Travelling the World on Wheels.

Saturday, December 11, 2010

A Honeymoon, without a Honey. (Part 2)

I had arrived, the hotel was massive, the cool marble floor, everybody wearing shorts and cool, loose and colourful clothes, drinks and fruits everywhere. I could even see the yellow sandy beaches, bright blue sea and the palm trees through the huge windows on the other side of the hotel. At the reception my passport number was take and soon my room (keys) card where handed to me, they also raped a white band around my wrist and told me, as I am there ‘all inclusive guest’, that means all of my drinks, food, snacks were all included, that is why I should keep this band on at all times.

I was then assisted to my room along with my luggage. Wow, the room was huge, the bed was huge and the balcony was huge having two huge glass sliding doors. And the view was breathtaking, with huge palm trees and blue seas, and it was all so private I could dance around naked and no one will notice. Anyway so there I was in my huge hotel room. I was wearing my turtle neck sweater, had to get rid of that and my boots and long warm socks. I then took out a nice cool orange top and my summer flip-flops from my suit case and put them on. It took me a long time and loads of hard work to take off my previous clothes and put them ones on as I had no help, but I was determined and the sunshine kept me motivated.

Finally after a struggle I managed to put on my summer clothes. I then took lots of pictures all around my room and then went outside.

There was a huge open bar I went there and ordered myself a nice cool cocktail. ‘May I ave one of those cool, colourful, cocktail with loads of fruit stuck on them and no alcohol please?’ I asked, ‘Wow’ said a lady, ‘All inclusive and no alcohol, you are a good girl.’ Well then I noticed everybody is drunk out here, and it wasn’t because I was at the bar it was like this all over the hotel. At the breakfast buffet along with orange juice one had a choice between wine and Champaign; same was at lunch and dinner. At the pool there was beer everywhere, at the bars there was all sorts of alcoholic drinks. I met another couple at the bar and they said that the come all inclusive every year and just drink, drink and drink. No wonder almost everyone there had beer-bellies.

While I was enjoying my lovely cool cocktail, I realized everybody around me were in pairs of two. They were old couples, they were young couples, they were gay and lesbian couples as well openly holding hands and kissing away. I was the only single person, Oh my God, this made me a bit nervous. Especially when another couple asked me ‘so whom are you with?’ ‘with no one’ I answered and they were surprised to hear that. ‘You are brave to come on your own here, hopefully you’ll find someone, maybe a nice Spanish guy here,’ I hopefully agreed with them, by the way Spanish people are very attractive. It was dinner time soon, we all headed for the dinner buffet downstairs.

The sad part was that most of the food was British as majority of the hotel guest were from UK (I think its because they have to cater them, thats where the money comes from) they just had one local Spanish dish called Paella a rice dish. After dinner I went back to my room and as I was so tired got into my PJs and off to bed.

Wednesday, December 8, 2010

Honeymoon, without a Honey. (Part 1)

The flight to Fuerteventura was smooth and 4 hours long. Made friends with the old couple sitting next to me and apparently found out that they have a house in Fuerteventura and go there every year during the winters. Nice!

As I didn’t have breakfast, I was starving. After a long wait, our on-board hot lunch arrived; it was rice with curry, a glass of orange juice and a cup-cake for desert. It wasn’t very delicious or the most scrumptious meal but good enough to fill up my stomach. After this I slept for the rest of on-flight journey, in fact everyone slept. At around 2:00 in the afternoon I was awaken by an announcement, ‘we shall be reaching Fuerteventura in a few minutes. I donno what exactly is the temperature’ announced the pilot, ‘But I am sure its much warmer than back home...as you can see the sun’. He pointed out Lanzarote, Tenerife, and Spain to us from the plane the panoramic view was breath taking. He also told us that the local time of Fuerteventura is the same as UK as Fuerteventura is located on the same longitudes as UK (which was good I thought no jet-lag).

I then took out my mirror, wiped my face with a wet-wipe to freshen up, put a bit of mascara to get rid of my sleepy-eyes, dabbed on some lip-stick, brushed my hair and made sure I look decent. I was all smiles, yes, to check out the sun! Seriously as the air-craft landed, I just couldn’t stop smiling (I’ll show u the pics) I was so delighted to see the sun and the warm climate. In fact everybody coming from UK (which was almost all of them) were glad to be in a warm country.

As being on a wheelchair I was the last one to leave the aircraft (which was fine with me). Soon an aisle wheelchair was brought; I was transferred from my seat onto the aisle wheelchair and wheeled out of the aircraft. My own motorised wheelchair was waiting for me out side, then I was transferred on to my wheelchair. After showing our passport I was then to proceed towards the luggage arrival area. I just had one light suit case and the person assisting me took my luggage and we were soon outside. Oh God I just could not stop smiling, it was so warm and bright, especially from where I came from it was minus four.

Outside a Thomas Cook member of staff was waiting for me, she greeted me with a pleasant smile and guided me towards the wheelchair accessible taxi. I was soon in the taxi and on my way to Elba Sara Hotel. The roads were very clean but, due to the warm winds blowing from the Sahara Desert in Africa it was, very dusty.

Monday, December 6, 2010

An adventure begins...

4:30 in the morning, on the 27^th of November 2010, my carer Sharon (Bless her) comes in. I am already awake sitting on my bed, nervous and excited. My schedule was extremely tight, zero tolerance, any delays of transport to Gatwick meant missing my flight and £500 down the drain. The schedule was as follows:

5:30 AM: a wheelchair accessible taxi came to my house to pick me up and drop me to Maidstone East train station. Taxi fare was £10 (normally its £7, but as it was too early in the morning it charged me 10 quid. And this was Streamline Taxis).

5:55 AM: was my train to London Victoria. It takes an hour and few minutes to reach London from Maidstone. I slept on this train and therefore forgot to buy the ticket otherwise with a disabled rail card it is £9.

7:15 AM: was my train to Gatwick from London Victoria known as Gatwick Express. It takes at least half an hour to reach Gatwick. I have a disabled rail card therefore the train ticket was for £12.

8:00 AM: had be at the check-in counter, Gatwick South terminal. And yes, I was there on time. I did it!

At around 9 o’clock in the morning I was there waiting in the huge waiting lounge at Gatwick. My flight was in an hour, I don’t think I am able to take any pictures I thought, but it was very nice there. They are all sorts of shops from various restaurants, Mc Donalds and KFC, pharmacies to book shops, boutiques to perfume shops. But now I remember why I hadn’t taken any pictures as I has to visit the lu. Well although the toilets were right there but the accessible one was occupied. I had to wait a good 25 minutes for my turn to come. Finally the toilet was vacant. I dislike visiting the lu on the air craft as they are so tiny and no privacy, plus it was just a four hour flight, I wasn’t going to Australia. After I was done with the lu I had to go toward the boarding gate which was far away, literally a 20 minute walk. And yes I did take pics and I’ll upload them on my blog.

The process to get boarded on a air-craft if wheelchair bound:

They ask if you can walk yourself into the plane? I always say no, because it takes centuries for me to walk and the rest of the passengers are all waiting outside as disabled passenger are always the first to be boarded and the last ones to depart the aircraft
Hence (after saying no) 2 people, with care, pick me up (one from under my shoulders and the other lifts my feet) and transfers me on to a aisle wheelchair (which unfortunately I do not have pictures off as I was being lifted and transferred, therefore unable to take pics). It is a very narrow wheelchair, big enough to pass through the air-craft passage ways.
Then I was taken into the air-craft and put right into the front seat (all is done with care, so no worries there). Here there is lots of leg room (I really don’t need it cause I am short anyway). This process is extremely safe.
Once again I am lifted by 2 people and gently seated. The air-hostess then helps me with the seat belt and also helps me take off my coat and hand-bag, to be kept in the over-hear luggage compartment.

This is the process of me boarding an air-craft, completely free of hazards and dangers.

When I was seated I realized the air-craft was so small. But that didn’t bother me as I was sitting right in the front and could see the cockpit. The only drawback was I was right opposite the toilet. Aaa well one can’t get everything in life, I thought.

Sunday, December 5, 2010

A surprise or a shock.

My holiday destination was Fuerteventura (one of the Canary Islands which is a part of Spain), from the 27^th of November up till the 1^st of December 2010. My flight times were brilliant, departure from Gatwick at 10:00 am and on the 1^st of December arrival from Fuerteventura to Gatwick at y8:00 pm, which was awesome. I soon began my packing which was simple. In a big suit case (and by big I mean those large ones. I find it much easier to drag along my side while sitting on my wheelchair), sun block (which I forgot to use during my trip), a pair of slippers, and a few summer clothes (literally 5 shirts, a skirt and my summer dress, which I managed to severely damage while wearing it. It is one of those long flowy ones, was not careful hence it got stuck in one of my wheels and got ripped). Packing was all done. Soon my travel documents (that is information about my all inclusive holiday which means my room, all food, snack drinks, airport transfers from and to the hotel were all included) and air ticket arrived via post, I was all prepared to go and excited now.

Four day before my holiday I received a phone call from the travel agency. ‘Miss Ahmed we need to check...is ure wheelchair collapsible?’ No I said. ‘We are very sorry but our coaches are unable to take your wheelchair. You need to get a manual foldable wheelchair’ ‘What?’ I was shocked, ‘but I am a permanent wheel chair user, how will I possibly be mobile without my wheel chair???’ The lady on the other end said, ‘sorry, but you failed to mention that you are confined to a wheelchair’. I felt a weird wiggle in my stomach, how can I fail to mention that anyway I asked them what should I do? The lady told me you can either pay £82 extra and we’ll organize a wheelchair accessible taxi for you. No way am I paying that kind of money, already my all inclusive 4 day holiday costed me £400, any other suggestions? , I thought aloud. ‘What about if I don’t go, will I get a refund?’ I asked. She refused as they were only 4 days left I cannot get a refund as well. I heard this and I was very annoyed, I did tell her that if you listen to the recorded call conversation with the agent during the booking you’ll find out that from the very beginning I was emphasising that I am a permanent wheelchair use. She then agreed to listen to my call and said she’ll get back to me tomorrow. Finally she did call me the next day and apologised and sad that as its our fault we’ll give you a discount and you’ll have to pay £42 so we can book you a wheelchair accessible taxi. I did agree to pay that money, gave my card details on the phone. The taxi was a booked, ‘by tomorrow you’ll receive the money debited for the taxi receipt, thanks for your patience and sorry for the confusion, bye’, she said.

And yes, the next day I did receive the taxi details and receipt. What a shocking surprise, but excitement once again as well as worries. After this, although the lady on the phone assured me that the hotel room is fully adapted to wheelchair s but who knows and that is why I was more worried and anxious. (Friends, if anything happens like this and you feel that you have be mislead or misused one can go to the Citizen Advice Bureau, which is based in the local council, in UK). On the last day I bought travel insurance (very important) from Thomson and I don’t know why when my plane was delayed due to snow, they said sorry but we don’t cover. I am going to visit there office when the weather gets better ad ask ‘em why. Although I didn’t have a good experience with my travel insurance, I still recommend it for all travellers.

Saturday, December 4, 2010

Decisions, decisions, holiday decisions.

Its November, cold already, now the temperature is six degrees centigrade and soon its going to be minus one and even more, icy and frosty, burrrrr!

As you can tell I don’t really enjoy the cold except if I am going skiing I the snow or ice skating (if I do have the proper equipment). Now Christmas jobs as yet, no permanent jobs as yet, even my PhD at Queen Mary University of London shall begin next year September. ‘What to do? What to do?...’ I thought aloud, ‘lets check-out the sun. Brilliant idea! But where to go...as I am on a wheelchair and I am on a limited budget?’

(Figuring out wheelchair accessibility while travelling and having a limited budget can be an daunting issue. Not to worry my friend, the trick is to be persistent and not to lose hope. One has to be determined that no matter what I have to get my way through. Even if your travel agent gets annoyed with you because you call ‘em everyday to recheck and reconfirm your travel trip, which happened with me and I am glad I rechecked a million times, will tell you all about it. Because, you know what folks! At the end of the day it is your money and safety.)

It was the second week of November, cold and raining outside. It was 10 in the morning but it looked like evening already. Well it was a miserable day out there but that does not mean I should feel the same. No, no, no! Was having a warm cup of tea, sitting next to the window beside my laptop, listening to the pitter patter sounds of the raindrops hitting the ground as they tumble from the sky. Nut so thinking about the sun! ‘Affordable sunny wheelchair accessible holidays’ I googled. My search came to an unlimited number of hits. They were a few weeks trips to Egypt, South Africa, sunny California, Morocco, Australia, Sahara desert.... Wish I could go to all these expensive atleast a minimum of £700 which not only included flight tickets but also wheelchair accessible accommodation in a hotel, airport transfers, food and drinks. Well a bit too much for me as my budget was around £400 or rather the cheaper the better. The I googled for travel agents, which was a good idea. Found one http://www.personaltraveladvisors.co.uk/, well they are many out there but this is whom I consulted. You just fill out your name, number and travel detail in the online contact form. Soon a travel agent calls back who, has been assigned as your personalised advisor and provides tailor made holidays. Nice, which is just what I was looking for. She confirmed all my travel details with ‘And you said you are on a wheelchair, Miss Ahmed, and you’ll be travelling on your own?’ she asked. ‘Yes, I am a permanent wheelchair user and I’ll be travelling on my own’ I confirmed. She also asked me if I wanna go somewhere in particular and for how long approximately. I told her ‘well where ever its warm and as I’m on a limited budget of around £400 preferable or essentially rather it should be an all inclusive holiday’. After a short silence she comforted me by saying: ‘not to worry, I am sure we’ll sort something out for you’. And yes we did sort out something.

It took me two weeks to sort out an appropriate trip.