The Honeymoon - Part 2: Getting to Bali

The journey to Bali was a 32 hour flight. In coach. I'm not going to sugar coat this. It sucked. Having previously traveled to Guam several times, I thought I mastered the across-the-world, but 24 hours in business class is a big difference from 32 hours in the cattle car. I don't think I can ever do that kind of trip again if I have to be in coach, so (sorry Susanna) it might be a while before we get back there as long as business class tickets stay at $15k. Or until I get a raise.

We flew Qatar Airways, connecting through Qatar. First, let's talk about how to pronounce Qatar, because I sure as heck had no idea until this trip. There were a couple ways I heard from the airline and from people who worked at the airport. It's not "Kuh-tar" like most Americans like to say. It's also not "Cutter" as pronounced by most Americans who are trying to be worldly cultured. The two ways I heard it pronounced were either "Gut-tar" or "Kat-er." The most common seemed to be "Gut-tar" where the beginning "G" is really like combination between a G and a K. There's also almost no vowel sound in the first syllable either. The second way sounds like you're just adding an "er" to your favorite feline friend.

I have to admit - I was remarkably underwhelmed by Qatar Airways. I think it was all the first impressions. Each seat has it's own TV/entertainment system, a USB power port, and there are outlets in between each seat. A few minutes after we sat down, Susanna's entertainment system crashed. To top it off, we couldn't get the USB power ports to work. I tried getting the flight attendant's attention, but she seemed to be trying to avoid me. Finally, she came over. When I explained the problem, she simply barked "You'll have to wait ten minutes for the system to restart," ignored the USB issue, and walked away. Great first impression. We learned all of the USB power ports - at least every one on every segment of our trip - only worked sporadically at best. The real power ports were hit and miss as well. They'd work fine for an hour, then someone would move and you couldn't get them to work for another twenty minutes again. At least the in-seat entertainment was pretty good.

I was also a little surprised by the food. It wasn't bad food at all for airplane standards, just different than what you'd expect for airplane food. It was fairly gourmet, but definitely included some things that just don't work well on a plane. Lots of lamb and chicken, and prepared in lots of ways that dried it out pretty good. The toughest part was they just didn't seem to like to come around to give you water. We were so thirsty the entire time, and every time they came by, we'd ask for about 5 glasses of water each. I'm not sure what their aversion is to providing you with a comfortable, well hydrated flight.

The best part about the flight is that it left at 10 PM, so we were able to sleep through some of the 12.5 hour first leg before our 9 hour connection in Doha, Qatar. As we landed, there was a pretty cool view. The setting sun looked pretty similar to what Star Wars made Tatooine out to be. Of course minus the twin suns. The Qatar airport ended rather underwhelming, just like the airline. For an international airport that has a bunch of long connections, there's really very little to do. There are also very few power outlets, which quickly became a problem. There are a lot of really weird and hilariously unusual pieces of art throughout the airport though. Strangely enough, there are a TON of contests to win money and cars, and they had a Maserati, Mercedes, and a McLaren on display. There is definitely not enough to keep you entertained for 9 hours. Here's a tip: many of the merchants and duty free stores will ask you if you want to be charged in US dollars. It sounds great, but they apply a 3% conversion fee, so if you have a card that has no fees, like a Capital One, then make sure to have them charge you in Qatari Rial.

The 10-hour flight to Bali was much of the same as getting to Qatar, although with some slightly friendlier flight attendants. We still had trouble with the power outlets, we were still thirsty, and despite being absolutely exhausted, we could barely sleep. You can imagine our excitement when we finally touched down in Denpasar and were able to get off the plane!