Wednesday, September 13, 2017

Back from Vacation

It was a long trip, thanks to getting a week off for the Eid holiday. I was away almost a month! I didn't post beforehand as I get a bit concerned that someone reading the blog might realize I'm out of the country and try to burgle my apartment -- extremely unlikely here in Qatar but it has happened to people elsewhere in the world.

First I was off to Thailand with a lot of friends (all told it was 15 of us, yes 15). It was my first time in Thailand and we had rented villas in a compound in the island of Koh Samui. We did a lot, a boat trip, BBQ, went to see the Muy Thai fights, explored temples, did an ATV excursion in the jungle, did go-kart racing, we packed a lot into five days.

From there I was off to England. I really wanted some cool, cloudy weather after months of Qatar heat and I certainly wasn't going to get that in Thailand. I was only going to be there a week before heading to Turkey to meet friends but in the end my friends had to cancel so I decided to stay in England and tour around the country. I went to a lot of places: York, Cambridge, Ely, Chichester, Bristol, Bath, Oxford, Stratford-upon-Avon, Wawrick and of course London for a number of days. I won't go into the details as it was such a long trip but I really enjoyed seeing the England outside of London.

As for Qatar unfortunately it's still hot and the blockade is still in place. It was a distant hope that it would have been lifted while I was away but alas it was not to be.