London Calling....

3 days on the road and we're here in London for a couple of nights.

The trip here was its usual long drag of 12 hours to LA followed by another 11 hours to Heathrow.

Approaching LA in all its glory

For any of you thinking of going anywhere through LA be warned! The good old US "Homeland Security" has changed, (including its name) and is in some ways better but in most aspects considerably worse.

The old system used to involve being fingerprinted, having your irises scanned and answering questions from a surly nazi with zero sense of humour. Various grunted directions would indicate whether or not you would then be granted the privilege of sitting in a holding pen for 2-3 hours before being allowed back on the same plane.

Now the "improved system" gives all transit passengers a "Transit Card" that you must hold onto at all costs and then hand this back after processing or woe betide you.
Despite having the Transit Card  you are directed through standard US immigration procedures that have the dubious honour of being the slowest in the known universe, with queues that move at about the same speed that bamboo grows. I shaved twice while waiting our turn, 'cos I was afraid that if  didn't look like my passport photo, I could be declined entry.

The good points in the new system were that the Nazis have been replaced by relatively benign "US Border Security" staff who speak to you like normal people, and the fingerprinting and iris checks have disappeared.
It doesn't pay to relax too much though, as we saw several people, all Asian curiously enough, who after a short interview (of about 35 minutes or so) were directed to stand and wait for an armed escort (I joke not), to some hidden torture cell for waterboarding or worse.

After standing in line for a good hour, we had our cosy little chat with a pleasant young man who asked psychologically primed questions, that most self-respecting non-terrorists should have had few problems with. And then, thinking that we had seen the back of officialdom we were released, (still clutching our Transit Cards) into LA airport's version of a labyrinth that led eventually to, (yes, you've guessed it) a full security check and body scan before being allowed back into the departure areas. We were overjoyed by the minimal queues in this area, (only several thousand people strong), but hey, what are queues for if they're not to make you wait. The crowning glory of the security checks is a full body scan for 95% of all entrants, that apparently shows everything you have to some poor sod watching a screen somewhere! (Probably the poor wretches who were detained at the immigration security - forced to watch until they finally crack and tell the truth).

However, there is a bonus in the interminable time it takes to get through, in that by the time you've completed, the plane is about to board to get out of the godamned place, having learned a bit more about what makes America great!
At this stage were were forced to surrender our Transit Cards before being allowed to board. What would we have done without them?

So to London.

The approach to Heathrow is quite similar to LA execpt there's a river and less smog. The pilots' do tend to fly around in circles a lot more when  waiting to land in London though. I'm never sure if it's because they're lost or if they just want to give the passengers on both sides of the plane a bit of sight seeing, as Tower Bridge, Wembley, O2 Arena, the London Barrage, the Shard, Gherkin and so on are all on the flight path or close enough to spot.

The contrast with customs and entry to the UK and the US couldn't be more marked. Two minutes in a queue and some seriously probing questions like "do you have family here?", (even I got that one right), and we were in.

We had booked to stay in the Bethnal Green version of Travelodge, (mainly because it was the cheapest available this week) and despite my daughter's warnings of it being a bit of a dodgy area, got safely esconced after a tube ride from Heathrow with only one change of line. This was just as well, because my luggage allocation, (i.e. what I was expected to carry), weighed about 105kg, contained in 2 suitcases plus a Kathmandu rucksack, (compared with I's allowance of 7.5 kg of carry-on bags and her handbag).
Although I must admit, the handbag usually contains at least 50kg of the "bare essentials" that every woman says she needs.

Bethnal Green for those of you who don't know, is in the East End of London but not far from the centre. The population of this area these days is made up of quite a large number of people originating from the sub-continent and the shops were very much Mumbai or Dacca West, with restaurants of similar ethnic origin. Being in the middle of Ramadan means that there isn't a great trade in food until sundown, (which in June is at about 11 pm).

As a result, we were forced to try a real greasy spoon looking place right opposite the tube, called "Nico's Grill" run by a Londoner of Greek origin. The menu was traditional British with stuff like lamb roast, steak pie and chips etc. Iris had roast chicken, veges and mash and I had the steak pie and chips with 3 veg.

The portions were enormous and the food was excellent, so good that we went back for breakfast this morning - just as good. Must also mention that it was also, especially for London, very cheap ($10 NZ per head).

Anyway, today is for London and meeting up with Jess, so that's all for now.