Our last day in London (May 12, 2008) had arrived. We got up at the crack of dawn for early morning adventure: a sunrise kayaking experience on Regents Canal. At 5:45 we met Danny Gillard from ThamesRiverAdventures who recently started a kayaking outfit that provides guided kayak tours in different parts of London. Danny, who is an occupational health and safety specialist by profession, also plans to offer kayak tours in Australia and New Zealand in the winter. Kayaking on this historic canal was a supremely peaceful and serene activity and introduced us to this bustling metropolis from a completely different angle. For me personally this sunrise kayaking trip was a definite highlight of my entire London experience. After freshening up at our bed and breakfast we headed out at 11 am with our guide Ann Mark, a certified Blue Badge London tourist guide, who took us in a couple of double-decker buses to Southall, one of Londons ethnic neighbourhoods.
Over the last few decades this area has become a centre for Londons South Asian community and the streets are lined with Indian and Pakistani stores and eateries. Ann, a very openminded and cosmopolitan character, was appropriately dressed in a sari since she had just recently returned from a trip to India herself. The three of us girls got enchanted with the colourful jewellery and clothing on offer at the various retail outlets, and our neighbourhood walk turned into a bit of a shopping spree. We picked up a variety of beautiful scarves and jewellery, all at great prices. At one upscale clothing store my travel partner Andrea even tried on an Indian party dress and modeled it for us. We stopped at a local eatery to sample some delicious spicy South Asian food, and at 13 pounds for three people it turned out to be a rather affordable culinary experience. I interviewed several of the shopkeepers and street merchants, and all of us enjoyed the welcoming atmosphere in the Southall shopping area. We then strolled past the historic Himalaya movie theatre and stopped off at a South Asian supermarket where Ann and Andrea picked up some supersized bags of tea and other exotic merchandise. I had a chance to interview Ann who is an interesting character, a former investment banker turned tourist guide who is certified to provide professional London tours in six languages.
Londons multicultural flavour was definitely evident. Our evening continued along the same lines. Since we had to get up very early the next day for our departure, we decided to eat locally close to our bed and breakfast in the Holland Park area. We found a quaint little Thai restaurant called the Cool Monkey where we enjoyed generous portions of flavourful South East Asian food. Over the past three days we had caught a glimpse of so many areas of London, and I had got a good impression of this citys phenomenal diversity. From the downtown banking district to Buckingham Palace to a boat ride on the Thames River to early morning kayaking and explorations of different ethnic areas, London was a great experience, and I cant wait to get back there and explore even more facets of this one-of-a-kind metropolis.
