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When I booked my trip from Munich to Tehran with Qatar Airways, the ticket I purchased was for an afternoon flight from Munich to Doha, Qatar, arriving in Doha at 11 PM. After a two-hour airport transit, I would then fly to Tehran at 1 AM. Everything seemed perfect.
However, just 10 days before the flight, while returning from Lake Balaton to Budapest, I received an email from Qatar Airways stating that my connecting flight would now depart after an 8-hour layover instead of 2. This meant I would have to wait 8 hours at Doha Airport for my next flight to Tehran.
On the day I left Munich for the airport by train, I arrived a bit early. The check-in staff told me I was too early and they weren't accepting luggage yet. I waited and returned 30 minutes later, where a German woman told me:
You're late, check-in is closed, book another flight.
This wasn't right. I had been waiting there. It wasn't an acceptable answer that they had taken other people's luggage while ignoring me. Her colleagues had told me to wait. After a 5-minute argument, she finally relented, took my luggage, and said, 'I still don't believe you came half an hour ago.' I replied that I had arrived before everyone else, and they could check the cameras if they wanted.
On the plane to Qatar, a German couple sat next to me. They said they were going to have a long layover at Doha Airport for their flight to New Zealand. They were very excited. I sympathized with them, although for me it was an unexpected delay, while for them it was the original plan.
After a few hours, as we approached Qatar, the in-flight entertainment screens started showing advertisements about Qatar: tourist attractions, culture, people, shops, hotels, etc. The German couple said to me, 'I wish we had more time, we could leave the airport, explore, and sleep in one of those hotels before our next flight.' I smiled and replied, 'I wish...'
We arrived at the beautiful Doha Airport, Hamad International Airport. This huge airport, which I love for its design and architecture, never gets old for me. It smells of travel. I don't know how to describe it. As I write this post, I can say I've been traveling to and from this airport for about 8 years. Anyway,
The German couple went to find a place to rest, we said goodbye, and I went to file a complaint about the transit delay. I quickly found the right place. The woman who listened to my complaint took my passport and returned after 15 minutes:
This is your entry stamp for Qatar, and this is a coupon for shopping and restaurants. Welcome to Qatar. Your driver is waiting to take you to the hotel.
I was very happy, not because I needed a hotel or such amenities, but because I was amazed by the respect, the respect of a person for another person, a company/airline for a passenger, a country for another nationality. The driver came, took my small bag, and we went to the car. I was so happy that I told my family and friends in Budapest. I wanted to tell the German couple too, but I didn't have their contact information. I felt truly welcomed to Qatar. The fresh memory of Munich and that person's behavior came to mind... my mind began to compare.
We headed to the hotel. Qatar's skyscrapers are beautifully built. It was around 1 AM, and I, who was supposed to be on a flight to Tehran, was now in a car heading to a hotel in Doha, a very unexpected trip.
We arrived at the hotel, they quickly gave me my room, and I was surprised to see dinner waiting for me on the bed. 1 AM, dinner? It was as if I had been ordered from above.
I couldn't sleep. I rested for a bit and left the hotel at 2 AM to explore Doha for two hours in the humid summer heat. It was so humid that my whole body was wet. Anyone who saw me on the street at that hour would have been surprised, but there was no one, maybe a few cars passed by. After exploring, taking photos, and walking around Doha, I returned to the hotel at 4 AM, took a shower, and fell into a deep sleep, so deep that I didn't even hear my phone's 6 AM alarm. The driver was supposed to pick me up at 6:30 AM to take me to the airport for my 7:30 AM flight to Tehran.
Around 6:05 AM, the room phone rang repeatedly. I woke up but didn't answer (I was in a state of sleep inertia, I didn't know where I was or what time it was). They called a few more times, and I answered. They told me to come down quickly, the driver was waiting, and I would miss my flight if I didn't come down in 5 minutes.
I quickly went down to the hotel lobby, we left, and on the way, I saw Doha in daylight...
And that was my unexpected 7-hour trip to Qatar.
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