Doha Best Western Plus. 25 April 2025

Not everything goes to plan. Phil and I should at this time be in Madrid sampling the vino Tinto.

While we left Melbourne on time, five hours into the flight there was a medical issue two rows in front of where we were sitting requiring the summons of any medical personnel on board. Initially we thought all was well until there was a second episode and the pilot announced that we would be diverting to Jakarta to take the passenger off. The diversion required the dumping of fuel prior to landing and delayed our arrival in Doha by for hours.

Consequently we missed our Madrid connection and have spent the night in a hotel (arriving at 4:30am)

The only bright side of the 18 hour flight was the small woman next to me who stirred up the passenger in front of her every time he put his seat back. At one point I thought that there was going to be a punch up.

Doha is very hot, 29 degrees at 4:30 this morning and even hotter when we went for a short walk after breakfast. We wandered down to the dhow harbour, old souk and past a couple of mosques, at which point it became too hot and we returned to our hotel.

We leave for Madrid at about 3:00pm and will arrive around 10:00, hopefully catching up with Jen and Dave before a good nights sleep.

Phil would like to thank his daughter Kylie for the excellent sleeping tablets that made a very long flight bearable.

Old Souk Doha

Doha

Mosque in Doha

Phil at our Hotel