Travel blog of a digital nomad
Banksy pieces can be found all over London. I used a Banksy Locations Map put together by Art Of The State to track down many of these. They pin the works on google maps and are quick to mark any that have been removed
[Cherub with a bullet proof vest]
[One nation under CCTV]
[Pledge your allegiance to Tesco]
[Yellow Lines Flower Painter]
[Blur Crazy Beat art work]
[Hoodie]
[Fort St E1]
The World Travel Market is a four-day travel industry event held in London every year in November. Here tourist boards and buyers and sellers from every sector of the industry meet under the one roof. Here are some photos of day 2.
[Fellow Melburnian Danni Minogue at the Etihad stand promoting the new Abu Dhabi - Melbourne service commencing in March 2009.]
[The Kenyan Tourist Board have wasted no time in promoting the Obama/Kenya connection.]
[Brussels Airlines and a not so Manneken Manneken Pis.]
[Charles Bridge statues at the Prague stand.]
[I have always thought that Persia sounds better than Iran. So too does the Iranian Tourist Board. Persia or Iran?]
[Guatemala Dancers]
[Hungary Stand]
[Promoting tourism to Palestine and the Holy Land.]
In the leafy suburbs of Southwest London is a small parish church cemetery that has one of London’s most remarkable tombs. The tomb is of Sir Richard Burton and his wife Isabel.
[Burton Mausoleum - St Mary Magdalens Mortlake]
Captain Sir Richard Francis Burton (1821 – 1890) was a remarkable man in an age of remarkable men. He is best known as an explorer and linguist (he could speak 29 languages), but he could also be called a translator, writer, poet, soldier, orientalist, ethnologist, hypnotist, fencer and diplomat.
[Burton Mausoleum]
Burton is famous for his pilgrimage in disguise to Mecca. He spoke Arabic and knew the ways of the Islamic world from his time spent in India. Before the trip he was even circumcised to reduce the risk of being discovered as a non believer. His other notable travels include the exploration of the great lakes of Africa.
As a writer he is best known for his translation of Arabian Nights, whose version is still printed today.
[Burton Mausoleum under Heathrow Flightpath]
Tomb Details
The tomb is in the shape of a Bedouin tent and has great attention to detail such as the crescent moon trimmings and the illusion of canvas tent walls.
[Camel Tribute]
[Burton Tent Wall]
[Burton Tent Wall Detail]
Inside the Tomb
At the back of the tomb is a ladder leading to a glass viewing window, where you can peer in to see the final resting place of Richard and Isabel.
[Burton Mausoleum - viewing window]
[Richard Burton]
[Isabel Burton]
In Memorium
[Memorial Poem]
[Richard and Isabel Burton RIP]
Location
St Mary Magdalen’s Roman Catholic Church Mortlake
61 North Worple Way
London SW14 8 PR
[St Mary Magdalens Roman Catholic Church - Mortlake]
Oasis Hong Kong is a long-haul low-cost airline based in Hong Kong. They currently fly to London and Vancouver and are expanding to other destinations in 2008.
[Oasis Hong Kong at Gatwick]
I had not considered flying a low-cost airline long-haul due to the perceived lack of services, but the price difference was enough for me to consider again.
Price
This was what got me through the door. The cheapest advertised price was £99, with an asterisk of course.
Fare Breakdown:
Air Fare GBP 99
Fuel Surcharge GBP 29.96
UK Air Passenger Duty Economy GBP 40.00
UK passenger Service Charge GBP 7.90
Total: GBP 176.86
This is for a one way fare from London to Hong Kong. This was booked about one month before travel, and was about half the price of the next best fare found on expedia et al with regular airlines. Booking as a one way flight might have made a difference to the fares with other airlines.
Low-cost and Long-Haul?
The low cost model works well for short haul flights as a cooked meal and entertainment isn’t necessary on a 2 hour flight. For inter-continental flights though these extras are required to make the long flight bearable.
My perception was that you would have to pay for your meals and your entertainment. Some long-haul low cost airlines are following this route but Oasis haven’t.
Meals
Yes, meals are free. There is a dinner service shortly after take off, then a breakfast service before arrival. You can order other meals any time during the flight for a cost.
[Oasis Hong Kong Dinner]
[Oasis Hong Kong Breakfast]
The meals are your standard inflight fare you would find on a BA/Cathay flight, and you get two choices.
Drinks
Juice and soft drinks are free but you have to pay for alcohol.
Entertainment
Another low cost misconception busted. There is inflight entertainment onboard. Each seat has its own tv screen and has 16 channels plus the usual where are we now Air Show.
[London - Hong Kong Air Show]
Oasis Hong Kong have their own inflight magazine and a selection of newspapers and magazines are provided free as you board.
[Free newspapers and magazines]
Remarks
Overall the flight was as comfortable as any flight I have taken in economy long haul. The winning difference is in the price difference, though if I found a flight with a comparable price with a traditional alliance airline I would have taken that, if only for the frequent flyer points.
Novel Idea book vending machine at a departure gate at London Gatwick, and none of them by Grisham or Brown.
[Novel Idea book vending Gatwick]
Outside the Tate Modern is the giant spider “Maman” by Louise Bourgeois. It is on display until 20 January 2008.
[Maman at Tate Modern]
It used to be said to eat well in england, eat breakfast 3 times a day. Things have changed from those days though as there as so many migrants here, and with them they brought restaurants from all over the world.
The English Breakfast is a classic meal and you can have here for dinner and no one will bat an eyelid.
[English Breakfast]
[Eurostar International Foyer]
[Eurostar train at St Pancras]
[The Meeting Place. That's the name of the statue and the place]
[Europe's longest Champagne bar]
[Departures to Paris and Brussels]
[Visitors from Paris and Brussels can then connect from St Pancras to Nottingham, Derby and Sheffield. Lucky them.]
At the St Pancras International station is a statue of English Poet Sir John Betjeman. The sculpture was commissioned to recognise the huge role John Betjeman played in the saving of St Pancras from demolition in the 1960s.
[Sir John Betjeman statue by Martin Jennings]
It’s hard to believe that this station was threatened with demolition, but during the 1960′s it was. During this time Victorian elegance was out and concrete brutalism was in.
Down the road from St Pancras the grand Euston station was demolished, only to be replaced by the abomination that stands today. Betjeman tried to save Euston, but did not succeed. Fortunately his efforts saved St Pancras from the wrecking ball.
If you are at St Pancras to travel or just there to marvel at the roof as Betjeman is apparently doing, go over to Betjeman’s statue and give him a pat on the back.
Then over the years as appreciative travellers pat him on the back, may a shiny smooth spot appear on his back as a visible token of thanks from all who pass through this station.
Eurostar has a market share of about 71% of the London-Paris and 64% of the London-Brussels air/rail routes, so it has proved to be the most popular of the two options.
Travel Time
For overall travel time the Eurostar is the quicker option once you factor in travel time to and from airports and minimum required time before flight departure.
There is less hassle to travel on the Eurostar as well. You pass through both countries customs before you board. Clearing customs and baggage screening takes no longer than 20 minutes and you only need to be there 30 minutes before departure.
As you carry your bags onboard and you have already cleared customs, once you reach Paris or Brussels you can walk off the train and straight out of the station.
Wireless
The St Pancras departure lounge has a good laptop work area. Never mind Europe’s longest Champagne bar, this may be Europe’s longest laptop work bench.
[Laptop Work Desk]
I was soon to be disappointed though as there is no free wireless service on offer. So far none of London’s 5 airports offer a free wireless service and there are currently no airlines that are capable of offering wireless inflight (yet).
Surely Eurostar could strike a blow to their airline competition by offering free wireless in the departure lounges and on the train. If a bus can offer WiFi, then why not a train?
[Complimentary Newspapers - Eurostar Departure Lounge]
Ticketing
This is where Eurostar, and British trains in general, are way behind the pricing reforms that have swept through the airline industry since the low cost boom. Ticket prices are still structured like the airline tickets of old, where a one way ticket can cost more than a return.
Looking for tickets on the UK site I found one way tickets for £150. Then I searched for a return ticket using the same start date and the total price was £60. So it is more economical to buy a return and not use the return half if you want to travel one way.
The one way price is different again on the US version, and there are price discrepancies, as reported by the Independent, where the same ticket is cheaper if you live in Europe rather than Britain (though cheaper prices in Europe than the UK won’t come as a surprise for British readers).
In this age of DIY travel booking, it is easy to travel to one destination and leave from another, so it would be a good option to be able to book a one way train ticket, and return via air from another destination.
Finding cheap Eurostar tickets is easy enough. If you book in advance you can find return tickets for £59.
Note: London-Brussels travel was provided by Eurostar.