2007-East Coast USA

Arrived!

Before entering, we need to go through customs, and the system takes a very long time to get through, as they check for everything.... I have traveled to many places, and this is the only place that is so complicated and it doesn't go smoothly. It was pretty smooth in London last year; Washington International Airport was no way near London Heathrow on efficiency.

Going through custom took almost 2 hours, so the luggage was already there, and no sign of my suitcase as all black suitcase looks the same as each other... It took me another hour to find my suitcase. I was panicking and thinking that all my travel equipment i.e. camera and lenses might be lost and how could I replace them especially for this trip.

Anyway, I managed to get out of the airport, which to me was not impressive at all. It's a bit dated compared to other airports in Asia as well as Europe.

Hank was there waiting for me and we managed to take a little tour of Georgetown, a suburb of Washington and have supper in an Italian Restaurant: Paper Moon. Too bad I didn’t bring my camera

I left the office in a hurry to catch a morning flight to Washington, and then a 14 hour journey before arriving at International Airport Dulles (IAD). After a one and a half hour delay in Qatar and 14 hours flying across the Mediterranean, European Continent and the Atlantic Ocean we finally arrived in the US.

Why do I need to plan my holiday properly? While some other people can do it just like that… well, most of all, I like to do the planning. For me, this is the most exiting part, do the planning and browsing on the internet to places, buy guide books (well not so much….). The other thing is that with limited budget, I can predict my expenses better, so that I could save more for the next holiday….

This is the itineraries:

 Day 1 – Thursday, 26 July 2007 – departing from Doha in the morning and arrive in IAD in the afternoon.
 Day 2 – Friday, 27 July 2007 – exploring Baltimore
 Day 3 – Saturday, 28 July 2007 – driving to Boston, an 8 hour drive and taking lunch break along the way
 Day 4 – Sunday, 29 July 2007 – Boston: freedom trail, Quincy market, Boston commons, Harvard, Fen way Park
 Day 5 – Monday, 30 July 2007 – Boston and drive down to New York: Grand Central and Arcade of Chrysler building
 Day 6 – Tuesday, 31 July 2007– New York: Brooklyn Bridge, South Street Seaport, Ferry to Ellis and Liberty Island, and Play at Broadway
 Day 7 – Wednesday, 01 August 2007– New York: Central Park, Musical at Broadway.
 Day 8 – Thursday, 02 August 2007 – drive down to Philadelphia, downtown tour for lunch and drive back Baltimore.
 Day 9 – Friday, 03 August 2007 – Fly to Orlando at 11:45 a 2:10’ flight, picked up the hired car
 Day 10 – Saturday, 04 August 2007 – Disney World, Orlando
 Day 11 – Monday, 05 August 2007 – Disney World, Orlando
 Day 12 – Tuesday, 06 August 2007 – Fly back to Baltimore at 1:24 p, 2:07’ flight.
 Day 13 – Wednesday, 07 August 2007 – Washington DC
 Day 14 – Thursday, 08 August 2007 – free time to breath
 Day 15 – Friday, 09 August 2007 – arrive in Doha at 19:00 pm
Hopefully everything is covered, budget and list what I want to see…
This is the map of the trip: