I think you might be spot on Mr. Bill, so I’ve decided I will do the trip. Rang him this morning to see whether the other call might have slipped his mind (he is getting older afterall) but alas, he’s still super-keen. I was thinking of a quick trip over to Bali in a nice resort somewhere that he can talk the ears off the other guests, but he kyboshed that idea. Bugger.
So at this point, we won’t be doing the trip to wherever until at least after March next year. He’s got medical stuff to deal with from now until Xmas, and I have a solo trip planned in Feb-March to Malaysia, maybe Cambodia, and North Vietnam. Depending on how much I like Malaysia, might take him there and maybe a week in Central Vietnam.
Whatever, I have plenty of time to sort it out, and as money is no object I can be a little bit creative and splurgy.
So far we have NOT Bali But seems to be keen on Vietnam.
Now I’ve been to VN twice in the last 10 months, and going again early next year doing North to South in Feb/March. If he wants to go say, mid year, the weather is going to be bloody hot pretty much everywhere, with the south in the middle of the wet season as well. And I’m not sure just how well he will handle it…
Mind you, we’re not going to be slumming it (as per my usual hols) so can probably attempt to minimize time doing street-stuff during the worst heat of the day and use the early mornings and evenings for most walking activities. A long leisurely lunch in air-conned comfort, a couple of beers and then a Nanna Nap for me and a Grandpa Nap for him should see us refreshed…maybe, gawd, I dunno.
If you think he’s asking for trouble going at the wrong time, perhaps you can steer him towards a better time. Sounds like you are pretty familiar with that area of the world.
It’s pretty much always hot in most of SE Asia, although the humidity might knock the stuffing out of him a bit.
I’ve ‘tentatively’ sketched Ho Chi Minh City as the base for the itinerary. Whilst May is technically wet season, I was there in May of this year, and most of the wet-stuff was during the late afternoon or overnight. And funnily, the rain was welcomed: nothing more spectacular than a tropical thunderstorm. Only once did we get caught out…and had to wade through knee deep water back to the hotel. FUN TIMES
But even if he hates HCMC (I LOVE that crazy city), there is so much to do and see within the city itself with landmarks, museums, parks and FOOD. And it’s a great stepping-stone to the rest of south VN, perhaps a tour to the Mekong Delta, some of the historical war sights, and plenty to keep an old fella entertained without too much exertion.
I think this might be a very interesting trip. I’ve always ‘slummed’ on my holidays, cheap flights, cheap but decent accommodation, street food etc etc. This different sort of experience is going to be a real eye-opener for me I reckon.
Either that, or there’ll be news reports of a middle-aged Australian woman having murdered a Senior Citizen and dumping his body in the Mekong River.
A friend of mine who enjoys traveling likes to say that “Every trip is an adventure”. I guess that’s
true even if the journey turns out to be a bit unpleasant. Hope you have a good trip, Kambuckta.
As my daughter has taken on a new job, it was either going to be me cancelling any trip to care for the grandsons, or, upon her suggestion, take the kidlets too. :eek:
So the trip is booked for August. Me, great Grandpa and two grandsons. Two weeks in Vietnam, landing in HCMC and trying to survive the traffic for 6 nights…then off to Da Nang and An Bang Beach for 7 nights for a bit of relative peace by the beach.
I have his cc details. It’s all booked. Too late now to back out.
Pray for me folks, I might well need it.
Oh, and he is STILL really excited about the prospect of having a holiday with us. Poor bloke is obviously in the early stages of dementia if he thinks a holiday with a late middle-aged woman and two pre-teen lads is gonna be fun, but meh, his choice, his money.
And I booked the old fella Business Class both ways (HCMC to Melb return) and his fare was nearly $2k AUD compared to us plebs in Economy totalling $1300AUD with extras. That’s for the three of us.
Yup, they really sting you for business class, mainly because they think you’re not paying for it. But when you’re my height with clown-size feet, business class is the only way to survive long-haul flights.
