Mid January saw me taking the trip back to the UK that I mentioned in my last post; my thirty-nineth departure from Colombo.

By complete twist of fate I was on the same Qatar Airways flight to Doha as our Czech travellers, so we all left home together at just gone 23:30hrs on 13th ready for a flight that was scheduled to leave at 04:00hrs on 14th. To our mutual surprise, Colombo airport at quarter past midnight was absolutely heaving and back in to the full swing of tourists arriving and departing; a total contrast to when we flew in the summer and both the airport and the flights were all but empty.

Formalities complete, I then had a quandry; I was allowed one guest to accompany me in the business lounge but had three adults and a child to choose from. I tried to gain permission for everyone but as expected this was denied, so Rennie’s Mum came with me for her first experience of this way of waiting for a flight. We left the noisy hallway and bright lights leading to the gates and stepped in to an oasis of silent calm, Babi pausing to soak it up, gently shaking her head after getting her boarding card scanned. It was a lovely moment, as was informing her that she could help herself to any of the plentiful food and drink on offer and then watching her decide what to have.

As it turned out, we were fortunate to have this comfort and felt for Niki, Martin and Adam as our flight’s departure was delayed by two hours until 06:00hrs by when the new day was dawning. Once well en route to Doha I asked a member of the cabin crew if she could reassure that the special assistance arranged for Babi would be available as it hadn’t been in Colombo, and Doha has a vast airport. She called the flight deck as I walked away and a few minutes later came to see me and say that a conversation with Doha ground handling confirmed that arrangements were in place. Great, especially given that time was going to be tight for the Vienna flight that Babi would be taking with Martin, Niki and Adam. My own flight was going to be royally missed as I only had an hour in transit in the first place but I wasn’t worried in the slightest as I didn’t have a time critical connection in the UK and knew both that there are many London flights a day and that Qatar Airways would take good care of me.

Ground handling was waiting with a golf buggy, so after ensuring that all was in order and quick goodbyes I set off to find a departure board to establish if my flight had left (it had) and then the transfer desk. A few minutues later I heard a “toot toot” and turned to see the gold buggy whizzing along behind me. After a brief stop, I jumped on board and alighted at the transfer desk whilst the others went swiftly to their flight, it having been kept back because of a number of late incoming flights holding onward passengers for Vienna.

I was put on the next available flight to London, but there are worse places to spend six hours than the business lounge at Hamad International Airport. Lovely and calm, excellent shower facilities and a nice menu of food and drink to choose from. Arrival at Heathrow T5 was on time and I decided to take the Oxford Express coach after learning that it stops at Thornhill Park and Ride on the outskirts of the city; perfect for Mum to pick me up from and much quicker and easier than going by train with two changes involved and still with a car drive at the end anyway.

Mum arrived just as the coach did, so perfect timing, but meeting for a kiss and a hug in the pitch black of freezing fog with car park lighting barely visible was a far cry from the warm Sri Lanka that I had left eighteen hours previously. I drove us home, and thus started three weeks in the UK; it was lovely to be back in England’s green and pleasant land as the photos will indicate, though sadly no motorcycling this time as the roads were too cold, damp and greasy to make it enough fun to warrant all the cleaning that would follow.

I hope to be back in the UK at the end of April on a business trip – no doubt then as this time with every gramme of my 52Kg hold baggage allowance used up with ham, sausages, cheese and other British delights!  Arrival back at Colombo this time was over the newly opened bridge that extends the airport highway and which especially at peak times will save much time; it is built above the old road with its many junctions and includes connections to other arterial roads that therefore avoids the congestion below.

Steve