November 16, 2019
We had an uneventful layover in Doha. The airport is like grand central station 24 hours a day. We were clearly back in the “first world”, at least as far as airport security goes. Kathy read that Nepal has some of the worst airport security in the world; I’m not surprised by that and have to believe that Doha is at the other end of the spectrum. We had to clear security twice, once when landing and another time when entering our departure gate. Each time was very thorough unlike our experiences in Nepal, in particular.
Like before, we had a hotel room at the airport and each of us got about five hours of sleep which felt great. Our flight to Chicago was on time and I was able to sleep again. I spent a bit of time talking with one of the pilots. He told me that there are four pilots on board and they are all in the cockpit during takeoff and landing and then they each work 6 1/2 hours and have 6 1/2 hours rest. Their rest quarters are up above us where they have beds and a couple of business class seats. This man is originally from Honduras but now lives in Doha. He travels all over the world but likes to get to he US at least twice a month so that he can get groceries for his family!
I also spent time getting to know, Noah, the six year old boy who, along with his four year old brother, was traveling with his grandmother to Indianapolis for a two month stay. The family is very international, the boys live in India , with their American mother and Indian father. The grandparents are Mexican and American.
It will be nice to get home … I look forward to eating a salad, brushing my teeth with tap water, having ice in a drink, and to sleeping in my own bed. It’s been a great adventure. One this I realize whenever I travel to far corners of the world is that, I’m spite of all of our problems, the US is still a good place to live.
Here are a few last photos … some may be duplicates from earlier posts.
jrhnepalandbhutan2019 