Starting my trip from Perth, I got lucky with an extra seat next to me on my flight to Doha. It felt like a good sign for the trip ahead. Thankfully, the flight was pretty empty, which made the whole experience a lot more comfortable.

Landing in Doha, I was impressed by the massive size of the airport & the never ending array of designer shops mixed with local retailers. I ended up walking what felt like forever to find a lounge that had showers and a place to crash. The shower was great, but the sleeping pod they gave me was next to a bloke who snored like a freight train. Deciding sleep was a lost cause, I just hung out in the lounge. I found out too late that there was an internal train in the airport that could have saved me the trek. Well, at least I got some exercise … I need the practice for my upcoming actual trek!

I spent the next 8 hours in the airport lounge. It started off busy but then cleared out until I was the only one left. They even moved me to another lounge, the Oryx, telling me it was better. It didn't seem much different, except for the staff member who was really keen to look after me & continually offer me drinks even though it was about 9am. I’d say he had nothing else to do however since I was the only person there.

Finally, it was time to head to Pakistan. The flight path took us around the bottom of Afghanistan … yeah I’m quite happy to not fly over that country too!

When I arrived in Islamabad, I had to line up to get my visa on arrival, despite having organised all this before I left Australia. It took a while, especially since they kept serving others before me for no reason. After getting my visa, I then had to queue again to actually enter the country. Not that I matter because then I had to wait some more for my bag. Always a bit nerve-wracking when your bag's checked through to the final destination - you're left wondering if it actually made it. Luckily, mine did!

The arrivals hall in Islamabad was huge and open-air. It was pretty cold, probably around 5-10°C but despite this, there were hundreds of people waiting in a giant square to pick up their friends and relatives. Standing there in the middle, I felt everyone's eyes on me, probably wondering what this white guy was doing there!

I kept walking, looking for a sign with either the Marriott or my name on it. When I finally saw it, I felt a huge relief. The hotel guys brought their car around, and we headed off to the hotel. It was around 8pm, so I couldn't see much, but I was surprised by how good the roads were and how uncrowded they seemed, not at all what I was expecting.

Arriving at the hotel, we went through a lot of security, which makes sense since I'm staying at the hotel that was blown up 15 years ago! Not surprisingly, the hotel's been done up since then and looks very impressive inside. I got to my room, did a bit of unpacking, ironed my clothes for tomorrow, and then went straight to bed, ready for what the next day would bring.