From Sri Lanka to Doha and home (and just in time!)

Time to leave Sri Lanka

We had a fairly early start with an airport transfer booked for 7.30. Negombo is very near the airport so it was a short drive. We dropped off our one hold bag, which was checked right through to Heathrow. The queue at passport control wasn't too long and to our surprise there was no security check at this stage.

We got coffees and muffins in the airport's branch of Costa, which looked just like the UK ones but had some different food items. Then we walked to our gate, number 14, and found seating nearby, congratulating ourselves on being in the right place in good time. But a member of the Sri Lankan ground staff, dressed in their beautiful distinctive uniform of a peacock themed sari, informed us there was a gate change and we were now flying from gate 3. Of course that was at the opposite end of the terminal, but as it's a fairly small one it didn’t take us too long to get there. We had a short wait before the gate opened and once it did there was security screening at that point. It struck me as a good system as you're not queuing behind loads of people taking various flights.

Boarding was via buses, surprisingly, so took a bit longer, but we took off pretty much on time. The flight passed uneventfully, the high point being the chicken biriani served for lunch which was excellent.

We landed a little early and unlike our arrival just over three weeks ago, sailed through immigration. That recent visit allowed us to use the e-gates as we were already on record as having a visa. We had no baggage to claim either of course, so we headed straight to the taxi rank. I'd made a reservation at the Airport Premier Inn for the night, partly because with a Premier Inn you know what you’re getting but also because it had a free airport shuttle service. It turns out however that you don't know what you’re getting as for some reason there is no shuttle service between midday and 4.00 pm, and we had landed at 1.30 pm! So a taxi it had to be.

Check in at the hotel was also slightly odd. I'd booked through the Premier Inn website and paid in full at the time. The hotel had a record of that payment but asked to see the card I'd used, as further confirmation. The problem was, I'd mislaid that card just before the trip and reported it to my bank, so was in the process of getting a replacement (which was hopefully by now awaiting me at home). This shouldn't have been a problem however as I still had that card on my phone and could show it, and could also show the payment on the bank statement on my phone. However despite their own records showing they'd taken payment from me, seeing the credit card used in the wallet on my phone, seeing the payment taken on my bank statement AND seeing the confirmation email I was also able to produce, the receptionist still had to disappear into a back office and fetch a senior colleague to look at these records and agree that I had in fact pre-paid!

That little sideshow over we were able to go to our room, which was the expected not large but comfortable Premier Inn standard. It was still only mid afternoon so we decided to go out for a stroll in the immediate neighbourhood and maybe get a cold drink. However we hadn’t factored in that it was Ramadan so everywhere was closed until the evening, even in the nearby very upmarket Plaza Hotel. So after a quick look at a new mosque just around the corner we retreated to our hotel room and relaxed there for the rest of the afternoon.

In the evening we ate in the hotel's restaurant, there being no other real option in the vicinity. The food was nothing special and there was no atmosphere, but the service was friendly and the prices very reasonable. Time then for an early night.

Home (and just in time!)

Our room at Doha's Premier Inn was comfortable, but I didn't sleep too well unfortunately. Still, it was a lot better than a night on a plane would have been! We were both awake before our 5.15 alarm so got up and were downstairs checking out well before the hotel's 6.00 am shuttle was due to leave. And just as well, as the minibus was full and the last people to board had to sit with their luggage piled on their laps.

It was very misty as we drove to the airport and we wondered if flights would be affected, but everything seemed to be running smoothly. With no baggage to drop off we went straight to passport control and security, both of which were relatively quiet. We got coffees and muffins in a pseudo French cafe, and I bought some sweets for my family in the duty free shop.

Boarding was well organised and punctual, and we took off on time. Soon afterwards a 'brunch' was served - chicken sausage with frittata and potatoes.

After the meal I watched a film, The Bucket List, with Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman (pretty good), then took advantage of the free WiFi to chat with friends on Facebook, answer emails and messages, and read a few blog posts.

We landed on time at Heathrow and with no hassles at passport control and only one bag to pick up we were soon on our Piccadilly line train and home by mid afternoon.

Postscript: this journey home was on a Tuesday. On the following Saturday the US and Israel launched a bombing campaign on Iran and the latter responded with drone attacks across the Gulf states. Doha airport, like all the others in the region, closed down and all flights were suspended. It was (and still is) hard to comprehend that a city we had so enjoyed visiting a few weeks before, and had so recently left, could be under attack.