I thought it was about time I wrote about The Group, such as
it is. I think I mentioned earlier that
we were supposed to have been 8 but that the other 4 appear to have booked a
private tour. We still don’t know
whether this is true or not, Asian Trails reps give us different stories in
each country. Nevertheless it is just us
and another pair and we are so lucky its Lydia and Malcolm as they are a lovely
couple. Both are ex school teachers; Lydia
taught PE and Geography (handy you’d think but having got herself and Malcolm
lost in Saigon early on, we continue to tease her about map reading skills) and
Malcolm taught Chemistry and Maths. They
have a similar sense of humour and our views on life in general seem pretty
well matched so we can chat away on a wide range of subjects (elderly mothers
being a favourite one!). Malcolm plays
golf and they both enjoy the odd glass of wine – perfect travelling companions.
Which is really good because the other 4 stick their noses
in the air whenever they see us (which is everywhere we go as their itinerary
is identical). We’ve all tried to engage
them in conversation with little success, if you ask a question you’ll get a
short answer but that’s it. One even
stood next to me at the toaster station in the last hotel but didn’t speak.
Now I don’t even bother to look their way although Ian takes
still pleasure in forcing a Good Morning
out of them most days.