Turkey was not on my bucket list but I am not one to pass up a good opportunity. An old dear friend from Yosemite (circa 1979-1982) was connected via later Yosemite connections to a tour guide in Turkey. they went on a trip pre-Covid and raved about the trip, My Yosemite friend did the same trip again in May and some of the folks who went on the original trip wanted to go again as well and this trip was born at a music festival last September,
JR and I are currently in a fancy hotel in the Doha, Qatar airport. We came through here and stayed here during our trip to Africa. We really like flying Qatar airlines and they accrue AK airline miles ( a big bonus). we had great plans for a long overnight, a fantastic pool, hot tub and enough time to do a short city tour.
The pool is closed for maintenance, no one could tell us if we could leave the hotel and go through customs and get back in, so we stayed here. In Anchorage a very kind but apparently misinformed AK airline clerk told us we could not check our bags to Istanbul, that we had to pick up our luggage in Doha. I had packed and planned on carrying on my bag. With the above information, it made sense to just check it.
Once we got to Seattle to check in for our Doha flight, they said we would have to go through customs after picking up our bags and then re-enter the airport through security. Darn. So we decided to check them through to Istanbul (they reassured us they do it all the time). Gulp. Hope they are in Istanbul when we arrive there after an additional 7 hour flight today.
That meant no swimsuit and no other clothes. Darn. We slept well and awoke at 0300 to a bustling airport. Very busy. Many shops/ manned all night. I find the shops amusing- purses, purses and more purses. Not many clothing shops.
We went for breakfast at 0600. Coffee machines were broken (that would never happen in the US). So if you can’t get coffee, why not beer? Most US states do not allow drinking until after 10 am. Qatar is the country that had Budweiser as a big sponsor for the Olympics and then refused to serve beer at the events! Funny business practices.
I know an Anchorage woman who lives most of the year in Qatar because her husband works for an oil company. She is a nurse practitioner. She said it took her years to get over the misogyny over here. As we left the arrival area into the airport hotel area last night, we had to go through a security check (not sure why). I was motioned to wait before walking through the metal detector. ALL men were waved through first and then the women were allowed to go through. I have to admit I was a bit shocked. Welcome to the Muslim world of the Middle East.
jeannemolitor 
Have a great time in Turkey, I loved it 35 years ago!
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