Days 1 & 2 (March 9-10, 2023): A 44-Hour Trek

People often ask me, “How do you decide on your next destination?”   The answer is often disappointing for them, I think, as I get the impression they are hoping to hear that I had gotten a ‘destination revelation’ in a dream, or something equally profound.  The real source of destination ideas for me can be as simple as seeing an article on a certain place in an in-flight magazine, hearing others share their experiences of a place visited, a global event taking place somewhere (as the World Cup inspired our July 2022 trip to Qatar), etc.  

From whence did the inspiration come for our trip to the Maldives?  To be honest, it was rising sea levels.  You see, with the elevation of the atolls of the Maldives merely feet above sea level, I fear for their near-future.  Therefore, we decided to go see them while they are still, frankly, see-able. 

This trip was booked 11 months ago, which is fairly typical in my trip planning approach.  When something is that far off, departure day can actually sneak up on you, since one can file away the trip deep in one’s consciousness, once the logistics are solidified.

So when the alarm went off at 4:30AM today, part of my brain said, “Huh? That is today?!”  The other part of my brain said, “The taxi will be in the driveway in less than an hour, get moving, Burton!”

We were at the airport by 5:45, and US Pre-Clearance was a breeze.  The flight to Boston started boarding at 7:10 but we didn’t lift off from the runway until 8:20.  With a full day to punch in in the Boston area, though, the delay didn’t bother us.

Once at Boston Logan, we rented a car and headed an hour north to Manchester, New Hampshire, where we had booked a room to rest for the day.  We got great Mexican food from a place next door to the hotel, caught up on emails, slept, and by 5:45PM were in the car for the return drive to Boston Logan.  

Our Qatar Airways flight to Doha was sold-out and left 10 minutes early.  12 hours later, we landed in Doha. (I slept a few hours, poor Pam did not.)  This being our third time in Doha in the last 12 months, we are quasi-familiar with it now.  We took the luxurious metro to the same hotel where we stayed last July, to while away our eight-hour stopover.  Just before midnight, we took the metro back to Hamad International Airport for our 2AM onward flight to Male, capital of the Maldives. We arrived half an early early, at 8AM local time — 44 hours after we left our driveway. 

And that’s where I will pick up the real start to our vacation in tomorrow’s entry. 

We arrived at gate 57 in the US departures section at 6 AM. With just four hours of sleep behind us, we were feeling quite bleary-eyed. 

It has been three years since we were in the US departures section at Halifax Stanfield international. The area was closed for a couple of years during the pandemic. This morning, however, it was bustling. A flight to Orlando was boarding about the same time as our flight to Boston. 

Our Air Canada express Dash 8-400 to Boston left 45 minutes late. 

Fort Warren, a pentagonal citadel that reminds us of the Halifax Citadel, sits on one of the many islands in Massachusetts Bay.

A view of downtown Boston, with Logan Airport in the foreground, just before landing. A beautiful pre-spring day in Boston!

Welcome to New Hampshire sign on the New Hampshire - Massachusetts state line. A very gutsy slogan for such a small state.

The very new and modern Residence Inn by Marriott in Manchester, New Hampshire, where we spent the day.

Veterans Memorial Park in Manchester, NH. 

These five sculptures of boots, rifles and helmets represent the major conflicts that have claimed the lives of US soldiers in the last century. 

The University of New Hampshire makes use of some re-purposed textile factories along the Merrimack River that runs through Manchester.

You’re probably going to wonder why there so many pictures of large brick buildings here!  Manchester was a huge textile, cotton-mill, foundry and manufacturing centre from the early 1800s and until the 1960s. Both sides of the Merrimack River are lined with massive former factory buildings, which have been carefully and beautifully restored for modern use, from university education to apartment lofts, offices, hotels and self-storage facilities.  A brilliant and beautiful repurposing of what — in their day — may have been seen as unattractive and perhaps oppressive structures. Driving among these buildings is truly an awesome experience.  So we share a few of them with you below…

The Leonard P. Zakim Bunker Hill Memorial Bridge  is a cable-stayed bridge completed in 2003 across the Charles River in Boston. 

How many crew does it take to handle a sold-out Airbus A350 on a 12-flight? 15!  And there they are, showing up to board the aircraft. 

This is the Airbus A350-900, a fairly new addition to Qatar Airways’ widebody long-haul fleet. This is our first 350 flight, so we are quite excited about it.  Qatar Airways and Airbus have had no end of legal battles over their mutual contract for the 350, of which Qatar now flies 53, having put their first 350 into service in 2014.  So, as nice as the aircraft is, it is a very sensitive issue for both parties!


As per past experiences on Qatar Airways, the service in Economy Class is better than any other airline.  Dinner came with three entree choices - we took the beef and mashed potatoes. A mid-flight savoury pastry was offered, and then a hot breakfast two hours before arrival in Doha. 

Just about to head over the Red Sea, slightly north of Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt. 


While taking an Uber would have been a bit easier and faster, I can think of nothing more enjoyable than taking the Doha Metro. It is so clean and modern, you could eat off the floor. It is definitely, and by far, the most impressive and luxurious metro station we have ever seen in our world travels. 

The Doha Metro has three classes:  Gold, Family and Standard. Men are only allowed on a Family car if traveling with a woman and at least one child. 

The hand-loops on the metro cars still show signs of the a World Cup event. 

And sorry for even more Doha Metro coverage! But these are symbols you simply wouldn’t see in a North America metro / subway. 

This is Msheireb Metro Station, perhaps the most important metro station in the Doha Metro network. It is right across the street from our hotel.

Nothing like a swim in the rooftop pool after a 12-hour flight!

The view of Doha’s high-rise towers across the harbour from the top floor of our hotel.

When we stayed at this hotel last July, we ordered this same mezza sampler. We had one delivered to the room tonight, and it was just as amazing.

Not only is Hamad International a massive, massive airport, it is the most luxurious airport you can possibly imagine.

Of course, every wealthy royal family needs their own airport terminal. En route to our take off position in Doha, we passed the private air terminal the Qatari Royal family.

Dinner (spicy chicken) was served at 3:30AM. Our body time clocks are severely messed up at this point. 

And just to show where Maldives is…. That is the flight path from Doha to the Male, capital of the Maldives. Just situated, that is in the air directly above the red dot. And the island to the bottom left of India is Sri Lanka.