Aberdeen to Heathrow

Day 36
Distance- 0km (1697)
Weather- who knows we did get outside
Highlights- Taxi driver and BA check in
Lowlights- the shut down of terminal 4
Accommodation- Floor between terminal 1 and2, Heathrow airport

We get up early to pack the taxi is at 8 am and we don't want to miss it. Nervous because there is no guarantee we will get a maxi taxi and our bike boxes wont fit in anything else. I think up a cunning plan to strap the cardboard bike box to the trailer and cycle, Pete is not impressed but we agree it’s a last resort. We wait outside and a taxi van arrives, I jump in the air with glee. Then we try to put the boxes in, they wont fit, the nine seats are not moveable and there is only a small space for luggage. After a little negotiation on the fare, the driver agree to take the seats apart for an extra 50%. We balance one box over the seat and the other in the middle then both of us in the front. 50% extra for the driver to do something illegal is not bad. Aparently it is also illegal for him to take two passengers in the fron with him, but he did it anyway.

We chat on the way to the airport about our travels, the drivers planned trip to Vegas and the recent bombs. He has a great thick Aberdeen accent, difficult at times to understand. He raves about Vegas, the hotels where he stays and the amusement rides he loves. He tells us there is increase security at the airport and we are lucky to be riding with him because they are the only taxis allowed in at the moment. As we arrive, the place is littered with 'bobby' cars, and the front is barricaded with concrete block so no one can drive a car within 500m of the front door.

Our check-in is the smoothest we have ever had. No arguments with check in ladies, the bike boxes get tagged and go straight through, nice and smooth, they didn't even get weighed. We rave about BA and I think I might use them on the way home. We get to Heathrow and go to transfer to terminal 4 where our other fight leaves from. We get down to where the bus leaves from and it’s crowded. Airport personnel announce terminal 4 is being evacuated due a a security threat. We have to wait.

An hours pass and we realie this is not going to pass quickly so we go up stairs to the duty free area and try to pass time. After a few hours we go back and still no change. We go to and from over the next few hours and then finally it is announced there will be no more flights out of terminal 4 till late tonight. We are told to leave there departure zone and report to BA ticketing.

We leave through customs with nothing to declare because we've been nowhere outside the UK, although we did have to go through a passport check. Funny to be back on London soil so soon. We then find the BA ticketing desk and a line from hell. It extends from terminal 2 to 1, about 1 km away. We join and cross our fingers and chat with the people around us. The que moves at a snail pass less then a meter a minute. Its 5pm, we ring our friend Emily and tell her we are stuck, she says she'll come out to the airport for dinner. Progress is slow and gradually BA staff give out information on how to arrange bookings. They suggest to either find a hotel and sit on the phone there, try to book through the internet or wait patiently. There is no available internet, the wait on telephone is 180 minutes and most of us have no travel agent. Very frustrating.

Emily arrives, food in hand and we sit down to a picnic in the corridor between Terminal 1 and 2. She stays for a while and then the BA staff announce they are closing the ticketing office at 10.30pm and we might as well go. Go where? to a hotel and then they add we can stay at the airport. We go off to have a beer with Em and our new friend Dave. A pint goes down well, hoping it might also help us sleep. We say good bye to Em and take up a sleep spot in the cue. We play cards with a few others for a while and then lay down to sleep. Blankets are handed out which make the lino floor a little less hard. We rest, only a few hours till they say ticketing will open and we can see the ticket office so hopes are high that we will have new tickets by the morning.