Royal Chace, Enfield

Advantages: Historic, and good transport links to London
Disadvantages: Its changing - not for the better.

...Hands up, who has even heard of Enfield? Not many north of Luton I'll be bound. A fairly non-descript name, but a very important place, for without it there would be a bloody great big gap in the M25! Probably it's main claim to fame, if you can call it that, is the Lee Enfield rifle, manufactured at the Royal Small Arms Factory that graced the borough from 1804 to 1987. The rifle was so named because the factory was sited in the Lee Valley on the East Side of the borough. This siting gave the advantages of waterpower available to drive machinery, and the Lee Navigation flowing into the Thames for the transportation of raw materials and the finished weaponry. The old site, polluted from nearly 200 years of munitions production is of course now a housing estate. This is fairly typical of the East Side of Enfield. Due... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful

Advantages: Small, you cant get lost! Well organised
Disadvantages: Tipping expected

...I've flown to Taba twice in the last 18 months and have to say overall my experience has been great. There's literally one door in and one door out, there's no chace of getting lost either inbound or outbound. The staff are friendly and polite and speak good English incase your arabic isnt so hot! The only down side would be the guys stood at the toilet doors, handing out toilet roll and expecting a tip. There are also plenty of assistants at the exit to help you with your luggage, expecting a tip of course, however I dont mind giving a tip to someone carrying my suitcase (it was heavy!)... I think on the other hand I can manage to tear off some loo roll without assistance!!! No complaints... if you are planning on flying out here and nervous about transfers/organisation etc, dont be, the transfers are well organised, someone... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average somewhat helpful

Advantages: See the good the War on Terror has done
Disadvantages: Have AK47s pointed at your head

...landing to make itself a hard target in case anyone lobbed a missile our way. It was like riding a rollercoaster. Kabul is split in two by a mountain and resembles Mos Eisley out of Star Wars. It is blazing hot in the day but bearable at night. It is an utter shambles after 23 years of non-stop fighting, first against the Russians and then a bitter civil war. Everywhere you look there are shattered buildings riddled with shell and bullet holes. There are also lots of dusty graveyards with green flags fluttering in the breeze. The elegant Royal Palace - which had been taken over by the Taliban - took a direct hit from a cruise missile and is a blackened shell. It is an awesome site - but you can't go in because of booby traps. And stay on the road because the ground is littered with antipersonnel mines which will take your foot off... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful