A trip to London

6^th October 2007

Do you remember the song that starts “this is a journey into sound”? Well, this was a journey into time – initially at least.

I was on my way to London – not via Dubai or Delhi – no, via Baku. Baku is the capital of Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan? Caspian Sea … yes, there. The ticket was below US$1,000 return, cheaper than any other airline, so I thought it was worth flying to London, a place I had never been, despite having lived in Europe for 25 years. We came up with this idea as my friend is flying via London this time on his way back from Toronto. So I am planning on meeting him here on Thursday. All in all a perfect excuse to get away and a chance to spend a few days unobserved, as a couple.

But let’s start from the start: the Azerbaijan Airlines plane from Kabul to Baku must have been the oldest I have ever flown in. By the looks of it the bird was from the late 60ies. I had been enlightened the other day by a pilot in Dubai that planes have a lifespan of about 40 years and was shocked to hear that the Boeing 737 flown by Kam Air was already a 20 year old plane … The language on the seats and overhead compartments was an unidentifiable one – my guess was Swedish or something, not Russian surprisingly – and the seats were so flimsy that I feared they couldn’t carry my weight. The legroom was appalling but luckily I spotted the seat next to the emergency exit with no seat in front of me. That meant I could stretch my legs.

But since entertaining such security thoughts at the time that you are ready for take off is futile I switched on my I Pod and hoped for the best.

The crew was an odd mix from god-knows-what-countries – but they all seems to agree on Russian in their communication. Two of the flight attendants featured a hair-do straight out of 70s-Russia held together by a bottle of hair spray.

At 15.30 Kabul time we touched down in Baku without any incidents. After crossing the Caspian Sea which offers spectacular views we landed at a reasonably modern airport which seemed recently upgraded with a new duty free shopping area just about to open. Still the Soviet heritage was shining through with officials still wearing those slightly oversized, slightly too flat uniform hats adding a slightly clownish air to them.

The transit desk was helpful with one fellow grabbing my ticket and another grabbing my passport. Fearing both might get lost in the Central Asian process I protested, demanding to keep both my documents together – to no avail. While I was sent with my ticket to have it processed by a grunting officer for a boarding pass to London, my passport – I was told – would follow shortly before check-in. Again hoping for the best I collected my boarding pass and went for a coffee in the only available restaurant. The super-friendly – notice the irony - Russian-style waitresses served up a sugary brown water not even worthwhile its reasonable 1$.

One hour later it was off to London. I had received my passport back – what did they do with it? – and this time round the plane appeared in much better conditions and the flight attendance were from this decade and truly friendly

After lunch I went straight to sleep. As the plane was far from full I had the luxury of 3 seats to myself

Arriving in London Heathrow and getting oriented was easy – the tube system is quite easy to navigate and stuff works even though everything seems a bit old. I bought a weekly card which allows me to use buses as well as the underground, so there won’t be any ticket-concerns.

Then I made my way to South Harrow were my friend's friend had offered to put us up in his flat. Though located in an ethnically mixed, clearly working class neighbourhood he has a nice tidy apartment and the connections to down-town are good. Ten minutes walk from his house get me to the nearest tube station.

His story is a typical immigrant’s story: from Loghar province in Afghanistan he studied law in Moscow, just like my friend and just like him holds a Master’s Degree in Law. Still in London he was unable to find a job in his field and is now driving a taxi. He is not of my friend's calibre but still he would be in the position to do better. He struggled the same in Canada having to re-do his high school diploma as his Afghan one was not recognised, he also drove taxis and worked in a Pizza shop to make a living while studying at the same time. This he carried on, acquiring not only his High School Diploma but also a Journalism Degree. And now he can’t even find a job which pays him appropriate money in Kabul and certainly not in Canada either.

7^th October

I am out and about exploring London!

Since I have a week I didn’t want to do the tourist thing straight away. I just took the tube and got down at Piccadilly Circus – it sounded familiar so I thought let’s start here. And it was a good choice.

While Piccadilly is mainly a theatre and entertainment area there are a couple of shopping opportunities. But first I spotted a huge Burger King. In the hope that the many Asian vegetarians living in London had made an impact I scanned the menu for “veggie burger” – and indeed, there it was. For the ridiculous amount of 5 pounds = 10US$ = 15S$ (!!!) you get a meal. Anyway it was nice and I justified my visit to this icon of Western consumerism with there not being any fast food in Kabul. So I felt I hadn’t contributed to the world’s pollution in the last year or for that matter for many years prior to that as in Singapore there are no more veggie burgers at neither McDonald’s nor Burger King.

Then I spent the day shopping and bought a ticket to a city hop-on-hop-off-tour. The ticket is valid for two days and one can go round Central London as often as one wants. So I am going to start with that tomorrow.

On my way home I got down at Knightsbridge and went into Harrod’s. This place is really quite spectacular, even though of course the design is every bit as tacky as one sees it on television. But they have everything there – and I mean everything!

For my fatal attraction there is a big Zara right opposite Harrod’s where I of course ended up buying a couple of things.

After a 9S$ cup of coffee at Starbucks I called it a day and took the tube back to South Harrow.

8^th October

Shopping day. But first I went back to Piccadilly because I had spotted a Starbucks with wireless internet connection there. So at first – in a 5£-per-hour session - I proof-read some of Kabul Weekly’s articles and sent them back to Kabul. By the time I was done it was lunch time and I wandered once more into Burger King for my veggie burger.

After that it was off to Oxford Street for a look at the shops there. This city has overwhelming shopping. Just this one street has all the regular street brands and after walking it up and down you are shopped out. But there are at least 10 more of these throughout the city plus all the markets.

I am actually quite proud of myself: so far no impulse and unnecessary buys, just things I really need – such as a garment which I call the “culture double”: in the West you wear it as a dress with stockings and boots, in Muslim countries you were it with pants – quite ingenious, I thought.

A visit to Borders yielded my implementation of a PR and direct marketing strategy for AISA. I found just the books which dealt with details in these two areas.

In the evening I met up with Rajesh’ cousin Jasminder in her University-town of Uxbridge – only 6 tube stations away from where I am staying. Her family is staying in the Ealing area, very close to South Hall – surprise, surprise. South Hall is India Central in London and features the largest Gurudwara outside of India. We went for dinner and a coffee and made plans for the next day.

9^th October

That next day the weather had suddenly turned rainy – more stereotypical if you will. It is said to brighten up again on Thursday. That would be perfect as my friend is coming Thursday morning. So we could do the city tours together …

Undeterred I met Jasmin in Ealing Common and we drove to South Hall. The golden dome of the Gurudwara dominates the skyline, shining over the rooftops even on a rainy day like that.  The temple itself is very nicely designed – modern and functional.

After offering our respects we went to the High Street for some shopping. I found a couple of nice suits and a DVD.

Afterwards we went for South Indian food – something I hadn’t had since my last visit to Singapore. North Indian I eat everyday in my house, but not Dosais ….

Warmed up by a really hearty Rasam Jasmin dropped me off near a Marks & Spencer in Ealing where I found the most amazing winter coat after I couldn’t find the bras I came for. I then made my way home by myself. The transport system here is really great. Gets you everywhere ...

10^th October

Another day around town. I have decided to keep my tour ticket until my friend comes so that we can go together.  So I had more shopping in mind: first Oxford Street again – the other end and then I went to Notting Hill to check out what the fuzz was all about. Turns out it is really that nice. Expensive and nice, slightly on the bohemian side. I couldn’t find Portobello market so before I got lost any further I traced back my steps towards Notting Hill Gate, but not before dropping into one of the small little restaurants to have a salad and a glass of wine.

I was just about to turn right towards the Tube station when I spotted a shop which carried second hand designer wear. Shoes, clothes, everything. I found one DKNY and one Karen Miller pair of shoes for 25£ each.

After that I made my way to Covent Garden to see what’s that all about: great wine & dine area. Beautiful restaurants from traditional to trendy. But as everything here: unaffordable. Covent Garden Market on the other hand is highly overrated. I couldn’t find anything special there. So from Covent Garden I returned back to South Harrow only to get changed and meet Jasmin in South Hall for dinner at her house. It was slightly odd for me to get filled in with the latest family gossip when I had moved on so much over the last year.

11^th October

Then, finally it was the morning that my friend arrived in London. I went to Gatwick to meet him at the airport. He was stuck in immigration for over an hour. I couldn’t wait to see him. How does someone become such a part of you? Such a part that you can’t function without him?

I had waited for him there for altogether two hours. But what else had I to do anyway? So it didn’t matter. And then all the waiting and the longing of the last month suddenly was worthwhile as he took me in his arms and kissed me – for the first time in our relationship we were able to do that in public. How nice it is to walk with him hand in hand, his arm around me. By the time we got back it was early afternoon and we just spend the rest of the day in the house. At night another friend came round and we sat until 4 am chating, drinking, eating.

12th October 

As a result we didn't make it out of the house until 12 noon but then set out for our city tour. While it sounds quite touristy it is really the best way to explore a big city like London without losing overview. And the good thing here was that you could get on and down in many places.

After three hours we got down at the Houses of Parliament and turned right into St. James' Park. What I liked particularly about London are the parks - very beautiful, big and quiet. Great places to spend a couple of hours. So we just strolled, talked, doing the things a couple free of all society's shackles does. When we passed Buckingham Palace at the park's other end it was starting to get dark and we made our way back

That evening we went for Indian food in a suburb called Wadford together with another friend. Not impressive, unfortunately, but ok. Afterwards it was another evening with the guys talking about Afghan politics and many more issues.

13th October

Our departure day. We were scheduled to leaving from Heathrow at 8pm via Baku back to Kabul.

As we had had another long night we got out of bed yet again only by lunch and once breakfast and other cosy things were done it was 3pm and we had to start packing. Before we went to the airport I brought my friend to the Gurudwara which he said he wanted to visit. Such a nice gesture of him - something very few Muslims are open to.

Then at the airpot it turned out that we could have taken another flight via Baku with only 5 hours layover leaving on Sunday; further, in order to leave the airprot we had to get a visa afterall even though I had double checked with the travel agent in Kabul and was told that no visa was required for our passports. Both added 250$ to our bill. But it was too late now - well now back in Kabul I am trying to get that money re-imbursed from the agent.

At 5.30 am on 14th October we arrived in Baku and went straight to the hotel which was not bad at all and in a good location in walking distance to the city centre.

Baku is surprisingly nice and modern with many old European style buildings in the centre and many designer shops and boutiques. I was suprised about the exchange rate of the Maghat, too: 1US$ = 0.80 Maghat. Amazing - must be the Caspian oil.

Due to our late night flight during which we barely slept we went to bed after taking breakfast in the hotel and slept unitl 2pm. Then we made our way around town. First along the board walk along the seaside, which features a park with fun fair attractions, then to the city centre where we took lunch and then wandered off into a pedestrian zone with street vendors and nice shops. We walked around until 8pm and then returned to the hotel.

The next day we  made our way back to Kabul