In the '90s an American passport was the golden ticket. Many places I could literally wave the passport as I walked by. I was with a travelling companion that insisted on getting his passport stamped and slightly annoyed the Swiss passport agent.
Here’s my customs story…you made have heard it or a similar one:
I was traveling from Pekanbaru, Sumatra back to Houston, through Singapore, with some expensive scientific equipment. The equipment carried an ATA carnet, which if you don’t know, is sort of like a passport for stuff, so you can take it in and out of countries without having to pay import duties every time. After an hour explaining to local Indonesian customs in Pekanbaru what a carnet was, they finally loaded up my stuff and I was on my way. I arrive back in Houston on a Saturday night, collect my stuff, and one box is missing. I get with Singapore Airlines and they confirm, one box is still in Singapore. It’ll be here tomorrow. I gather up what I have and go through customs with my stuff and paperwork. The customs guy says “not everything is here, where is the rest of the equipment listed on the carnet”. I explain that it got split up and some will arrive tomorrow. He says “ok, you can go, but I’m not signing off on the carnet.” I explained I needed a signature or be liable for $50,000 worth of duty back in Indonesia. He says when you come back tomorrow to get the rest, they’ll sign off.
The next day is Sunday. I go back to IAH on Monday to get the rest of my stuff, and it’s there, but it’s locked in a secure area and no representative from Singapore Airlines is working that day. They told me to come back Tuesday.
I go back to IAH on Tuesday around lunchtime. I go to Singapore Airlines baggage to claim my stuff. They tell me there is one guy with a key and he’ll be in around 6:00 that evening. As you can imagine, I raise holy hell. They call the guy and he says he’ll come unlock my stuff, he’ll be there in about 30 minutes. He comes, I get my stuff.
I now have the second half of my stuff, and I’m on the land side of customs. I explain that I need to get the carnet signed. The lady takes me back through a secure area to US Customs. I get to the front of the line, and the customs officer asks to see my passport. I said I don’t have one on me. He asked what flight I came in on, and I tell him I arrived two days ago. He says “then how in the hell did you get back here?” I said the Singapore Airlines lady brought me back here. He says “she can’t do that!” But she did. I explain everything and he looks over the carnet and my stuff and says “this is only half of it.” I said “I know! That’s what I’m telling you! I got half of it on Friday and half today. I’m only here because you have to sign because your partner on Friday refused to!”
He looks everything over and says “this was signed wrong when you left the US” (I didn’t carry it over a coworker did). By this point I’m ready to leave shit at the airport and tell Big Oil that my coworker potentially cost them $50,000. The whole time the customs guy is looking over the equipment and has no clue what it is. He finally says “did you get all your shit?” I said yes. He signs the carnet and says “just go”.
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I think you’re still conflating immigration and customs. They are two different processes. The former is checking your passport and through ticket to assure you’re transiting to another country and not staying in the UK. The latter requires you to collect your check bags so they can dig through you stuff and charge you import duty because you ARE staying.
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Great story!
I leave for England on Tuesday and will be in London for three days, Brighton and Birmingham one day each, Liverpool for two days, and four days in Blackpool before one last day in Manchester. It’s my first time in the UK so I have no idea what I’m doing and will take any suggestions.
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My tuppence:
London
- Be ready to walk. A lot.
- Get an Oyster card and put ￡20 on it - it gets you on all manner of public transport. (which you should use to get around as much as possible). Using the Oyster card will save you literally hundreds of pounds.
- Black taxis are insanely expensive. Your Uber account will work, but my experience in London has been that they are very unreliable.
- Take a sightseeing bus tour on the first day. It will whizz you around all the main sights, and you can decide what you want to spend more time on. Make sure to get one with a guide.
- The museums are (mostly) free. Major tourist traps typically charge quite a lot for entry and then they hit you up for donations once inside (the Tower of London is particularly egregious at this). St. Paul’s is definitely worth the price of admission, though.
- Don’t tip bartenders - buy them a drink if they’ve looked after you. It’s not slang, they will literally take a drink with you.
- You can use e-pay literally everywhere. In a pub, having them swipe a credit card is the equivalent of writing a check at the grocery store.
Brighton
- Don’t drop the soap.
Birmingham
- Don’t laugh at the ridiculous accent.
Liverpool
- Cool city to walk around.
- Avoid the Jurgen Klopp bar which is near the statue of the Beatles.
- Don’t go into The Cavern.
- I had an unexpectedly insane amount of fun in the Museum of British Pop Music.
Blackpool
- No idea. It’s like Myrtle Beach for Brits. It’s the height of holiday season, so people watching could be awesome.
Manchester
- The National Football Museum is here if you’re so inclined.
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If you guys aren’t already booked to play there you should definitely drop into the 100 Club. It’s on Oxford Street, can’t remember the exact address.
I’m not big on tourist stuff in general but I would not miss Westminster Abbey.
I do not consider art museums tourist stuff, and I would do all of them you can. In my experience there’s hardly anyone in there to bother you. One of my favorite paintings in the world is in the National Gallery and I have sat in front of it many times, spending long minutes unmolested in my reverie.
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Good tips! I’m used to walking living in Seoul for so long and the e-pay stuff is the norm here too. Good to know about the museums and tipping. We’ll be in Blackpool for a big punk festival so I’m sure the people watching will be entertaining and apparently we get free beer. Everything else revolves around the tour schedule and all that but I’m sure we’ll find time for antics.
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I should mention that shamefully I’ve not visited any of the other cities on your itinerary. Needless to say, that does not deter me from holding strong opinions with respect to these places, but I cannot offer specific travel suggestions.
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Speaking of art, take a stroll across the wobbly Millennium Bridge to the Tate Modern.
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Not booked at 100 Club but we’re gonna try to get to a few other shows if we can. The art museums are at the top of the list so it’s nice to get some validation on that.
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Tate Modern is gooder’n hell and the last time I was in there they had these twirly slides you could slide down from the top floor like some dry docked Covid light cruise ship. I reckon that counts as interactive art but you know me I’m happy just sitting there staring at a row of test tubes arranged by Damien Hirst.
Tate Modern puts you well within striking distance of Borough Market which is a great place to visit unless you hate food.
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Added it to the map.
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…and Borough Market puts you within striking distance of The George Inn.
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Everything Limey said but also keep in mind central London is pretty walkable. You can walk from Victoria Station to the West End in less time than it would take using the Tube.
And this: drink real ale when you’re there. None of that fizzy lager stuff. You’ll want some Spitfire, some Landlord, Courage Best, even Fullers would do.
The Imperial War Museum is pretty amaizing.
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Yep. Some of the underground stations are such rat’s nests of tunnels that it’s quicker to walk overland. Handily, they have figured out the walking times vs tube travel times, and made a map of it.
Ah, Spitfire! Drank it all the way over on the QMII then found a pub serving it close to our hotel.
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Either of those posters would be proudly displayed in my living room.
That is fantastic.
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