I’m sure many of you are wondering what it’s like to travel during the global pandemic that is Covid-19 otherwise known as the Coronavirus. Well as I am writing this we are very much stuck in Thailand, in fact stuck in Phuket itself, as of last night (30/03) the whole island was locked down no entry in or out.
The coronavirus hit China in full force as we were in Cambodia in late January. The Cambodian & Vietnamese government dealt with this extremely well closing all borders to China and also closing schools and businesses in the north which are close to the border. The virus didn’t effect our travels through Cambodia and Vietnam in anyway, we managed to work our way through both countries with no issue, seeing all the sights we wanted to. In fact it was actually great, we discovered that a vast amount of the tourism came from China. Tourist hotspots were quieter than usual, you could get that perfect photograph without a swarm of tourists trying to do the same, it was almost peaceful and you could take in the world around you without a thousand flashes of cameras in your way.
There are Vinpearl Land’s throughout Vietnam, it’s almost like the Vietnamese Disneyland. This was one place that really stuck out to us during the world crisis, it was empty! We arrived around 11am to utter silence, the rides were in complete stillness. We wandered around the theme park alone, we were the only people there! Having visited Disneyland, Alton towers and numerous other theme parks it was the strangest feeling, the exciting atmosphere you imagine walking into was in fact a ghost town. Partially it was great as we skipped all the queues but on the other hand we struggled in the water park. Many of the rides were turned off completely or only open for a certain period of time, 3-4 of the rides were 4 people only which when your 2 of the only people there you feel as though your money is wasted. We did however managed to find a lovely couple from Israel who joined us for one of the rides so that wasn’t all that bad. It was after our day here when we became more aware of how tourist attractions & restaurants that are usually beaming with people, were taking a huge hit and loss because of the virus.
The coronavirus hit China in full force as we were in Cambodia in late January. The Cambodian & Vietnamese government dealt with this extremely well closing all borders to China and also closing schools and businesses in the north which are close to the border. The virus didn’t effect our travels through Cambodia and Vietnam in anyway, we managed to work our way through both countries with no issue, seeing all the sights we wanted to. In fact it was actually great, we discovered that a vast amount of the tourism came from China. Tourist hotspots were quieter than usual, you could get that perfect photograph without a swarm of tourists trying to do the same, it was almost peaceful and you could take in the world around you without a thousand flashes of cameras in your way.
There are Vinpearl Land’s throughout Vietnam, it’s almost like the Vietnamese Disneyland. This was one place that really stuck out to us during the world crisis, it was empty! We arrived around 11am to utter silence, the rides were in complete stillness. We wandered around the theme park alone, we were the only people there! Having visited Disneyland, Alton towers and numerous other theme parks it was the strangest feeling, the exciting atmosphere you imagine walking into was in fact a ghost town. Partially it was great as we skipped all the queues but on the other hand we struggled in the water park. Many of the rides were turned off completely or only open for a certain period of time, 3-4 of the rides were 4 people only which when your 2 of the only people there you feel as though your money is wasted. We did however managed to find a lovely couple from Israel who joined us for one of the rides so that wasn’t all that bad. It was after our day here when we became more aware of how tourist attractions & restaurants that are usually beaming with people, were taking a huge hit and loss because of the virus.
From Hoi An we continued our journey through Vietnam still visiting the wonderful sights the country had to offer but as we were travelling the situation started to worsen globally, particularly in Europe and our home (The UK). We had been using hand sanitiser and washing our hands none stop since our arrival (mainly because we didn’t want the dreaded travel diarrhoea) but we started to use masks as an extra precaution particularly on public buses, crowded places and on our flight to Chiang Mai.
We managed to make our way through Thailand for 4 weeks without any restrictions. We went to the beach as normal, attended the full moon party and continued our travel life as normal until our last night in Koh Samui. We met our friends from back home all ready to do the local pub quiz, when we arrived we were greeted by the owner of the bar explaining there was no quiz tonight as the Thai authorities had ordered the closure of all bars & entertainment venues. After this the situation started to worsen, all the countries we were planning to visit had closed there borders to UK citizens, airlines had started to cancel there flights or close completely and it became more apparent to us that we either stay and be stuck in Thailand for a while or go home.
The UK went into lockdown so after much deliberation we decided to stay, we had until the end of April on our visa with the British embassy helping travellers stuck with visa extensions. If we went home we would only be in lockdown and quarantine there so why not stay in the sunshine for a bit longer eh? About 4 months before we set off travelling we had already booked an Air Bnb for a month so we could have some much needed chill time in Phuket, we made our way here however due to the bars being shut in the famous Patong area, tourists decided to make there way to beach with their 7/11 carrier bags full of beer and have a huge gathering. A bunch of utter idiots if you ask me! In light of this situation the governor of Phuket ordered the closure of all shopping malls, tourist attractions, beaches and anywhere else that can cause a mass gathering. This included the pool in our building which caused my 7th meltdown of the week (travelling during a pandemic is hard).
So as of now the 30th of March 2020, we are in lockdown with only the local Big C and Tesco’s to go to for the slightest bit of change of Scenery. I hope that you are all keeping safe and I hope for everyone’s sake that this is over soon. Please listen to any form of authority giving out instructions, stay at home and enjoy the company of your loved ones so this crisis can end and we can all go back to normality.
P.s huge thanks to our best friends for giving us your Netflix account… we love you for it!
We managed to make our way through Thailand for 4 weeks without any restrictions. We went to the beach as normal, attended the full moon party and continued our travel life as normal until our last night in Koh Samui. We met our friends from back home all ready to do the local pub quiz, when we arrived we were greeted by the owner of the bar explaining there was no quiz tonight as the Thai authorities had ordered the closure of all bars & entertainment venues. After this the situation started to worsen, all the countries we were planning to visit had closed there borders to UK citizens, airlines had started to cancel there flights or close completely and it became more apparent to us that we either stay and be stuck in Thailand for a while or go home.
The UK went into lockdown so after much deliberation we decided to stay, we had until the end of April on our visa with the British embassy helping travellers stuck with visa extensions. If we went home we would only be in lockdown and quarantine there so why not stay in the sunshine for a bit longer eh? About 4 months before we set off travelling we had already booked an Air Bnb for a month so we could have some much needed chill time in Phuket, we made our way here however due to the bars being shut in the famous Patong area, tourists decided to make there way to beach with their 7/11 carrier bags full of beer and have a huge gathering. A bunch of utter idiots if you ask me! In light of this situation the governor of Phuket ordered the closure of all shopping malls, tourist attractions, beaches and anywhere else that can cause a mass gathering. This included the pool in our building which caused my 7th meltdown of the week (travelling during a pandemic is hard).
So as of now the 30th of March 2020, we are in lockdown with only the local Big C and Tesco’s to go to for the slightest bit of change of Scenery. I hope that you are all keeping safe and I hope for everyone’s sake that this is over soon. Please listen to any form of authority giving out instructions, stay at home and enjoy the company of your loved ones so this crisis can end and we can all go back to normality.
P.s huge thanks to our best friends for giving us your Netflix account… we love you for it!
