Vacation memories

Often you have forgotten many things from many beautiful trips, but certain small nice details will live on in the memory for a long time.

With great pleasure I think back to countless beautiful countries that I have visited over the years. Would like to return immediately. One fantastically beautiful island that I think back to a lot is Koh Lanta, located in southern Thailand, where my dear wife died 28 years ago of acute cardiac arrest. Think back to that often and I will never forget the sweet comforting words of many islanders. Nor the fantastic cooperation of a lady from the Dutch Embassy in Bangkok who arranged a lot for me at the time.

Fortunately, some time later I met a charming lady who had also lost her partner. We have already celebrated our 25-year LAT relationship exuberantly and have made quite a few trips around the globe together. Of course many times also to Thailand, but the beautiful island of Koh Lanta, to which my most unpleasant and also grateful memories go back, has so far been banned territory.

On one of my first trips to Thailand, after losing my wife, music from a 'Full Gospel Church' rang in my ears and I slowly walked up the stairs to take a closer look. My interest did not go unnoticed and one of the Servants of the Lord invited this unbeliever to come in. A nice place between two Thai ladies fell to me and there I got some explanations from them in English about the hymns and the sermon every now and then. Enjoyed the loving expressions and singing. During a short interval I decided to turn my back on the Celestial World, stood up and thanked everyone in a short speech for the beautiful hour I had been able to experience. The lady sitting next to me translated my words after each sentence and at the end Joseph received a thunderous applause. Even as a non-religious person, I still remember it with a warm feeling.

One of the first trips with my 'Young Girlfriend' as I teasingly call her - she is no less than two years younger than me - goes to Borneo. It is early March when we arrive together in Bangkok, my permanent springboard for Asia, from the Netherlands. After eleven hours of flying, always a welcome break to stay there for three days before continuing your journey. From Bangkok we fly to Kuala Lumpur and after a short break at the beautiful airport there, we fly from there according to plan to Kota Kinabalu, or KK as the inhabitants call their city on Borneo.

My "Young Friend"'s hair has turned snow white over the years. While waiting for our departure for the two-hour flight, a young Chinese lady approaches us. She is a little fluent in the English language and on behalf of her mother she comes to tell me that my friend with her lively beautiful blue eyes, beautiful white hair and mouth is very beautiful. Unfortunately not a word is said about me.

My girlfriend's holiday couldn't go wrong, of course.

It is a story that happened many years ago, but is still vivid in our memory and is regularly discussed.

At the beginning of this year, so very recently, we travel from Bangkok to Ho Chi Minh to follow the beautiful coastline in stages with Hanoi as destination. We enjoy the sea and sun and of course the food in many nice and excellent restaurants. One evening when we are enjoying a nice dinner in Da Nang in a nice restaurant, a young man and young lady from the service come to us to tell us: “You are a beautiful couple.” Whether we are really that beautiful is doubtful. The young couple probably wants to show respect for the age of these two still vital, very spacious eighties, who are still traveling alone.

We don't want to deny that we were both very flattered and suddenly felt many years younger after this comment.

After a month in Vietnam, we fly from Hanoi back to Bangkok to celebrate in Pattaya before returning to De Lage Landen.

We stay another week in the Amber Hotel located in Moo 9 adjacent to the well-known Soi Buakhao.

In the evenings we regularly drink a nightcap at the Beer Hubb where it is cozy and quiet upstairs. Our friendly waitress speaks a few words of Dutch. She had a boyfriend who came from Groningen, but that is a thing of the past, we hear.

Every evening when we walk there for a last drink of the day, she is kindly waiting for us to guide us to a nice seat and to practice the few words of Dutch she still knows. It's the last night of our vacation and my girlfriend wants to wash and dry her white hair, which takes quite some time, as I know from experience. I suggest I go to Beer Hubb and wait for her there. When I arrive, 'our waitress' comes to me in desperation and asks in neat Dutch: “Where is Oma?”

It will be clear that I sometimes use the word 'Grandma' from the closet.