank downstairs for
cash. Damn – wrong pin (wait a
minute……no, it’s not!). Back upstairs
and on the phone to my bank. 10 minutes
listening to piped muzak before getting connected to an English speaking
personal banker. Re-set my pin, and
galloped back downstairs….all ok, the taxi fare now nestled in my wallet. Just in time: here’s my cab. And off to Okecie airport I go……
It’s
amazing how out of practice you get when you haven’t done this properly for a
while (I’ll discount my odd daytrips to the UK for funerals and interviews,
since there was no packing involved, and our weekend for the wedding because
the whole family travelled with me).
All I have to do now is get back in the old routine – which I will do by
the time I travel home in a couple of weeks, I’m sure.
There have
been a lot of changes at the airport and its surroundings since last year. Some I had noticed on my few English
journeys, but there have been more in the past month or so. A new network of access roads has sprung up,
linked to the new highway network that is under construction around Warsaw, so
getting in and out seemed easier this time (though travelling on a Saturday
lunchtime may have contributed to that).
A railway now runs into the airport from the central station in
town. There also seem to be more buses
coming into the place too, not only locals but from all over Poland. Inside the terminal, there are a number of
new airlines operating – notably Emirates and Qatar Airways, with both of whom
there are connecting flights to the Far East and Australasia via Dubai and Doha
respectively. The terminal seemed
cleaner and brighter and with a bigger variety of restaurants and bars and a
good range of retail outlets too. All
the gates (nearly 50 now) were operating, and there were a number of planes out
on the apron too. It’s all a far cry
from when I first arrived in Warsaw back in 2000, when the single small
terminal building operated no more than a dozen gates, covering both domestic
and international flights, serving a relatively small number of (mainly
European) destinations with about four airlines, and offered three shops, one
café and one Business Lounge. If ever
there was testament to how Poland has prospered since EU accession, a stroll
round the airport provides it.
I had
checked in on-line the previous morning, so queuing for that wasn’t required,
just straight to the Fast Bag Drop
desk. They issued me a new boarding pass
anyway, and unusually put the thing in a nice blue folder. The reason for that became clear later at
Doha. Security took five minutes –
Saturday afternoon is clearly a good time to travel at this time of year – and
passport control to the non-Schengen area even less, so I was at my gate with
the best part of two hours to spare. But
I had my book and my music, bought a coffee, and was quite happy.
“The
World’s Five Star Airline.”
This is the
tagline in all the Qatar Airways advertising, including the brilliant new film
celebrating their tie-in with Barcelona F.C. (I love the bit where heavy metal
god Carlos Puyol saves a kid from a pot plant falling from a third floor window
by leaping in the air and heading it clear, shattering the terracotta, then
brushes the dirt off his sweatshirt and wanders off as if nothing has happened
– brilliant use of his “hard man” image).
Despite this, TripAdvisor carried a number of negative reviews, mainly
from American travelers but with a ludicrous one from a guy complaining that,
when there was an aircraft malfunction causing a flight cancellation in Doha,
there was no passenger announcement in his native language – Mandarin Chinese:
now there’s a surprise! There were also
many reviews (rather more in fact) praising the airline. Its website, on the sections relating to
in-flight catering, entertainment and cabin ambience, naturally focuses on the
newer planes in the fleet (mostly the Dreamliner) and on the Business and First
Class passengers, but this is no different to any other airline website. So I was looking forward to the flight,
booked by my client (I LOVE being able to say that with a degree of truth,
rather than THE client!), and sampling its Economy Class service for myself.
I was not
disappointed. No Dreamliner of course,
as the flight is relatively short at a bit over 2000 miles: the plane was a
regular, common or garden Airbus A320-200, the same as BA use on the Heathrow
to Europe routes. But there the
similarity ended. The cabin was much
brighter and well appointed, there was a much better seat pitch (there are
around 20 fewer Economy Class seats in all Qatar Airways cabins, giving better
leg-room for everybody, even in the smaller aircraft like this), the seat was
perhaps the most comfortable I’ve ever had in Economy, and the entertainment
system was excellent. It carried a
selection of maybe 200 movies, a similar number of tv shows and dozens of music
channels and CDs in several languages and musical genres, as well as the more
popular games. Previously, BA had
provided the best system I had seen, on my flight to Trinidad 3 years ago, but
it’s limited (or was then) to long-haul routes: QA provides it on all flights. When it came, the in-flight meal was very
good too: proper cutlery, not plastic, well cooked and presented, and a good
choice: my chicken with mashed potatoes and vegetables in a spicy tomato sauce
was first class.
It was a
five hour flight, and I passed it in comfort watching the movie (I chose Oblivion, a recent sci-fi thriller
starring Tom Cruise – not bad, but I’ve seen better: I found it a bit confusing
at times) and listening to Springsteen’s classic Born To Run album (amongst other delights). The sound on both was a little muffled, but I
put that down to an ill-fitting headset – nothing new there, I’ve never yet
found one an airplane that was the right size for my bonce - rather than the system itself. I had a minor issue with my seat too, in that
it wouldn’t stay upright – no matter what I did, it constantly reclined all the
way: not a big deal for me, but a
problem for the lady behind me especially at meal time. But I could nothing about that except
apologise.
My overall
verdict: Qatar Airways is first class, and I’m more than happy to use them for
the duration of this project.
We landed
at Doha at 11:15 p.m. local time (that’s an hour ahead of my home CET), and the
temperature was 38C……..ridiculous. We
parked on the apron, as there is a lot of refurbishment going on here, and
hopped on a couple of buses. I remember years ago, when I was a kid, my
late brother-in-law, many years older than me, was by trade a master
scaffolder, and got a job at Gatwick airport which was then (as now) being
extended, and was delighted that he had found a job for life – and he was
right: judging by the fact that every airport in the world (even the newer
ones) seem to be in a constant state of flux and development, nothing seems to
have changed in all that time. I
sometimes wonder whether going into the City at 17, rather than building or
plumbing or something, was the right career move……then I remember how many
times I’ve hammered a thumb instead of a nail, or shelves I’ve painstakingly
put up have fallen off the wall as soon I’ve put anything (like a feather or something)
on them – and I know I made the right choice, despite all the aggravation I’ve
been through.
Anyway, the
bus took us round a circuit of the airport buildings, depositing us at various
arrivals halls and transfer terminals, all of which were colour coded – hence the
nice blue ticket folder. It took maybe
15 minutes to reach the blue Arrivals Terminal, where I joined the ubiquitous
line snaking round to the security desks, where 20 minutes later I presented my
passport and credit card to buy my 30 day visitor’s visa. Here I encountered a minor problem: you have
to stand on these foot shapes painted on the floor and stare wide eyed at a
camera over the guy’s head to have your picture taken for posterity and the
local security services. The thing is I
suffer (if that’s the right word) from lazy eyelids – as did my mum – so I can’t
open my eyes wide: at least not wide enough for the camera here. After five or six attempts had failed to
capture an image, and I had demonstrated twice what the problem was (much to
the amusement, fortunately, of the two security guys) they gave it up as a bad
job, stamped my passport and waved me through.
The baggage
had all come through by then and the belt was motionless, but my case (along
with 2 others) was standing safely on the floor, so I headed into the Arrivals
Hall to find my driver from the hotel.
There was no sign of anyone waving my name, probably spelt wrong, on a
sheet of A4 as I had been expecting, so after wandering around inside the
terminal building and out, I went to the Information desk. Very helpfully, they called the hotel who
told me to go to desk 9 (of 20-odd) back through where I had come from, and
there I would be attended to. The
security guy was very helpful, and smilingly waved me back through the door
marked EXIT (I had to wait a minute for someone else to come out through it). Sure enough my name was on a board at desk
9, and the bloke escorted me to a taxi driven by a very pleasant Indian from Poona
who took me to the hotel (at least I think that’s what he said, but his English
was so strongly accented and he had such a terrible stammer that I can’t now be
sure).
But at
least I had arrived safely.
The drive
to the hotel took around 15 minutes, through typical Gulf city streets, well lit,
with half-finished pavements and concrete barriers separating the carriageways,
and rows of market stalls and shops, many still active even at midnight, along
each side. It reminded me very much of
Beirut, where the airport is similarly within the confines of the city rather than
out of town as at Abu Dhabi, although the look of obvious prosperity was more
UAE than Lebanese.
The Wyndham
Grand Regency Hotel, where my client had booked me for three nights (pending
relocation to an apartment) is as opulent as the name suggests. It stands on a busy road, one of the main
thoroughfares through Doha, and right next to one of the busiest roundabouts,
on the edge of the business district, but out about 3 km from the touristy city
centre and seaside Corniche. As we
pulled up, a couple of doormen raced each other to my door to help me out and
take my baggage, and the winner escorted me smilingly to Check In. This was done at individual desks, and was a
far more personal and friendly service than I think is normal – no queues for a
start (but then it was by now nearly half past midnight). I was pleasantly surprised to receive an
upgrade from a Standard Room to an Executive Suite, with separate lounge and
bedroom and free internet – and very nice and comfortable it is too. I was shown to the room by my faithful doorman,
who explained all the tv and air-conditioning controls, pointed out the coffee
making facilities (hidden in a cupboard under the flat screen hi-def tv) and
the mini bar (ditto) and didn’t seem at all put out when I explained I couldn’t
tip him as I had no local currency yet.
I have some now, but I’ve not seen him yet to grease his palm……ah well,
such is life.
I unpacked
and went to sleep in my king sized, canopied bed with a mirrored headboard, but
tossed and turned for over an hour before falling asleep. My morning shower, in a beautifully tiled
stall in a beautifully tiled bathroom two thirds the size of my bedroom at
home, came as a deluge from a shower head the size of an open laptop, and very
nice it was too. Decent spread for
breakfast – plenty of cold cuts and cheeses and a dozen different varieties of
bread, hot stuff like eggs and beef sausages and beef bacon (remember, Muslim
country so strictly no pork), lots of fresh fruits and yoghurts and cereals,
and a fine selection of pastries and donuts.
Spoiled for choice, really. But I
managed. The food in the hotel (mainly I’ve
settled for room service meals in the evenings) has been first class, huge
helpings and well-cooked and served. Last
night I treated myself to dinner in one of the hotel restaurants – it was more
expensive than a roomy, but well worth it: a serve yourself buffet where you
can take as much or as little as you like.
I settled for a tasty cream of chicken soup, a main of lamb meatballs in
a savoury tomato sauce, with a big pile of roast potatoes and steamed
vegetables, and for dessert a plate full of various cakes and donuts that the
bald bloke in Masterchef would have loved.
If I stay
here much longer, I will for sure put on quickly the weight I’ve lost over the
past few months – for the first time in years I’m below 90kilos. Fortunately the hotel has a pool and a
fitness centre so I can exercise it away.
I’ve not used the pool yet, but gave the gym a go a couple of nights
ago. It’s well equipped and I had a good
half an hour on an exercise bike, covering 15km while on my iPod listening to the Red Hot Chilli Peppers: good
music to sweat by. So the facilities are
very good, but as we’re working until after 6, by the time we’re back in the
hotel it’s nearly 7 and frankly I can’t be arsed most nights to get changed and
head for the gym – it would make dinner too late for my digestion to be
comfortable if I did so. But now it’s
the weekend (again the Muslim one, Friday and Saturday - I still can’t used to working on a Sunday)
I’ll have more of a chance, between sight-seeing expeditions, to use both the
pool and the gym. Then on Monday – at least,
in theory – I’ll be checking out for the apartment: no idea if there will be
similar facilities in the block – I somehow doubt it. That said, I’ve been extended at the hotel
twice already as a suitable apartment hasn’t been found yet, so I wouldn’t be
surprised if I were still here this time next week.
Again,
TripAdvisor reviews have been largely positive, but with some unflattering
niggles (mostly from Yanks and Chinese – what is it about those miserable
sods?) but frankly I can’t fault the place at all. It’s one of the best hotels I’ve had the
pleasure of staying in, and I wholeheartedly recommend it.
So there we
go. After a longer than expected holiday
my life is getting back to normal. I’m
back on the road, and happy to be so. I’ve
missed it more than I had expected to, and it’s proven to me that I’m not ready
to retire just yet!
Work is fine
so far, but of course the project is still very much in the early stages and
there is still a lot of information needed before we can make any real
progress. We’re still short of people
(nothing new there) with one more joining us on Sunday and a couple more being
sought. I’ve found stuff to do and kept
busy, but as yet have not been extended at all – that will come later, I’m
sure.
In the
meantime, I now have a couple of days off, and as the temperatures are falling
I intend to get out and about, see the sights and shoot off a bunch of
pictures. So watch this space for more
on Doha, this time next week I should think.
Happy
travelling.
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