My 16 Hour Flight Out Of Nigeria

So after the immigration snafu I proceeded to the waiting area about an hour before my flight was scheduled to leave Nigeria. I met some wonderful ladies and also a businessman while waiting and we started a discussion about how screwed up immigration was prior to the waiting area.

I also met a guy who was travelling to Azerbaijan and unlike me he dropped about a total of $500 as bribe to immigration, ouch. The worst part?, he was only visiting for a week. After sitting for like 2 hours we were told that the plane will be late because of weather problems. My lovely mother was still in the airpot calling me about my flight status.

About some 3 hours later and there still no flight in sight. Qatar Airways staff were overly apologetic without any solid explanation as to why our flight was three hours late. My flight was scheduled to take-off at 2'0 clock but the time was about some minutes past 5 and still we were still in Lagos, Nigeria.

Then a Qatar airways staff who I guessed was highly placed came to address us. She apologised (I was already tired of hearing apologies) and she told us that due to a mild storm-inducing rain the plane had to land in a neighbouring African country. She then proceeded to distributed McVities biscuits and canned coke as a sort of snack due to the delay.

The "Refreshment"

At this time I really didn't mind because I realised that perhaps for me the delay was a blessing in disguise as the flight was going to stop in Doha airport Qatar and then I'll need to wait before boarding the flight to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

I eat my snack with ninja like speed as I was already very hungry. We saw other airlines board and take-off and we were still there in the airport trying to remain calm. The people I pitied however were those who due to  the delay by the airline were going to miss some sort of deadline or appointment.

Anyways after waiting for about 30 minues more we finally saw the plane and boarding began. I had flown on an airplane prior to this but I has never flown outside Nigeria before so this was a first for me. We boarded and I found my sit, middle aisle and also near one of the lovely ladies who I met earlier.

On the plane to Doha

The flight took about 6-7hours and I had food in-flight. I thought it would be boring flying that long but there was an in-flight entertainment and I watched movies, listened to music and even watched sports. It was through this media I discovered Hey Jude by The Beetles which I absolutely love now.

We got to Doha International Airport (DIA) and we went past customs to the waiting area where we were going to board for the next flight in about 4 hours time. I also met some Nigerians who were also going to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Me At Doha International Airport

I searched for a rest room where I used the toothbrush and toothpaste that was part of what was in a bundle Qatar airways gave passengers like me in-flight. I also connected to the internet via the free wifi service in DIA and I called my friend Niyi on Skype.

In about four hours the plane was already on ground and we even boarded before the allocated time with so similarity to what happened back in Lagos. The flight took about 8-9-10 hours, I'm not really sure of the duration because I slept like 3/4 of the time. We got to Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) where I proceeded to register my yellow card before calling the university representative who was going to pick me up.

I see these kinds of buildings and I know I'm FAR from Home!

In about 20 minutes I was through with immigration and I was on my way to my new school in a new country. It was already late in the night but from the kind of buildings I saw while in transit I told myself - Emma, you are FAR from home.

Hope you enjoyed my short story of how  my flying experience was. Do comment and interact, later guys!