Doha Airport layover. (The Blind leading the blind)

Big spenders get to exit planes in Doha on covered stairs to be whisked away in luxury cars.  Cheapskates like us disembark the back of the plane on regular stairs to be herded on to buses.

They say first impressions are what count.  Fortunately for me this is not the case.  After being blown away by our journey on Qatar Airways, we were once again blown away by the heat upon exiting the airplane on arrival to Doha airport.  The airport here has an interesting system where all planes are parked on the tarmac and the passengers are shuttled to their respective terminal by bus for poor class, and BMW for the rich.  This requires you to exit the airplane on those roll away steps.

Buses for the plebeians

Limo service for big spenders

The moment we left the airplane we were hit with a wall of intense heat.  It was 12:30am and the on board computer was reading 40 Celsius (104 f.).  It was like walking into a sauna where you literally need to hold onto the wall and gasp for your first breath.  Whether Doha Airport was beautiful or not I could tell not as my glasses instantly hazed over as did my camera.  I needed to be lead like the handicap person I am and follow the crowd herd like to the transfer terminal.  I did however have quite a nice and intimate if only fleeting relationship with the security dude who gave us all a very thorough pat down.  Sorry I cant tell you if he was cute or not as I was still blind as a bat.  After adjusting to the air conditioning I was able to view my surroundings, and was presently surprised.

I had done much research on the Doha Airport and it wasn't too positive, and somewhat true.  The bus ride from plane to terminal was very long, some 15 minutes at least.  But for us it was fun and who cares, we were in their hands and Qatar Airways gave enough time for the transfer. Besides, we weren't walking and it was cool to see all the planes and the going ons of airport life, or so they tell me as I was blind at the time.  We only had about an hour and a half transfer time, and it went without a glitch.

A compact sleeping bag feels like a king size feather bed
in a crowded airport.

For the return flight on Qatar Airways we opted to do an 8 hour layover here as opposed to a late night flight out of Bangkok.  It is true that it is a crowded airport, but it is very clean and very safe.  Chairs are at a premium, but they can be found.  We found ourselves a nice corner, pulled out the sleeping bag and set up shop.

Duty free store where depending on how much you spend you
can win a Harley or luxury vehicle.

There is a very popular Duty free shop located inside the Doha Airport.  Coming from Bolivia we found the prices ridiculous, but people were certainly snapping goods up like a going out of business sale.  But our favorite activity was just walking around and people watching.  There were people from all over and it was very cool to try to imagine just where they were from and where they were going.  I used to hate airports as I found them to just be a place for stress and hassles.  I had a friend who always wanted to work in an airport and I could never understand it as it seemed so transitory and depressing.  I understand it now.

The Prince and Princess people watching

Seats at a premium

 I will say that they need some more bathrooms, as there was always a line for the heathen ones.  Obviously with that much demand cleanliness wasn't at its best either.  The Muslims had their own bathrooms which we were not supposed to enter.  It is my understanding that in some Sharia law countries, your hands can be chopped off for stealing, so needless to say I didn't risk or even ask what might be cut off for taking a leak in a prohibited bathroom.

Non Heathen bathroom