Balkan Trip 3 - Doha, Qatar to Mumbai, India - 26 October 2026

Most of the day was to be spent lolling around in the hotel. Hence, I spent more time in bed than usual before getting ready for breakfast. The reception area was busy and I guessed that this was due to more flight disruptions. The restaurant was not very busy as it was nearing half past ten and most guests would have been done with the breakfast routine by then.

Breakfast buffet was quite inviting with a combination of the Continental and Oriental menu. I opted for mostly continental fare of croissant, scrambled eggs, sausages, turkey mortadella, baked beans, potato wedges, orange juice and coffee. I took my time over the fare with refills of freshly squeezed orange juice.

After the humongous feast I had to take a short walk. The bell desk told me of a mall close by. As I stepped out of the hotel, the initial blast of hot air disoriented me. The Centrepoint Mall was only a five-minute walk down the Jawaan Street, where The Grand Lux Hotel is located. With no particular interest in mind, I visited a couple of stores and spent most of the time in the Home Centre store.

With the heavy breakfast still doing its digestive tour I decided to skip lunch. I requested the reception for an earlier transit to the airport. I was told to reach the reception at a quarter to four. I had a glass of freshly squeezed orange juice and a piece of cake before reporting to the reception.

I was in for a surprise there. I was told that the 4 pm transport was full up and that I would have to wait for the 5 pm one! I did not let that pass so easily. I insisted that arrangements be made as I was clearly told that I would be accommodated in the 4 pm transfers. Finally, the matter was settled in my favour.

I approached the Indigo check-in counter supervisor at the Hamad International Airport and told him about the disrupted flight of the previous day and that my bag from Belgrade had been booked only up to Doha. Politely, he asked me to approach the Qatar Airways customer service counter to confirm that the bag would be routed to the Indigo flight.

The lady at the Qatar Airways customer service counter checked the details of the incoming flight and confirmed that the needful had been done to transfer the bag to the Indigo flight. She told me to request the Indigo staff to complete the formalities online. Back at the Indigo counter Elbin, a staff who hailed from Kerala, took full control and confirmed baggage routing to Mumbai. He gave me the fresh boarding pass too.

I completed immigration and security and went in search of the Qatar Airways Transfer Desk to obtain the delay certificate. That is when I came to know that I have go past security yet again to access the transfer desk. Anyway, I had plenty of time on my hands.

The transfer desk immediately agreed to issue the delay certificate. However, their online system was quite slow, and it did take some time for the certificate to be issued. Once that was done, I went back through security and awaited gate announcement.

Gate announcement is normally done an hour prior to boarding time. The Indigo flight to Mumbai was full. I was surprised to be served a measly sandwich and some mixed nuts instead of a full meal. Indigo inflight service on international flights is poor. They code share with airlines like Qatar and Turkish, that are known for their hospitality and service. To my mind, the partner airlines must lay down a minimum standard of service like entertainment systems, charging point, blankets, pillows, etc. While Air India is pilloried and rubbished, I find their service and hospitality far more welcoming than that in Indigo.

We docked at the Mumbai airport a bit later than the scheduled arrival time of 2.50 am. While immigration and baggage retrieval went smoothly, Customs has an inexplicable process at the Green Channel gate. They scan hand baggage at the exit with just two scanners. This leads to an unnecessary pile up of passengers coming from multiple baggage carrousels. The Customs officials must either do away with the process or convert a couple of the Red Channel gates to Green so that the pile up is reduced.

I had another three hours for the next flight to Bhuj. I spent that reminiscing about the trip. This is one trip where many things went wrong and my health too did not support me fully. Anyway, 78 countries done and dusted with 22 more on the anvil.  

Balkan Trip 3 - Belgrade, Serbia to Doha, Qatar - 25 October 2026

When I woke up this morning, I was in for two 'jhatkas'. The first is that I had become younger by an hour while asleep! The clocks changed on Sunday, October 25, 2026, at 2 am because the UK and the European Union end Daylight Saving Time on the last Sunday of October, shifting back by one hour to return to standard time (such as GMT or CET). So, I decided to go back to bed and sleep off the bonus of one hour.

The second was least expected and it caused chaos to my schedule. I got a message from Trip.com that my connecting flight from Doha to Mumbai is postponed by 24 hrs, that is on the 27th instead of 26th. I was bewildered, because the Qatar Airways website didn't show any change in the scheduled connection.

I initially considered the message from Trip.com to be malicious and ignored it. Then Trip.com gave the reason for change as 4 hours delayed departure from Belgrade, essentially missing the connection in Doha. Almost soon thereafter, the Qatar Airways website also indicated the change in the connection from Doha for my reservation. However, they did not provide any status for the departure of the flight from Belgrade.

I decided not to take a chance with all this uncertainty and incomplete information. I left the apartment at 8.30 am for the bus stop. I had to wait for over 20 minutes to get the airport service but was at the airport in another 15. The Qatar Airways check-in counters were open. When I got to one of them the clerk told me that my bag would be booked only up to Doha and that I should go to the transfer desk and seek appropriate confirmation about the onward program. However, she assured me that any transit visa requirement, bag re-check-in, hotel stay and refreshments would be taken care of by the airline in Doha.

This meant a major change in my schedule from Mumbai to Bhuj, the departure date for which would have to be moved to the next day - with financial implications - and a fresh Air Suvidha registration. Besides, I had to inform the change in schedule to my reporting officer, for it involved taking a day's leave.

I had 7 hours to sit out in the airport before the rescheduled flight from Belgrade. Waiting such long hours in an airport is not new to me but is a first due to delay in the flight schedule. After a cup of coffee, which was charged for as if a ransom, I made my way to departure, completing immigration and security checks.

While waiting at the departure I went through my mind what I had learnt of Serbia as a country. The Republic of Serbia is a landlocked parliamentary republic with Belgrade as its capital and largest city. Between 1919 and 1992 it was part of Yugoslavia. The country has a population of about 6.7 million with Serbian as the official language. The Serbian Dinar (RSD) is the official currency.

The country is bisected by the Danube and Sava rivers which meet in Belgrade. It is an upper-middle-income mixed economy with key sectors in industry, services, and agriculture (notably a major global exporter of raspberries and frozen fruit). The country is experiencing ongoing student-led anti-corruption and political accountability movements alongside upcoming snap parliamentary elections - due on 26th October 2026.

Serbia is predominantly a Christian country (about 86 percent of the population), with Eastern Orthodoxy as the largest and most dominant religion. Muslims are about 4 percent of the population. Serbia has deep historical roots as the birthplace of 17 Roman emperors (including Constantine the Great).

I was told by the counter clerk that I was eligible for refreshments at the Rakhia Bar in the duty-free area. I was given a cold chicken sandwich and a cup of cappuccino against the boarding pass. I still had another 3 hours to kill. The relief was that the incoming flight was well on its way to Belgrade.

The wait at the airport was never-ending. Finally, a revised departure of 4 pm was lit up on the board and the gate announced. However, the departure was delayed till 4.30 pm. The saving grace of the flight was the excellent Thai beef rice served with crackers and cheese, bun and butter, cous-cous salad, tiramisu pudding and a can of Heineken. The food was exceptionally tasty.

I woke up a half hour before landing was announced and prepared mentally for what lay ahead. 21 hours of layover in Doha. What would they provide to catch some much-needed sleep? The flight landed in Doha a few minutes before midnight, 5 hours behind schedule.

A Qatar airline staff received those of us with connections to Australia and India. Those not requiring transit visa were given hotel vouchers and told to report after immigration and customs to the information desk for transfer to the hotel. I was told to enquire at the transfer desk about the carriage of my bag onwards to Mumbai. At the transfer desk I was told that the onward tag would be given at the time of check-in. By the time enquiry was completed, the staff arrived with transit visa and the hotel voucher.

I completed immigration, security and customs and reported to the information desk. Those guests with vouchers for the Grand Lux Hotel were aggregated and moved to the parking area for transfer in vehicles to the hotels. We were segregated into three batches. By the time I reached the hotel there was already a long queue at the reception. The guests were being dealt with quite slowly. The hotel room nomination and check-in, therefore, took time. I had a voucher to cover 250 QR worth of spend in the hotel.

After freshening up in the room I went down to the lobby, where I was informed, the dinner buffet is on. When I reached there, the buffet had closed for the night. Unsurprisingly so, for it was already past 2 am. Instead, I settled for freshly squeezed orange juice. And then, called it a day. A long, stressful and eventful day that started with the two 'jhatkas'.

Balkan Trip 3 - Podgorica, Montenegro to Belgrade, Serbia - 24 October 2026

I had arranged with the host of the apartment to drop me to the airport at 5.30 am. The bags were packed and ready for right time departure from the apartment. It was only a 20-minute drive to the rather small airport, designated an aerodrome.

I had to wait a while before the check-in counter opened. Then some more to be permitted to the immigration and security controls. That's when I met a gentleman from Hoshiarpur, Punjab, who was leaving on his 40-day vacation to New Delhi by Turkish Airlines. He has been working in a hotel in Budva for over two years and this was his first vacation. He told me that Podgorica is much cheaper than the tourist towns of Kotor, Budva, etc. He also felt that the Montenegrins are a peculiar lot.

Past the passport control and security, I bought a cup of coffee and a sandwich, which were sold at usurious prices. Nevertheless, the body demanded it and the wallet yielded. That's when I met the lady doctor. I was looking for a place to set my coffee and sandwich down. She was sitting alone with an empty chair at her table. She gesticulated that I could occupy the empty chair. In the next 20 minutes we discussed our families, professions, places and belief systems. Nothing ever happens by accident and these are connects of previous and future lives, both of us believed.

The Air Serbia flight arrived Belgrade at 9.40 am, delayed by 40 minutes. After immigration into the 78th country of my visit and collecting the bag, I stepped out of arrivals. The bus stop was just in front of the arrival. The most interesting part of public transport in Belgrade is that it is completely free, except for a few select services. In a few minutes the bus arrived and I took a seat in the comfortable trailer bus.

In less than 20 minutes I got dropped off at a bus stop on the highway. From there I walked about 20 minutes to the apartment. I had spoken to the host of the apartment last evening and arranged to store the luggage prior to the check-in time. The owner and I communicated using Google Translate and he told me that I would be able to occupy the apartment by 2 pm. I had more than 3 hours to go. Therefore, I decided to complete my itinerary for the day and return to the apartment. I was told that the bus stop for local visits was just outside the complex.

Bus stops are not necessarily identified with sheds or enclosures for passengers; they are also marked on the road with yellow paint. I took bus number 77 from just outside the apartment complex. After the bus had gone some distance, I realised was traveling in the wrong direction. Fortunately, it was a loop run and very soon I was traveling in the right direction! After a few stops, I changed buses and reached the Church of Saint Sava, arguably the best attraction in Belgrade.

The Church of Saint Sava is a massive Serbian Orthodox cathedral and ranks among the largest Eastern Orthodox churches in the world. The church is dedicated to Saint Sava, the founder of the Serbian Orthodox Church and its first archbishop. It is located on the plateau where Ottoman Grand Vizier Sinan Pasha burned the relics of Saint Sava in 1594.

Even though the groundbreaking took place in 1935, construction was paused through World War II and the communist era and resumed in 1984. It was only in 2020 that the church assumed its present majestic form. The style of the church is said to have been inspired by the Hagia Sophia.

The total area of the mosaics covering the interior of the church is about 15,000 m2, constituting the largest mosaic surface across the Christendom. The church, which can accommodate up to 7000 worshippers at a time, is one of the most visited sites in Belgrade.

The next target was the Skadarlija, Belgrade's historic bohemian quarter. The bus dropped me near the Republic Square, which is the main public square and cultural hub of Belgrade. Key landmarks in the Republic Square are the National Museum of Serbia, National Theatre and the 1882 bronze equestrian statue of Prince Mihailo.

Not far from the Republic Square is Skadarlija, a 590-meter-long cobblestone street. Originally settled around 1825 by Romani people (whose origins are traced to Punjab, Rajasthan, and Sindh regions of India. They settled in the Balkans during the 13th and 14th centuries), the area transformed into an artisan and bohemian hub by the late 19th century. The street is famous for traditional Serbian taverns called kaffanas.

A short walk from the Skadarlija lay the Bajrakli Mosque, the only active mosque in Belgrade. It was funded by a cloth merchant and built around 1575 during the Ottoman Empire. The single-space cubic Ottoman structure with a dome and a single minaret is simple in design and ornamentation. The complex includes a courtyard with a ritual ablution fountain and a madrasa.

It was renamed the Bajrakli Mosque in the late 18th century because a flag (bajrak) was raised on it to signal the simultaneous start of prayer across the city's remaining prayer spaces. During the Austrian occupation (1717–1739), it was temporarily converted into a Catholic church. It was restored as a mosque in 1741.

On the way to the Kalemegdan Park I came upon the Museum of Chocolate. Group tours run regularly to explore the Mayan and Aztec origins of the natural cocoa fruit, how chocolate was introduced and spread across Europe, regional and national chocolate heritage of Serbia and Yugoslavia. The tour also includes guided tastings of candies, melted chocolate, and ruby chocolate plus an optional hands-on workshop where you can craft your own custom chocolate bar. I was disappointed to read the note outside the door of the museum which said that there are no English tours for the day.

Almost directly opposite the museum is the statue of Rigas Feraios, an influential Greek writer, visionary, and revolutionary of the 18th century who was imprisoned and executed in Belgrade.

The bronze sculpture of the Monument of Gratitude to France in front of the Kalemegdan Park features a female figure in bronze, representing France, rushing to help Serbia, symbolizing the alliance and friendship between the two nations during World War I.

Kalemegdan is the largest park in Belgrade and its most significant cultural-historical complex. Together with the Belgrade Fortress it forms a unified whole, overlooking the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers. The Park is 66 hectares in area, including the fortress and archaeological sites, and is on a 125-meter-high cliff. The transformation of the area into a park started in the 1880s. Besides monuments like the Gratitude to France and Victor monument, the Belgrade fortress, Military Museum, Clock tower and Roman Well are some places to explore in the Park.

The main entrance to the Upper Town today is the gate with the Sahat Tower. While the clock tower was a recognisable detail in Turkish bazaars, it rarely appeared in fortresses. Hence, the Belgrade tower can be considered an unusual example. It was built in the middle of the 18th century.

The ‘Victor’ monument is certainly the most recognisable symbol of Belgrade. It was created in the years before the First World War, but its formation took an unusually long time. After the War, the sculpture of the Victor was placed on a high pedestal in the form of a Doric column with a total height of 14 metres, on the highest spot of the Belgrade Fortress — on top of the ridge above the confluence of the Sava and the Danube. The monument was ceremoniously unveiled in 1928.

The terrace overlooking the confluence or the Sava and Danube is an experience I will never forget easily. The promenade has an open-air museum, numerous benches to relax, mouthwatering views, and most importantly, serenity. From the terrace one can see the Floating River Clubs (Splavs), Belgrade's renowned 24/7 party scene based on barges and clubs moored along the Sava and Danube rivers.

I left the terrace near the Embassy of France in Serbia and walked to the Cathedral Church of Saint Michael the Archangel, a Serbian Orthodox cathedral. It was built between 1837 and 1840 on the site of an older 18th-century church. It features a gold-plated carved Baroque iconostasis and stunning wall paintings. The church also houses the sacred relics of Serbian saints. The churchyard contains the graves of prominent cultural figures and the crypt holds the tombs of Serbian rulers and patriarchs.

Opposite the Cathedral is the Palace of the Patriarchate in Belgrade, which functions as the official administrative seat of the Serbian Orthodox Church and the residence of the Serbian Patriarch.

Not far from the Palace of the Patriarchate is the Residence of Princess Ljubica, a historic 19th-century palace that now operates as a branch of the Belgrade City Museum. The palace had been home to Princess Ljubica (the wife of Milos Obrenovic I, the Prince of Serbia) and her sons, Milan and Mihailo.

The last item in the itinerary for the day was a leisurely stroll along Knez Mihailova Street, Belgrade's primary pedestrian and shopping avenue, stretching roughly 1 kilometre. It is completely pedestrianized and paved with granite blocks.

The street is lined with 19th-century townhouses, neoclassical facades, and art nouveau buildings. It is a bustling social hub filled with outdoor cafes, restaurants, fashion boutiques, street musicians, vendors, money exchangers and, of course crowds by the thousands. It is here that I had three unpalatable experiences in a matter of 30 minutes.

Hungry and weary I wanted to have a hot meal. I approached an Italian restaurant and scored the menu. I asked the waiter where I could take a seat. He gruffly told me that they are fully booked and that I would need a reservation to have a meal there. There was plenty of vacant outdoor seating. He just didn't want me around. As if to prove that that was not a one-off incident, the next restaurant I went into told me that they could offer me a place the next day! It was crass racism, full blown.

The third experience was at a money changer. I asked her what the exchange rate for Euro is and she didn't bother to respond. After I asked her twice, she angrily responded with a figure that was at a 50 percent discount! She just did not want me there as a customer. There was no one else around as well. If these instances are not clear signs of racism, what else is. I suddenly lost all appetite for Serbia as a country. I will never set foot in this part of the world ever again.

In the Knez Mihailova Street is located the Belgrade Milestone (also known as the Belgrade Pyramid). It serves as a geodetic marker and spatial reference point displaying the city's exact geographic coordinates. Its unusual shape has led to popular local urban legends and theories claiming it is a Masonic symbol. At the time of visit, a performer had usurped the space and ensured that one cannot get a proper photo of the landmark.

A historic public water fountain is also located in Knez Mihailova Street, which dates back to the Ottoman period in the 17th century and was named after the delije (light cavalry units) whose horses drank from it. It has been rebuilt and relocated several times throughout Belgrade's history.

With these experiences I concluded the tour of Belgrade. I took the bus back to the apartment and took possession of the nice and cosy place. The apartment was aesthetically done up and well stocked with coffee, tea, soft drinks, water and beer. The third tour in the Balkans was soon to be over. I have a Qatar Airways flight from Belgrade to Mumbai via Doha tomorrow.