I normally start in a conclusion to a tour by declaring hopefully that it went without incident. Unfortunately, I have to report this tour wasn't without issues; illness being the culprit on this occasion. The tour was effectively an eight-day tour as the first day was reserved for a family visit but my companion became ill on the following day and the tour was reduced to little more than seven days.
Just a few days later Katoon developed a persistent cough but to her great credit we managed to press on with a busy schedule trying to recover some lost time. She never complained but if I'd have known then that she had Covid, I would have ended to the tour there and then. For three or four days more we persevered then on the eve of the final day I was hit by a streaming cold. It’s a long way back to Bangkok from Thailand's northeast and during that journey I became feverish meaning we both returned nursing an illness. The remarkable thing is that at the time we both clearly had Covid and didn’t know it. So, what about the tour itself? How did it fare compared with what was expected of it?
Given my remarks about incidents how could this tour ever have lived up to expectations? Well, for reasons I can only put down to persistence against adversity, it did, and by a country mile including adding a province that was dropped out when I shorted the tour.
So, what was achieved? 1) a number of additional locations in Nakhon Ratchasima province, 2) a good haul of sites in and around Khon Kaen, 3) substantial coverage of the new province Sakon Nakhon, 4) substantial coverage of the new province Nakhon Phanom and 5) a couple of interesting additions in Buriram province. History will not record our unfortunate illness but it will record our visits.
The furthest point on the tour was 721 kilometres from our residence which meant a total distance of over 2,000 kilometres in just nine days. The tour brought to a close the first stay in the Far East since Covid was declared endemic.
First Page.
Just a few days later Katoon developed a persistent cough but to her great credit we managed to press on with a busy schedule trying to recover some lost time. She never complained but if I'd have known then that she had Covid, I would have ended to the tour there and then. For three or four days more we persevered then on the eve of the final day I was hit by a streaming cold. It’s a long way back to Bangkok from Thailand's northeast and during that journey I became feverish meaning we both returned nursing an illness. The remarkable thing is that at the time we both clearly had Covid and didn’t know it. So, what about the tour itself? How did it fare compared with what was expected of it?
Given my remarks about incidents how could this tour ever have lived up to expectations? Well, for reasons I can only put down to persistence against adversity, it did, and by a country mile including adding a province that was dropped out when I shorted the tour.
So, what was achieved? 1) a number of additional locations in Nakhon Ratchasima province, 2) a good haul of sites in and around Khon Kaen, 3) substantial coverage of the new province Sakon Nakhon, 4) substantial coverage of the new province Nakhon Phanom and 5) a couple of interesting additions in Buriram province. History will not record our unfortunate illness but it will record our visits.
The furthest point on the tour was 721 kilometres from our residence which meant a total distance of over 2,000 kilometres in just nine days. The tour brought to a close the first stay in the Far East since Covid was declared endemic.
First Page.
Wat Phra That Chaeng Chum Woriwihan,
Mueang Sakon Nakhon
Wat Phrathat Phanom, That Phanom