Doha, Qatar
Showered at midnight, showed up for the bus at 0100. Went to the passenger (PAX) terminal and waited for a half hour to learn that the flight was cancelled/delayed. Went to breakfast, then watched most of "Without a Paddle" in the theater, followed by most of "Troy" at Charlie's. Back to the PAX terminal, where we learned that our route in now direct, on a C-130. Snagged a little more breakfast, logged into email for a few minutes, and then back to the PAX terminal where we eventually boarded. On the plane after nine hours of waiting and two more cups of coffee.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjW3yt7MEvy-y0ixvRlYKKhdvxjNKxrMaxrFF6-Lqo1ZVKhBhiuCEpyrrhiF73Wn9GeISWLOAN_gtMw7q_i9hBqHp3wAkkDAN2mYY39_mogp6id6uXbLSg4FuD-iwqsboaj9enR5ca1QoHf/s320/IMG_0995.JPG) |
I got a "window" seat, if you can call it that. |
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXZ_lxVdTyzESD2EDLoj5SmoWiIQjyxvmQCTW6cCB3-TmqveH8pY9KvihAObTqKfI1r9WIr1ztPsBgFfnb8QFVUao1fq4p_4cQJVBOuCFKqloB8b7avkax2-7Z_NnRwaSV_FltGqxtTeHX/s320/IMG_1006.JPG) |
Red desert on one side of a river, brown earth on the other |
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0DT7VbZoJMAojPrR6NcH0OfJxAVtwsK27xdT12XAnYjvxQF1MdzaWYtvbvQ0L5l4GFOl1302Y-EmOrN4Ncvci2ua3B_BELqFqDgNVCf8jHw9SeIpg0lQo9za0VDCAbJAgHFJ86Qj6J7A4/s320/IMG_1005.JPG) |
A small mountain range that looks like an alligator buried in sand |
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOiE3f0wWdkPoAhXNklDjAZUpWJGlETYwuB2dmCKXc1CWjJ3S4lMMz8Bm4loAto-lXb-tY7Sp_fpXvDBA9QkHgwd9xhfJP5Hjq65O3W38xn5K67e-udMulink_m05S98zdIvQLbk_NDN3e/s320/IMG_1018.JPG) |
Snowy mountains that look like something out of a heroic epic
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At some points, the clouds and snowy peaks merged into the haze, right around sundown. I stood in the cockpit for a few minutes as we went through the clouds.
We arrived around 1800 local and were greeted by a cool light mist. The mist hung around all night as we got our bearings. It rained earlier and there's mud all over the place. I overheard some Russian spoken by the dining facility staff, and the chow hall had steak and shrimp and great tasting potatoes. I'm sharing a room with the two other guys on my team, but one of them is a clean freak and has swept out his little compartment area already. We get around 6x8 feet of personal space. I plugged in my camera battery charger because I was snapping pics like a maniac on the plane ride.
In bed at 6:30 Doha time, 8:30 local. Our day started 18 hours ago and I've only napped a little in the last 36 hours. Gonna sleep well tonight, despite the lumpy pillow and super soft mattress.
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