United Kingdom: The nation of the United Kingdom is made up of four countries: England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. Northern Island makes up the northeastern corner of the island of Ireland, the rest of the island being the nation of Ireland. The other three countries of the United Kingdom are all located on the island of Great Britain, England in the south, Wales in the west, and Scotland in the north. The United Kingdom also contains many small islands.
History: The UK has a long and complicated history, from prehistoric times to the Roman conquest in AD 43, to the Anglo-Saxon settlement beginning in the fifth century, to the Norman conquest led by William the Conqueror from Normandy, now part of northern France, in 1066, right up to present day.
The Kingdom of England united with Wales in 1536, which in turn united with the Kingdom of Scotland in 1707 to become the Kingdom of Great Britain. The Kingdom of Ireland became a part of the union in 1801 to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Following WWI, nationalism spread throughout the UK, leading to more local control of the former kingdoms and the breakaway of most of the island of Ireland to form the Irish Free State, today known as the Republic of Ireland. The UK then became the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
Preparing for the Trip: Peep was given the opportunity, through work, to go to London, so we, always being eager to take advantage of such a situation, decided to include a vacation with the trip. In the weeks preceding the trip, Peep made a couple of visits to the capital of Laos, Vientiane, for preliminary meetings. After her final meeting, which took place one week before the London trip, she headed directly to Bangkok to apply for her travel visa. Processing for the visa usually take two weeks, but by staying in Bangkok her application was fast-tracked and she ended up receiving her visa two days prior to our departure. Peep did not have to spend her time in Bangkok alone because her older brother Paap was also going on the trip to handle interpretation of the much more difficult legal matters to be discussed during the meetings in London. Peep was there to provide consultation to her bosses both prior to and following the meetings.
Peep was unable to make it back to Savannakhet to pack and then return to Bangkok in time for the flight, so I packed her clothes for her and flew to meet her in Bangkok on Thursday, ensuring I would be there in time for our flight on Friday. Paap was able to make it back to Vientiane to pack his things before returning to Bangkok on Friday, where he met up with us in the airport prior to the eleven and a half hour direct flight to London.
Arrival: We arrived in London without incident and, after going through immigration and collecting our checked luggage, we hopped in a typical London cab and rode to our hotel, the Berjaya Eden Park Hotel, located in the City of Westminster, a borough of London. The hotel, like many in the area, was constructed by combining and converting a number of traditional, white Victorian row houses into a single place of business. Upon arriving, we immediately checked in and called it a night. I had slept around forty-five minutes on the plane, while Peep got about two hours, and the six hour time gain ended up not affecting us too much.