Prague to Joburg

August 7, 2024 and August 8th morning

PB has to leave for the airport at 9am today, so we set our alarm to go eat breakfast and leave a bit of a time to go to the grocery store to get some candy for his office. We said our goodbyes and he got in his Uber to head to the airport.

I took off towards the Tram 42 route so I can ride the old trams that Prague has tuned into their own hop on/off tourist line. Of course I was early, beacuse why not. So I found another island and did a walk around that before going back to the tram stop to wait for the tram. It’s only about a 45 minute ride round trip on the tram, but you see a lot of Prague so I figured why not. It also is only like $10 so it was a good use of time and money. I started on the “newer” old tram from the 50s. There is a transfer stop that they told us to use and I did and go on the 20s wooden tram there.

Being on that tram I realized there is more to Prague I need to see (because of course I will be back). Up near one of the tram stops it looks like a park to hike in, with some bridges and unique pathways. So next time I will check that out.

After the tram I walked back to the hotel looking for gelato again, but sadly didnt find any that caught my eye. Instead I decided to get a klolache, basically a Czech danish. I got mixed berry and cheese. It was a great last little treat before I left.

Once at the hotel I collected all my things onto the bed to make sure I wasnt forgetting anything. I then showered and finished all my packing. The hotel was “overbooked” so they wouldnt let me have a late check out but they did let me go hang in the lounge until I needed to leave. My flight to Doha (my layover) was already delayed an hour, so I was in no rush to get to the airport to wait.

It was finally time to call my Uber and head to the hotel. I was still scheduled to be there over two hours ahead of departure. What is interesting is that the app was saying the flight was delayed but nothing at the airport was. I did get a bit nervous, but then realized everyone in the queue for baggage drop was also going to Doha so they werent going to leave without the 25+ of us in the queue.

From the bag drop you scan yourself into the passport control with your boarding pass (none of these TSA people checking everything). Once through passport control you head into the airport. Because the airport hadnt updated the time (or the fact that my flight was delayed) my gate had already been assigned. I didnt have time to get a snack at the airport, because I was nervous that maybe the app was wrong (trust me it wasnt). So I headed to my gate. At the gate is where they scan your belongings and your boarding pass again. There is no ID check, besides the passport control. On the secure side there were only two vending machines, neither of which had Mars bars or Smarties. So I just got a cold bottle of water and went back to my seat to sulk at the fact I was at the airport SO DARN EARLY. After about 90 minutes boarding finally commenced.

No one really listens to boarding groups, so they just kind of board whenever, unless they were from Europe it seemed. When I had checked the app a couple days ago it allowed me (for free) to get more leg room closer to the front of the plane, so of course I took it. I was at a window seat for the alomst six hour flight to Doha. This trip has included two airports I had never been to before, and Doha will be my third.

The flight was uneventful, just two of us in the row (only two seats). My seatmate proceeded to drink as much wine as possible in a very short amount of time, then took some pill and passed out. I on the other hand slept since it was an evening flight (we took off around 530p and landed at midnight). I had preordered a vegetarian meal – it was madras tofu and rice.

Once we landed in Doha I had only 30 minutes until my next flight boarded and I had to get to the other side of the terminal. We had to go back through security (but they let me keep my water) before I could head to my gate. I arrived at the gate as we were boarding.

I got in line to board the bus that took me to the plane. It was over 95* outside at 130am. I again had a window seat, this time for an 11 hour flight from Doha to Johannesburg. There were three seats in our row this time. These planes seem very full. This flight also was uneventful. I slept most of the flight and so glad I did because I needed it. We landed at 11am in Joburg and I headed to passport control. It took them a minute because they were having technical issues, but once I was finally through I decided on calling an Uber black.

I had read online that people dont trust Ubers and that taxis can also be a bit scary. But I decided on Uber black because they are nicer cars with drivers that have more reviews. My ride was totally uneventful and my driver was very kind.

My hotel is in a compound surrounded by a steal fence and armed guards at the entrance. The Aston Marton and McLaren dealerships are in my complex, so that makes sense. There are about five hotels and like three malls behind the gates. I dropped my bags at the hotel and went to look for food.

I had lunch at Pauls (a chain cafe throughout larger cities in Europe and Africa) and then walked around a bit before heading back to my hotel for check in. I decided to get room service because it was so darn cheap (like a truffle and mushroom pasta dish and fries was $13 with tip). I also had housekeeping come pick up my dirty clothes to be laundered. This may be my most expensive thing thus far.

While I was waiting for my room service I booked a full day tour for tomorrow for Johannesburg and Soweto. I also booked a half day trip for the following day for Pretoria. I tried to go to bed early, but my body was all messed up from the overnight travel.