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I landed in London around 6.30 am local time. Everything was looking like a dream. I collected my Luggage and I was searching for an ATM. My company had given me £200 cash money and an ATM card (Forex Card). I tried using it at an ATM. It wasn’t working; it wasn’t even activated.
Then I realized; I haven’t thought how I can get to the place where I was supposed to stay. I saw one person sitting nearby. I asked him, how I can get a cab to Gants Hill from airport and what could be the fare. He told me that it is almost 32-33 miles (52-53 kms) away and for such a distance the cab’s fare would be around £100.
“You’d better take a Tube to Gants Hill”, he said.
I was thinking what if the card takes longer time to get activated; I can’t live in London for a few days with just £100!
Therefore, first I decided to contact my manager and tell him about the Forex card issue. To be on a safer side, I dropped the idea of taking a cab.
The Tube station was just 2-3 mins walking distance below (as it is underground) the airport. I went to the ticket window and asked the person how I can get to the “Gants Hill tube station”.
“There is no direct train from here, you may take the ‘Piccadilly’ line to Holborn and then take ‘Central’ line from Holborn to reach Gants Hill.”, it was something like this he told me.
I was totally confused with his accent and the directions he gave me. He repeated the same sentence 2-3 times. Still it was not much clear to me, but I asked him to get me ticket till Holborn and thought of taking a bus or cab from there. He asked me to pay £5.40 as fare (it might be around ₹500, but there was no point in converting it in INR). He gave me £3.60 change in return of my £10 note and it took me some time to count the change as all the coins were new for me.
I noticed a really good thing at the tube stations. At every Tube station there are small gates on the way to Platform which open only when you drop your ticket in the machine next to them or use your Oyster card (it is like a Train/Bus pass). So you HAVE to buy the ticket to get to the platform.
It was almost 7-7:30 am and I was standing on the platform with almost 20-23 kg of luggage with me, waiting for the train. The train arrived, almost on time as shown on tickers on the platform. I boarded the train; it was almost empty with only 2-3 people in the compartment. There was a route map inside the train indicating the stops. Looking at which I realized, it is going to take some time to reach Holborn.
By the time, I reached Holborn, the train compartment was fully crowded. Somehow I managed to get myself and my luggage out of the train. It was almost 8.45 am in the clock, peak hours! As I wasn’t clear about the Piccadilly-Central thing and I thought there is no point in asking anyone about it again, I decided to get out of the station and look for either a bus or a cab (it was a wrong decision).
I was standing on the escalators looking for exit. I found a sign showing “Exit” direction and there was another sign showing “Central Line” direction just next to it, but like Arjun in Mahabharata, my whole attention was on the “Exit” sign and I didn’t even notice the other sign. I went towards Exit direction. While leaving the station, the machine at the door took my ticket and did not give it back to me. I was walking towards the exit door and for the first time I was going to experience the open air of London (which was too cold, below 10 degree Celsius for sure).
It was a great feeling. I was walking on the streets of London, some persons were almost running towards their offices with closed coffee cups with them, a few were distributing free newspapers!, a few were riding on their bicycles. In all of this, I was not able to find a Bus stand or an empty cab. Having failed to find any other way, I decided to solve the Piccadilly-Central confusion.
I stepped inside the Holborn Tube station and looked near the ticket window and voila, there it was; (it was there since ages!) a map of London Underground train routes with a clear explanation of Piccadilly, Central and many other “lines”. I went to ticket window and asked for ticket to Gants Hill station.
Now if I would have noticed the other “Central Line” board before, I could have travelled to Gants Hill using the
same ticket. I had to pay the same amount twice because of confusion, but still the joy of solving the confusion was
enough for me at that time.
I went to the platform, boarded the train. I was in the train, thinking, “Ok, no problem, it was my first time when I travelled through ‘tubes’ in London, now I just have to get to the Gants Hill station, find the apartment and call it a day!” But there was something else waiting for me…