Run For Home: When COVID Began
Many travellers faced a panic run for home as the world shut down as the seriousness of the pandemic began to sink in. This is our own story of March 2020, when COVID began….
We walked hand in hand back from the deserted seafront and past the desolate locked hotels, trying to eke some romance out of the ghost town which surrounded us. Murky grey mists hung over the flat calm sea dotted with idle tour boats anchored out of harm’s way. As we turned the last corner towards the hotel, a figure in the street ahead was gesticulating wildly, arms waving in the air, his movements frantic. It took us a moment or two before we realised it was us he was trying to reach.
After a month in Thailand and a couple of weeks in Laos where the influence of the growing stories of the deadly virus had been limited to an absence of Chinese tourists, things had taken a significant downward turn when we arrived in Hanoi.
Suddenly, places of interest were closed, mask wearing was obligatory and we began to be met with hostility. Michaela was ejected from, and denied access to, shops; a bus driver refused to allow us on board, all because we were British and news of the spreading virus back home in the UK was gathering pace. Our next intended call after Hanoi was Halong Bay and its fabulous boat trips, but as we made our way to Tuan Chau on the edge of the bay, most of the talk was centred on shutdown.
And so we came to be in this deserted town with its locked hotels and empty beaches, those unique looking tour boats forlornly at anchor out in the grey mists, the young hotelier now in a state of panic. He held up a Google translate page on his phone: “MY HOTEL HAS BEEN QUARANTINED” followed by a single word: “POLICE”.
There had only been a handful of other guests in the hotel and it now quickly became clear that the young Italian couple sitting on their luggage on the pavement were, along with ourselves, the last to be evicted. In essence we had ten minutes to load up and clear out before the police came, and as we threw our stuff into our backpacks the hotel guy was calling us on the room phone.
“Please hurry. Hurry. Police come soon”.
As we piled out on to the pavement a few minutes later, his relief was palpable as he bolted the main door behind us and sighed heavily. He had avoided arrest by the skin of his teeth. So, it seemed, had we.
By this Saturday afternoon, we had already decided that an empty Halong Bay had nothing to offer and we had brought forward our next destination Tam Coc to Sunday, but now, with a sudden need to be out of town in a hurry, another change was needed.
On the other side of the silent harbour sat a girl calling herself Julian whose normally busy life as a local tour agent had been transformed into sitting alone in an empty office with no clients and no work. She was, thankfully, incredibly helpful, not only finding us a car and driver for the journey to Tam Coc, but allowing us to “hide” in her office as police checked that the town was clear, and keeping us supplied with water and electricity for phone charging.
We were with Julian for four hours as we awaited our lift, and in those four hours the world changed and our trip of a lifetime collapsed around our ears. Messages from family and friends imploring us to get home became more and more impassioned and dramatic as country after country closed its borders and shut down air routes. Julian, in those same four hours, moved from saying that things would be ok when we got to the mountains, to “I think perhaps you need to get home”.
Sitting in the back of the car for the long, dark drive to Tam Coc, we spoke little, our sadness at the loss of our dream mixing with the very real fear of becoming trapped, maybe in a Vietnamese quarantine hospital. It was after midnight when we arrived with our next host in Tam Coc but instead of sleep, out came the ipads as we set about finding our way home. Thai Airlines had a few remaining seats on a route of Hanoi-Bangkok-Heathrow leaving later that same day, and we were on.
At breakfast we broke the news to our new host that our planned 7-night stay was over after one night. With improbable kindness and understanding, she only asked for one night’s money, and then set about arranging for her uncle to drive us the three hours or so to Hanoi Airport. Wonderfully her only instinct was to help.
Still a little nervous that the journey home could go wrong, we wandered around the rain drenched village that morning in a state of disbelief. The world was shutting down in a way none of us had ever known, borders were closing, the world was changing….and our adventure of a lifetime was over after just 49 days. We felt stunned. But, thanks to some displays of genuine kindness, we made the sanctuary of home.
Three days later, the UK entered its first lockdown. The COVID era had begun.
28 Comments
Forestwood
As this is my first post of yours that that I have come across so I don’t know how long you intended to be away for. 49 days wasn’t long enough, but I can see that there was little point staying and a bit dangerous too. The world has changed for us hasn’t it. Hope you manage to get away again albeit a little closer to home.
Phil & Michaela
Hi Amanda thank you for taking the time to read our post and comment. We had originally planned 4 months in South East Asia as the first leg of our retirement travel so it was really disappointing. But now we have flights booked for Greece in 8 days time where we hope to spend 3 months in the sunshine exploring the mainland and the Islands. We will be blogging all the way so hope you drop by and enjoy the journey with us 😊
Forestwood
I would love to follow along with you, as I have aspirations of visiting that part of the world one day! Thanks!
wetanddustyroads
Even your photo’s are reflecting the sadness that went with that time … don’t get me wrong, it’s beautiful pictures, but it’s almost as if the misty atmosphere just contributed to the feeling of dismay that your long awaited journey had to end so soon 😔.
But heads up and storm on (like my grandmother used to say) … exciting days (fingers crossed) in Greece are almost here 😉.
Phil & Michaela
Yes that’s exactly how it felt! We did of course manage sone other decent trips last year but we long to resume our main adventure, starting where we left off.
Annie Berger
What a harrowing take of your last few days traveling as the pandemic marched on, relieved though by the kindness from Julian and your hotel host.
Steven and I left in March 1st last year for what was to be a 4.5 month trip. We only got as far as Kerala in southern India before being forced to head home just 15 days into our adventure. We could hardly believe the US authorities, on our arrival back in the States via Singapore, never once questioned us as to where we’d been, what precaution to take, etc. It seemed to be just the beginning of the folly of how the US government dealt with COVID-19.
Happy trails ahead as you continue your delayed adventures in Greece!
Annie
Phil & Michaela
Yes, our return to the UK was exactly the same. We walked through Heathrow unchallenged and unquestioned and travelled home on public transport as if nothing changed. Just days later, everything had changed!
Born To Travel
Intriguing post. We can identify strongly with your feelings at having to give up a trip and make a dash for home at the start of the COVID era. We had been travelling in Taiwan in March last year and flew to Fukuoka in Japan only to have our travel agent inform us QANTAS would cease flights within 3 days. So we took a bullet train up to Tokyo, saw our son for four hours and jumped on the third last flight back to Australia. Fortunately we didn’t have to escape from police ! Good luck with your upcoming trip. Cheers, Mark
Phil & Michaela
Thank you Mark – sounds like you had a touch of drama too!
Toonsarah
Reading this I have a sense of ‘there but for the grace of God’! I think we must have been about two weeks ahead of you on what was only a three week trip for us. Apart from a chat to our tour operator before leaving home, to get reassurance that everything was fine for us to travel and really only China was affected (hard to believe now!), the pandemic hadn’t really touched us until we too arrived in Vietnam in mid February. In Hanoi, our first stop, we started to feel the first hints. One temple was closed to us and schools and universities had closed across the country. But the outbreak there was contained in a small cluster of villages. We got our cruise on Halong Bay, although we had to complete detailed medical questionnaires before boarding. In Hoi An we were interviewed by a local TV crew, desperate to speak to tourists who weren’t afraid to be there in the hopes of reassuring other potential visitors, as they saw the impact the drop in numbers was already having on their economy (I dread to think what it’s like now!) There was hand sanitiser on the lobby desk of our hotel and in Saigon, our last stop, we were requested to wear a mask in one temple.
But it was only on our way home, transiting through Bangkok, that we realised the effect of the virus more globally, with testing stations all over the airport (albeit still just targeting travellers from China) and masks everywhere. We got home two weeks before lockdown without any issues and were very grateful to have done so – even more so after reading your account. How wonderful though that Julian and your host in Tam Coc were so helpful and didn’t leave you stranded without any assistance as that frightened hotel keeper had (perhaps understandably) done.
Phil & Michaela
Yep, we travellers definitely have some strange memories. We would have made Hoi An and were really looking forward to that section of our trip. We live in hope of picking up where we left off one day.
Toonsarah
You’ll get there one day I’m sure!
grandmisadventures
What a story, though I am glad you were able to make it home and so glad that it seems were at the tail end of this awful time
Phil & Michaela
Let’s hope so!
Andrew Petcher
Three months in Greece sounds just about perfect. I am going to a caravan in Yorkshire with my 4 grandchildren.
Phil & Michaela
I don’t think we will quite believe until we step off the plane
Lookoom
The way you tell the story of March makes it an adventure. One more to add to all that you have experienced. I was travelling in South America in February, masks were starting to appear on passport officers, signs were asking travellers from China to identify themselves, everything was there, but no one could see what was next. At the first border closures, I read that some people were looking for a quiet place to wait … a few weeks. We knew so little about what was to come. Luckily I got home in time but in retrospect I would not have left.
Phil & Michaela
We wondered the same at times, but I think in the end it was better to be home. We are sure as hell ready to travel again now, though!
rkrontheroad
They say timing is everything, and it certainly didn’t work in your favor on this trip. Sorry you didn’t get out on Halong Bay and down that wonderful Vietnamese coast. Hope you get back there. How wonderful to meet people who were willing to help you. I’m sure it was a great disappointment, but a relief in a way to make it home. Enjoy the Greece trip, I will follow along!
Phil & Michaela
Thank you – yes it took us a while to come to terms with losing a dream which had been several years in the planning but we’ve got over it now! (Kind of). Let’s hope we’re all travelling again soon.
leightontravels
Really interesting to hear what happened to you guys when COVID broke. Some striking images and I really felt the flatness of the situation. It only reinforces how lucky Sladja and I were to have been in Cambodia when the brown stuff hit the fan.
Phil & Michaela
You know, there’s still part of us that wonders what if. What if we’d just stayed travelling. But I suppose we made the right decision.
carolinehelbig
I think many of us have vivid memories of where we were/what we were doing in March 2020. I can feel the emotion in your words about your last few days in Vietnam…what a story! At least you got to see Thailand and Laos before the sh%t hit the fan. Hopefully you’ll get back to Vietnam.
saraelena
This was a beautiful and heartbreaking account of the beginnings of this horrible part of our history. I was in NYC and not in the midst of a travel dream, but the confusion and sadness and fear was there all the same. I remember a lot of little things that happened before that abrupt loss of the world we knew. I guess that’s something that the world experienced together. I hope you’ve been able to return to your wandering <3
Phil & Michaela
Thank you for commenting. Lets hope travel gets back to normal for us all soon. We have flights booked for Greece on Monday but won’t believe until we step out of the plane into the sunshine. We plan on being there until October to escape the awful British weather and begin our travels again.😊
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Miriam
What a crazy insane time that was. Hard to believe it was four years ago. Hard to imagine Vietnam deserted but I guess it happened everywhere. You were fortunate to get out, at a time when there was so much fear, uncertainty. And propaganda.
Phil & Michaela
We were….and we got the last two seats on the Bangkok-Heathrow flight. Not sitting together but at least we got home!