After over 3 weeks on the ground in Cairo (10 days of which were spent visiting with my Dad…see Wendy’s blog) we are finally back in the air & on to a couple new destinations. We left Cairo on the afternoon of Nov 1 & headed south to make a left turn over Hurghada, Egypt, where we would first cross the Red Sea & then the Arabian Peninsula as the sun set behind us. We are enroute to Abu Dhabi, UAE for a couple nights & then on to Doha, Qatar for one night.
You pilot types will appreciate this explanation regarding the vastness of the “Sand Box” across the Arabian Peninsula. As we crossed the Red Sea we were handed off by Cairo Control to Jeddah Control. When we checked on with Jeddah, they gave us our next frequency to call Riyadh Control over ALNAT intersection. Although we could hear Jeddah for much of the trek across the desert, we never talked to them again. Near the end of our 300nm run with Jeddah we began to lose them on the radio…ah, now the reason for obtaining the next frequency at check-on is apparent! As instructed nearly 40 minute earlier, we switched over to Riyadh Control for the next 286nm (again, the same system of hand-off to the next controller), before finally reaching the Arabian Gulf & talking to Bahrain as we passed north of Qatar. By now it is full darkness outside, with only cities & the flames of refineries visible. The controllers in Bahrain & Emirates sounded British & were much like controllers in the US…nothing like the often chaos of Cairo Control :) All told, the flight from Cairo to Abu Dhabi was 4 hours long.
Northern end of the Red Sea. The Gulf of Suez in the foreground. Sina Peninsula from the left & The Gulf of Aqaba to the left in the background.
Along the water front in Abu Dhabi.
There was much new construction (mostly in the form of high-rise buildings) in Abu Dhabi. The Both the heat & vastness of this city remind me of the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex.
In the background to my left, you can see the Palace Hotel...quite a grand looking place!
Our refuge from the heat (around 100 degrees here on Nov 2) was this HUGE/modern mall!
Abu Dhabi along the water front as the sun was setting.
View from the resturant atop our hotel.
We approached Doha, Qatar from the northeast in the thick haze, just before the sun set on Nov 3rd.
Caught this pic as we taxied to the gate (And I do mean GATE as in airline. Many airports in these parts treat us as they would the airlines, minus the jet bridge :)
Although it is nothing like the US or UAE, one could say that Doha is quite clean, modern & organized, after living in Cairo for the past 10 months.
Along the water front in Doha.
Here, you can see a very modern mosque behind & to my left.
Another different looking (from what we see in Cairo) mosque in downtown Doha.
View of Doha fron the pool on top of our hotel (The Best Western Seef Hotel).
Closer view of the Acropolis & the Pantheon!
