· Doha

Three hours in Doha: luxury, jungle and an A380.

Qatar Airways was a very nice surprise: good service, tech in the seat, good food. Then Hamad Airport, where even the garden looks expensive.

The A380 waiting at the gate. A flying apartment block, but somehow elegant.

Moodtired · impressed · slightly confused by all the luxury

Bangkok is reached, but first Doha deserves its chapter. The flight with Qatar Airways was genuinely one of the nice surprises of this trip. Excellent service, more tech in the seat than in some living rooms, and the airplane food was actually good. That does not happen every Tuesday.

Doha says hello with art, neon and duty-free scale.

I had a bit more than three hours in Doha. Leaving the terminal was not possible, so Hamad International Airport became my little luxury museum: marble, big art, a lot of light, very expensive shops and the feeling that even waiting has to shine here.

Waiting, but with space and gold in the air.

The best part was The Orchard, the tropical garden inside the airport. Very Qatar: a country with almost no natural freshwater builds a small jungle in an air-conditioned terminal. Drinking water here comes mostly from desalination, the wealth from gas. Qatar’s North Field is one of the biggest gas fields on Earth. Little water, a lot of gas, and somehow ferns between the gates.

A quick jungle walk between two flights. Completely normal.

The next flight to Bangkok left on time on an Airbus A380. Four engines, two decks, and roughly the elegance of a flying apartment block. Very large, very calm, very absurd. Perfect for this transfer.

A garden inside the terminal. Apparently the desert was not enough.

A postcard to Niko

A postcard about this chapter?

A thought, a question or just hello. It goes straight to me.

Your postcard goes only to me and is stored at Netlify, where this site is hosted. It is shown only if you agree and I pick it, then with your first name only. Your email stays private.