15 days Northern lights trip: D 15

I arrived at Doha, Qatar airport at 6.05am. The  flight from Stockholm to Doha is appx 5 & a half hours.
I do feel pretty groggy as I only slept 2 hours on flight.

The airport is bustling with activities! Am very surprise as it was very early and the shops were all opened or maybe it is because I just came from scandinavia countries where people do not work on shifts. And of course it is a welcome change for me.

I set out to search for the Free Doha City Tour offered to all Qatar flights customers with long transit time. After passing through the transfer check Point where your luggages are scanned, you will reached the main departure hall where the big yellow bear is at.

The kiosk is located diagonally opposite the yellow bear , between the Mont Blan and WH Smith shop.

After showing your boarding pass, they will assign you the time for your tour. I was assigned the 11am tour as my flight is 8pm. If your flight is earlier, they will probably set you for the 9am tour.

As I have 3 hours to spare, I search for some food. I went to Marche and food is horrible! Please skip this place. They are totally unrelated to the Marche chain. Better just go to this food court where they seem to provide better selections.

After checking with the airport hotel on my booking and to leave my luggage there, I rest around their comfy couch at the waiting reception area. The Airport hotel accepts bookings for 6-8 hours stay at a price of appx. Qatar Riyals 700-900 depending on the room type. Do make a booking before you arrive, as I see that a lot of walk-ins are either rejected or have to wait for another few hours before they could stay.

At 10am, we all meet up at the Doha City Tour counter. There, the folks brought 20 of us via special lane and we do not need any visa as we are on this qatar free day tour. They will assign you this card which will be stamped by the immigration customs.

And this is the bus that will be ferrying us around the city

The view of the airport

And the first stop is at the beach of Pearl of orient.

Next a big pigeon house

And the mosque next to it designed emulating from Iranian mosque.

Next the amphitheatre

The theatre is next to a beach and there was a old luxury car exhibition.

And there are a few new sports cars

Then we stop by a new shopping centre with expensive brands. This area is a new housing estate

Passed by a falcon building

And the landscapes we see along the way

And last stop is the old souk of Doha.

Tried their pomegranate juice and pistachio ice cream. Both tastes good

We finished the tour after 2.5 hours. Back to the airport at appx. 1.45pm

I immediately checked in to the airport hotel after I reached the airport.

And I had a leisurely swim at their heated pool

The pool shower rooms are equipped with all the toiletries that one can need.

Before I had a good 2 hour nap in the comfy bed.

The hotel gave me a 7pm wake up call for my flight boarding at 7.25pm. I checked out by 7.15pm and walked to the gate in just 5mins.

And that ends my 15 days holiday with our main mission is to see Northern Lights and the rest of the destinations are side bonuses.

Would I recommend anyone to go on this long holiday? Yes definitely if one can take the cold and a lot of walking (we walked average of 20,000 steps a day in the cities)

Namaste.

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