Afterthoughts: London

Earl's court district is my new home away from home away from home.

Nestled between a main street, tube station, expo centre and vast residential area is a small narrow haven for the backpacker.

A dozen or so cheap hotels line the charming road and ours, the Rasool court hotel, looks particularily ordinary.

I for one loved it though, probably due to the fact that - unlike my sister - I was put on the second highest floor and was therefore spared the morale-crushing view of a short, probably peed-on wall and garbage ridden floor, as well as the complimentary sounds and smells of the dated (and possibly disfunctional) sewage system that plagues the basement floor (the temporary home of my travelling companions besides my dad).

In the morning was the "continental breakfast". Nothing to complain about here. In any case, the main reason I like so called "backpacker style" accomodation (we were not, by the way, travelling lightly, me bringing my guitar and all) is that it motivates you to get out early, something I made it a point to do.

As for the rest of London, it is a city second to none. Absolutely impressive in so many ways. Firstly, though central London is currently going through a phase of "cleaning up the streets", a controvertial concept that includes everything from aggressively erasing graffiti to flooding literally every street in Central London with CCTV cameras, the creative spirit of London is stronger than ever.

Certain individuals such as the notorious U.K. stencil artist Banksy, are taking the fight to the street with provocative, political stencil art that stand out from the crowd.

More on Banksy and more still coming soon,
JF