First, Tuesday morning (the day of my departure), I woke early to climb Table Mountain, which is stunning from the city centre and even more beautiful on the hike. After about an hour and 15 minutes of climbing (picture a stairmaster of rocks…it's very clearly marked, but uphill!), we reached the top. And what a view it was! The day was perfect, and it was a great day and activity to end my time in Cape Town. Then, I headed down to the Cathedral to say good-byes and set out for the airport.
Bruce, my principal contact here, offered to take me to the airport on his way home from work. On the ride, I did my best to thank him again (I had officially thanked him the night before with a little gift and card), and he started telling me a story. While he was the head of the Liturgical Committee of the Episcopal Church, he'd undertaken a similar research project (studying different religions, though). He told me about the wonderful contacts he met who helped him tremendously; then, he told me that he felt he "owed it to the Universe" to pass along assistance to travelers and researchers. And, now that I've been granted the fantastic experience as well, I owe the same debt to the universe. He charged me (like a good preacher giving a benediction) to pay it forward (intentional use of the movie title, Ishan). There really is no way I can thank him enough or repay him, so I will have to (and plan to) offer that help down the line.
Then, the flights! The Cape Town to Doha flight was long, slow, and delayed. Most of you know how that is; when a flight that is supposed to be ten hours becomes 12, nothing seems to feel good about it. Thus, I was excited to arrive in Doha, Qatar and head for the city during my 9 hour layover! A note about this day trip: I have been working, based on the advice of advisers over the past year, to take more healthy risks. This day trip was a risk: I was woefully underprepared (by my standards). I had prepared a great deal for Uganda and Cape Town by reading books, newspapers online, travel advice, etc. For Doha, I checked the State Dept. website to ensure I wouldn't have any issues getting in and sent two emails. That under preparedness left me free to explore whatever I found, and I did.
First, though, you should know that Doha is hot. Really hot. 110 Degrees Fahrenheit. All day. And I had come from winter. With a heavy pack containing all of my valuables. After adapting a little bit to the heat, I asked the cab to take me to the City Centre (which happened to be a mall…I was expecting a square…underprepared!), but it turned out to be an fine location. It was actually good that I was dropped at the mall, because it offered an air-conditioned homebase to escape from the sun as well as a constant stream of taxis (as getting back to the airport was a little bit of a concern for me). From the City Centre mall, I walked down to the waterfront area, where there was a fantastic little boardwalk type thing with information about the history of the city. Then, I checked out some of the very fancy hotels there, because I was given a tip that they were must-sees. They're really, really interesting…and very nice! Also a much appreciated respite from the sun. Then, I walked back into the city to explore around the other side. I didn't find too much, but did manage to stumble past some very stunning mosques into a market of sorts, which was mostly shut down because of the mid-day heat when I got there about 12:30. Then, back to the mall for a cab ride to the airport.
Doha was a very interesting city: I certainly didn't spend much time there, but here are a few things I noticed:
○ I was amazed at the sheer amount of construction. In the main city center area, there are more skyscrapers in the process of being built than currently exist. (Yes, I did count).
○ You can tell it's an oil-rich nation. Everyone has a car, and they use them to get everywhere. Moreover, the wealth of the city is pretty obvious (from the lavish construction of office buildings to the gold-rimmed entrance to the Department of Water Resources).
○ Walking in Doha was more dangerous than either Kampala or Cape Town. There are very few sidewalks (because all of the construction has covered or destroyed them), and those that exist are used as impromptu parking lots. Thus, walking on the street was the norm. And walking on the street worked in Uganda, where the roads were bad. But in Doha, the roads are great, and cars go fast. Anyways, I lived to tell the tale.
Then, back to the airport for another long flight to London. This flight, also delayed, afforded me a window seat as we flew along the Iraqi border, through Turkey (straight over Ankara, Clayton!), over the Black Sea, through Eastern Europe, between Berlin and Paris, and finally into Heathrow for my first ever stop in Europe (besides the layover in Amsterdam). I didn't see it all, because the flight was through dusk, but I saw a lot of very interesting places! Then, a quick tube ride into London for some much needed sleep.
Today, I spent the day in London. I'll write about my time in London in a few days.
I'll end on a personal note: congratulations to my brother, Ben, who took the Oath of Office as a midshipman at the Naval Academy this week. I couldn't be more proud of him, and can't wait to talk to him in 6 weeks.
Will
No comments:
Post a Comment