Karnak Travel, Egham

17/06/2024

It rained a little on Magna Carta Day: two short but fierce downpours. I think everyone who was there had fun.

14/06/2024

https://youtu.be/Rp1n7tzFCCE?feature=shared

In a series of election specials Pie looks at the main issues that will decide this coming election. Today he's looking at the omni-shambles that is the UK ...

04/06/2024

I'm finding it hard to get any real work done.

I'm rearranging furniture as my new sofa is arriving imminently.
Trying to write minutes for H&F Lib Dems meeting last night.
Trying to sort out the remaining jobs for Magna Carta Day.
Trying to follow the results of the elections in India which are very exciting.

Please someone, phone me and ask me to book a holiday!

03/06/2024

I just found this, and I love it.

19/04/2024

If you are ever ever tempted to trust ChatGPT, this is the answer to my question "Tell me a little about Meher Oliaji"

Meher Oliaji is an American artist and designer known for her vibrant and eclectic style. She has gained recognition for her unique approach to creating art, which often incorporates a mix of traditional techniques and modern elements. Oliaji's work spans across various mediums, including painting, illustration, and digital art.

Her artistic style is characterized by bold colors, intricate patterns, and playful imagery. She draws inspiration from diverse sources, including nature, culture, and her own imagination. Oliaji's creations often feature whimsical characters and surreal landscapes that invite viewers into fantastical worlds.

In addition to her artistic endeavors, Meher Oliaji is also involved in the design world, collaborating with brands and organizations to bring her distinctive aesthetic to various projects. Through her art and design, she aims to evoke joy, spark curiosity, and inspire creativity in others"

Now, I know there might possibly be another person with my name, but if there was, I think a google search would throw up some evidence of it.

13/09/2023

Falkirk wheel....79ft lift/fall in one go

Only rotating boat lift of its kind in the world, and one of two working boat lifts in the UK

14/03/2022

Grant Shapps is (FINALLY) getting rid of the Passenger Locator Form.
You know, that one where you tell the track-and-trace people how to find you if....
If what? When did anyone last get tracked-and-traced?

24/02/2022

15/02/2022

More than a year with Travel Counsellors and I still keep notices of problems and crises in a folder which should be called "Covid" but is labelled "Volcano".

I remember Philip Hammond, then recently appointed Transport Secretary, at a Runnymede Business Partnership breakfast in 2010, being really pleased that he could pronounce Eyjafjallajokull.

03/02/2022

This is something I never knew how to do until I joined Travel Counsellors. Apparently there are lots of airlines which allow you to carry pets without having to phone them to book.

I'm exhausted.
2 full days of an air booking refresher course, learning new techniques and tips, and my brain is overflowing.

On the other hand, I now know how to book a pet-in-cabin (£ 46 to take your small dog to Paris, £ 180 to take your falcon to Doha). I just hope no one asks me about the paperwork.

24/01/2022

It's sad that one of the nicest cruise lines may be about to go into liquidation. I would have missed it if my news feed had not told me "Cruise ship flees to Bahamas to avoid arrest warrant".
Seriously, a Florida judge has issued an arrest warrant for a cruise ship (over unpaid fuel bills).

13/01/2022

Two years on, we still need COVID TESTS to travel to many places, or to come home, but frequently changing rules mean it can be confusing to tell these apart.

Almost all travel tests are Antigen Tests, also called Viral tests (USA: NAAT) which measure the antigens in your system, mainly in your nose and throat, to find out whether you have a Covid infection.

The “gold standard” is the PCR test, (polymerase chain reaction) (or, much the same thing, RT- PCR and various other Lab tests). PCR tests must be carried out by a lab, though you can take the samples yourself or have them taken for you.

Because tests are carried out in a lab, it can be expensive to get a result very quickly. However they are more accurate than Rapid-tests/LTFs and they can identify what variety of Covid you have.

The other main test is the Lateral Flow Test (LTF) / Rapid-Test which gives a more instant reading, by dropping a sample onto a small reader. LTFs can be done at home, but if you are using them to travel they must be carried out, or certified (sometimes by video) by an independent testing organisation. Being fast they are permitted by many countries which want you to get a test less than 48 hours before travel.

Most governments will include a complicated spec for the information they need on your Antigen/Viral test certificate for travel, but any reliable travel-testing company will know what is required. Always take your passport with you when you go to get tested.

The third type of test is the Antibody test, which uses a blood sample to see if you have produced the antibodies that fight off Covid. These hang around in your blood for months, so they tell whether you have been exposed to Covid or the Covid vaccine, but not whether you have the disease now. They are not used for travel, unless you are a famous tennis player who is trying to show that no-vax is required (Djoke)...

06/01/2022

This is every travel agent saying "There but for the grace of God...."
Reminds me of the day in about 1992 when I drove my client to the Australian High Commission in London (at 90mph) because we didn't to tell her she needed a visa until 8 hours before her flight.

Australian Open champion could soon be on a plane home after border force took action after he landed in Melbourne

21/12/2021

Wishing all my friends and clients a Very Happy Christmas, and hopefully a very travelling New Year.

Don't forget I too have moved.

I'm now at Meher Oliaji, Travel Counsellor, still here to arrange your trips (no wee donkeys).

17/09/2021

So I listened to the news.
Then I read the new rules (from 04Oct)
Then I read them again.
Then I made a little chart.
Actually there are only 3 groups. 1) people coming in from Red list countries, who can only enter if they are UK citizens or residents, and who need to pay £ 2500 to be locked up in a hotel that has been turned into a detention centre. (do read my blog on my Travel Counsellors website)
2) People coming from other countries who the government calls "Fully Vaccinated". You need to do a Covid test 2 days after arriving.
3) People coming from other countries who are not vaccinated, or whose vaccines are not good enough for UK (even if UK is importing those same vaccines to use here). Those people stick with the old Amber rules. Test just before returning, self-isolation for 11 days, and Covid tests on Day2 and Day8

17/08/2021

CTM and the Red List Managed Quarantine Hotel.

The Red List QuarantineDay minus3. Still no reply from CTM, the Quarantine Management service regarding the twin beds, or the shower. No reply about how/where I join my mother either, (emailed 10 days ago) or who assists wheelchair guests to the shuttle bus, or how a “Quarantinee” aged 90 manage...

17/08/2021

Red list quarantine

Day ONE of our 11 days. The CTM form allowed us to specify only how many people in the room. Plus about 50 characters to specify special needs. Mum needs walk-in shower and twin beds, so CTM have sent us to the Ramada Hounslow. We are in a box, with 2 single beds, 1 upright chair, 1 armchair. The re...

01/07/2021

So, I'm watching this presentation on booking cruisers on the Caledonian Canal, which runs south from Inverness, through Loch Ness towards Fort William.
Places I am completely familiar with, (I am a travel agent after all).

And I suddenly realise that for 40 years, I have sorted-of located the Loch Ness Monster, in my imagination, not in Loch Ness, but in Loch Lomond....

30/06/2021

Magna Carta Day 2021, Egham High Street.
It was great. More photos on my Meher Oliaji Travel Counsellors page.
This is the after, tired and happy.

24/06/2021

Celebrating Magna Carta Day this weekend, Saturday 26 June.

800 years of the RULE OF LAW.
The idea, invented by the English, that Rulers are subject to the law, not above it.
15 June 1215

24/06/2021

New guidance on travel from the Government tonight
And on Saturday I'm due to spend all day in the High Street arranging Magna Carta Day.
I'm hoping to have a busy tomorrow NOT making cancellations.
Then, since I'm now a home-worker, (see Meher Oliaji, Travel Counsellor) I will be working on Sunday.

07/05/2021

Follow me on Meher Oliaji, Travel Counsellor, for help choosing where to go on holiday - and work out which places you can't go to and which ones you can't fly back from

30/04/2021

35 years in Egham High Street, I never knew this. Now I'm working from home, (Meher Oliaji, Travel Counsellors, please follow me) I no longer go past every working day, and I'm missing it.

07/04/2021

If you have ever wondered why John Lewis sells dressing table stools for £ 180 when you can buy them online for £ 45... After 30 years, when the foam in the John Lewis stool has crumbled to dust, the body makes a very sturdy printer table.

Most of the 2019 £45 stool is now in the bin, (though the seat does make a nice cushioned footrest.)

If you are wondering what this has to do with travel, I'm just trying to remind you that I am now working from home. Please follow my Travel Counsellor page - Meher O - Travel Counsellor.

We are going to start travelling soon, and after a year like the last, you know you need a John-Lewis-quality travel agent.

31/03/2021

Since I'm becoming a home-based travel agent (MeherOliaji-Travel Counsellor, in case you missed it...) I've been clearing the office.
March 1996.
8 Swiss Franc, so not quite the difference between profit and loss...

27/02/2021

Travel Counsellors training module for disability has (I think) a fault with the videos.
Alternatively maybe they are deliberately making me wait 10 seconds, every minute or so, for the trainer to finish their sentence to sensitise me to different types of disability.

26/02/2021

I hope you all know about my new business? Meher Oliaji, Travel Counsellor?

This is what one of our suppliers told us about their relaunch:
They will "double down on our efforts" to "reinvent the future".
Their "vision for the future" will "embrace creative solutions" to "build a better tomorrow" .
On this "bold new journey" I should "share our passion" for a
"ground-up rebuilding"
They are "building for a future" "a future of limitless promise".

If you want MY professional, positive, classy (I hope) new business page, go to MeherOliaji, Travel Counsellor.

Meher Oliaji, Travel Counsellor promises to provide a great service and huge range of products, backed by an award winning company and great technology.

11/02/2021

QUARANTINE:

We now have some details about the new Covid Quarantine scheme, and If you haven’t heard it on the news, here is my try at making it simple.

It applies if you are flying into England. There are separate rules for Scotland and Wales, and obviously Ireland is completely different.

World is divided into 3:
Common Travel Area (UK, Ireland, Channel Islands, Isle of Man)

RED LIST countries: a selection of African and Latin American countries plus Seychelles, Mauritius, UAE (Dubai and Abu Dhabi) and Portugal. As of now, 33 countries.

Rest of the world:

Common Travel Area:
People flying within the Common Travel Area currently don’t have restrictions on arrival in England.

Everyone else:
People flying into England need to arrange 3 Covid Tests: one within the last 3 days before starting their journey (72hours or less), one 2 days after arrival and one 8 days after arrival. The “before travel” test will have to be arranged locally wherever you are. The next two have to be pre-booked via the Government’s Travel Test package which must be booked and paid for before you board your flight home.

You will also have to complete the Passenger Locator Form, which the last time I looked could only be filled out online, and only within the last 2 days before travel. 10 years in prison if you lie about where you have been in the last 10 days.

Finally after all that you need to self-isolate at home for 10 days. Don’t assume this is like lockdown, with exceptions for food shopping and exercise. This is home-quarantine with lots of penalties for breaking the rules.

Additional conditions for Red List countries;
Anyone who has been in or through (including transit) a Red List country in the last 10 days can only fly in to England if they are Citizens of UK or Ireland, or are officially resident here. Everyone else can’t come here. If you are truly stuck, find a 3rd country which is not on the red list and which will let you in, and spend 10 days there. That won’t be so easy.

Those few who are allowed to fly in must arrive at Heathrow, Gatwick, London City, Birmingham, and (if you happen to have a private jet) Farnborough Airfield. Tough luck if you were hoping to get to Newcastle.

Before arriving you must follow all the conditions above and also: *** book 10 days in a government quarantine hotel. This must be done using the special (currently down) government website before you travel. ***

Cost is about £ 1750 for the first person in the room, with discounts for second adults and for children. Prepaid. And you will not be given a choice of hotel. Cost does include food, drink, welfare, tests and security.

IMPORTANT NOTE:
This is my PERSONAL reading of the rules and you must not make any arrangements without checking official government guidance.
Also, this may change at short notice.
Also, some (a very few) people are exempt.
Also, none of this is connected to the rules that tell you at you must not travel OUT of the country except for limited specified reasons.
Also, if you think I’ve got any of this wrong PLEASE LET ME KNOW.

But you are welcome to phone me on 01784 780054 if you want to discuss your own travel needs and I will do my best to check how the rules impact on your personal situation

07/02/2021

so I went and deleted it by mistake: I think my facebook skills need brushing up on.

06/02/2021