I somehow had expected the Doha airport to be more upscale. They are almost finished building their new one, which might be better, but the food court here looked like a weak version of what you would find on a UK motorway.

This time through I opted to pay the $40 for entrance into the Oryx club, a quiet place with comfortable sofas, fresh food, good coffee and wifi. The four hours went quickly.

After our banquet, we filtered back to the bar in the Yak and Yeti, but it got loud and quickly tedious and I said my goodbyes.

I was first to leave the next morning…a 7am driver was taking me to the airport. Coming down to breakfast, expecting to eat alone and just slip away, I walked into the restaurant at 6:30 and found Tara and Chris waiting at a table for me. An act of kindness that meant more than they could have known.

Sagar took care of all the details at the airport, pointed me in the right direction, and it was the start of another 5+7+7 hour set of flights. No joy.