We flew from Bangkok to Doha and then again from Doha to DFW with less than an hour of layover at Hamad International Airport in Doha, Qatar. It was a long, long day! The first flight was seven hours, and the second one was 16.
Qatar Airways was great, though! The first flight was especially nice, as they spaced all of the passengers out. Pinky and I had an empty seat between us, and were able to stretch out. The second flight was more crowded, but it was ok.
It was my first time flying internationally since the pandemic began. Things are a little different now! For one, they now pass out a little protective kit along with the comfort kit (which contains socks, toothbrush and toothpaste, lip balm, ear plugs, and a sleep mask).
The protective kit contains a mask, a little tube of alcohol gel, and a pair of gloves. I was really glad to see the airline taking things so seriously.
They have also amended the pre-departure announcements to inform passengers that you must remove your mask and face shields if the oxygen masks drop down. It's really interesting to see how things have changed in the past two years.
It was a night flight. We left Bangkok at 9pm, arriving in Doha at midnight. There was no time to explore Hamad International Airport, the tiny State of Qatar's only airport, though! Our next flight was supposed to depart just ten minutes after we landed!
We ended up being delayed a bit, but I didn't get to see much of Qatar. Since I didn't get to leave the airport or get a passport stamp, I don't count this as having visited the country. My personal rule is that I must get a stamp and must set foot outside of the airport, even if it's just for a few minutes!
We left Hamad bound for Dallas-Fort Worth around 1am, landing at DFW some 16 hours later at 9am Texas time. The flight was long and boring, but not too bad! The food was excellent Arab food, not too heavy but extremely flavorful!
I was especially fascinated to see the Islamic elements of the flight! In the onboard entertainment computer, you could even choose to read the Quran!
And when you looked at the flight map, the compass always pointed the way towards Mecca.
Despite this, however, there was plenty of booze available on board! Qatar Airways is the first flight I've ever flow where the liquor is also free for passengers along with the beer and wine!
Finally, tired, cramped, and ready to get out of the plane, we arrived at DFW.
I don't know if you've had to fly at all in the past few years, but there's a new contactless immigration system. It's super cool, but almost a little creepy! There are no longer any forms or documents to fill out, and you don't even have to use the kiosk computers on arrival. Now, citizens just step up to the immigration counter. The officer asked me to remove my mask, took a picture of my face, greeted me by name, and welcomed me to the country. He never even took my passport! I guess there's a database of faces, and they can immediately identify you.
Pinky had to use the new visitor's system. They did look in her passport, but they didn't give her any sort of stamp. We were really confused at first, and nobody seemed able to explain how the new system worked (which I thought they should have, as it is their job). When we got home, however, we were able to find that you can access a form called I-94 online. This is an immigration website where you enter your passport information, and can look up a log of all your entries and exits to and from the US along with a digital passport stamp. It's really efficient, but as someone who loves passport stamps, I'm a little sad to see them go.
Anyway, we are here in the US, and have already received our first dose of the Pfizer vaccine! After waiting so many months and flying 9,000 miles to get it, the jab was an immediate load lifted. We've been so stressed and worried in Thailand, but it was super fast. We just showed up at a Walgreens on the way home from the airport, and had our jabs just a few minutes later. No charge, no paperwork, no stress!
My arm is a little sore today, but other than that I feel great, and Pinky and I are both so, so happy to already have gotten our first doses of the vax, especially with things so back back in Thailand.
Now, we are taking a few days to rest and relax before I open up my teaching schedule. We've got some fun adventures planned, too! First thing's first, though, and that's to partake in my yearly visit home tradition and enjoy some of the seasonal beers! You just can't get this in Thailand!
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