4th day / 17th January: Moving hostels, Hampstead Heath, Oxford Street.

[pictures from today: http://picasaweb.google.com/110144623598348247797/20110117#]

Today I was moving to a different hostel. I decided to stay at 3 different hostels over the 9 nights I was in London, to see a little bit of variety. I took some pictures of the first hostel before I left:

There are three other bunk beds in this room. I'm on the second floor in this townhouse type thing.

When I got outside it was pouring with rain. I had an umbrella but my suitcase got a bit soaked. I was a bit worried about it but later found out that it was mostly alright: a damp smell, but everything seemed dry.

View from the bus window. It's pouring down!

I was very confused about where I was supposed to get off from the bus. I forgot that they're not like the tube stations. The lady at reception told me where I should get off, but I couldn't see what the names of the bus stops were. I asked the lady next to me something, and in a funny british accent she told me I should be pushing that 'stop' button pretty much now. My umbrella blew inside out and then I found that one of the metal rods inside had snapped in half. Pretty disappointed! $2 shop umbrella: 0/5. Harris Skarf umbrella: 0/5 ...

I got to the hostel. The lady couldn't find me in her expected arrivals. "Oh no... have a look three days from now... ". I'd gone to the wrong hostel! I probably should have checked before I left. I walked to the tube station, caught a train to the suburb known as Swiss Cottage. Finally got to the next hostel I was staying at.

Next hostel looks pretty nice. While waiting to check in (2pm) I used the internet for a while and booked a bus ticket to Brighton for the next day. GBP 15. Good value I think. I was feeling pretty tired so I spent some time not doing a real lot. Then I went looking for food. I found a store selling men's clothes. I was looking for a coat. The guy inside gave me the full treatment. He dressed me up in a pretty good coat, gloves, a hat, and cashmere scarfe. It was pretty good. However he wanted GBP 165 for the coat, which I thought was a bit over the top. He did a whole lot of sulking when I told him I wasn't exactly sure and that I'd have to think about it for a while. Back at the hostel reception, the people said that it was an absurd price and that I should be able to find one for GBP 60 at Oxford Street.

I was able to check in then. Room looked interesting.

The beds have curtains and personal lights inside. It felt like some kind of old fashioned boarding school.

Nice staircase in the hostel.

The outside of the hostel. "Palmer's Lodge".

I decided to go walking up to Hampstead Heath. It's an area I was told of by a local. Apparently there is some pretty good natural forest up there, that you can get "lost" in. Sounded pretty good.

The owner of this house has an Astin Martin Vantage, and a new mini. I would later see that Londoners seem to love these two cars.

The road up toward the Heath had lots of big nice houses.

Londoners seem to be magicians at getting their cars through tight gaps. This big van has only centimetres gap, but managed to make it through somehow.... amazing.

Quite nice houses.

Made it to the heath. It looks nicely wooded I think!

I headed along some paths in this heath thing. It was pretty good fun.

Then something strange happened which creeped me out a bit at the time. Londoners may know what happened before the info at the end. I was in this quite secluded area, which was nice because there are people everywhere in London. But then I saw someone on the other side of a stream. He looked pretty edgy and kept staring at me, so I assumed I was disturbing his solitude. So I thought I'd head in an opposite direction. But it was too muddy. Then I noticed another guy coming from that area, across a bridge over the stream. He was looking at me in an edgy way too. I was confused. They were very edgy, and yet this second guy was walking right toward me. I thought maybe they were looking at animals that I was disturbing. I countered the move of second guy by going past him across the bridge from where he'd come from. As I looked back, he was staring at me, and then standing at a bush being a bit creepy. Now I had the first guy in front and the second guy behind. This was quite a thickly wooded area with no one else around, so I thought I might be about to be mugged! I quickly passed the first guy while he was staring at me the whole time. I put a bit of speed into my walk then and was happy to be clear of them.

I later learned that Hampstead Heath is a notorious gay cruising area, particularly in the western side, particularly behind Jack Straw's Castle. I was in that exact area! So it was a bit of a compliment, and I wasn't about to get mugged.

Where I almost got mugged.

After I made my escape I discovered a cool terrace garden type thing.

A house next to the terrace thing.

Later I saw a bunch of squirrels jumping through the trees.

These kids emerged out of no where, stampeding at a great pace. They're doing football practice.

Sloppy ground.

I think I'm on "Parliament Hill". It provides alright views over the financial district of London.

It was getting pretty cold and I'd been walking around for a decent amount of time so I left the park. I thought it would be easy to find the big straight street that I walked up on, since I knew roughly the perpendicular line against it. However I got a little lost. I really needed the loo at this point and it seems very difficult to find a public toilet here, so I was getting desperate.

But eventually I found my way out.

Lost. Somewhere between Camden and Swiss Cottage.

This look is saying "yay! That's the street I'm looking for!" I was getting desperate.

The hostel at night.

After stopping into the hostel briefly, I took the tube to Oxford Street, hoping to get a coat for tomorrow at Brighton.

Me trying on a British styled coat. They're all wearing these wool things. They look pretty good, but it's too early to attempt to get into these fashion things

Oxford Street. A sea of people scrambling towards you with not much notion of the concept of stepping slightly to the side so that onwalkers have somewhere to get through. The people on the street are fairly ferocious walkers.

Another view of Oxford Street.

I was unsuccessful in my quest to find a coat. This was fairly frustrating. So far I've only been able to find fashionable items. I see people on the street wearing normal, functional coats, so I know they must exist.

I'm also quickly learning that people in shops will put an uncomfortable amount of energy into trying to convince you you should buy something. I walked into a shop which appeared to sell mainly suits. But I gave it a go anyway. I told the guy my ambitions, and so he put a cashmere coat on me. I kept telling him it wasn't really what I was after, but he wasn't accepting that. Eventually I told him that there probably was not anything in the shop that I wanted. Then I walked out. He put a silly amount of effort into trying to make me buy something, because it was cold and there were no customers. His sales assistant friends were laughing a bit too. I thought that was all in good fun. His friends were watching my bag, and they made a joke of moving it, and then trying to shock me by telling me it had gone missing. That night when I got home I couldn't find my camera anywhere. I got a horrible feeling thinking they'd gone through my bag and taken it. I was feeling pretty bad about it all. Then eventually I found it under my quilt. I think I'm getting quite tired.