Ramadan has ended. I am not going to report about it as so much is written each year about the holy month in Qatar. Like many expats we got away for three weeks of the thirty days of Ramadan, escaping the summer heat in the higher 40s, and returning at the beginning of Eid to similarly high temperatures.

As we were about to exit the airport arrivals hall on our return, a very friendly man in a thobe greeted us with a warm ‘Eid Mubarak’. He then presented both of us with a bag containing traditional Eid gifts… a small box of dates, a bottle of water and less traditionally, a glossy leaflet about Eid activities in Doha. A smaller gift bag would have been better as my expectations of the potential contents were somewhat raised by its size.

We flew out of and into the new Hamad International Airport, which was a far nicer experience than the old airport. Much more space, more and better seating, more toilets, nicer ambiance, and if you fly Qatar airways, no long bus ride to and from the aircraft.

The one downside is that the airport is now farther out of town so that we can no longer leave the terminal and be home in less than 15 minutes.