Saturday, February 22, 2014

Our Group's Travel Rules 101-3. The Tour Schedule Is Not Cast In Stone!

Or, How To Make Sure We're Still Talking To Each Other At the End of the Trip - 3

Before travelling to a certain place, we usually have a list of places we have heard, read or been told about, that are "absolute must-see's" or "must-try's", food that we "must try" and things we "must buy".  Well and good, except that after two days of looking at old churches, and in sweltering heat at that, one's head and feet seem reluctant to leave the airconditioned comforts of the van, even if the driver says the church in front of you was built five centuries ago using 20,000 eggwhites and as many rocks. 

So, guess what...being 50 and above allows you to break the rules. Honest. In our book, it is perfectly okay to say, "Pass", or "I've already seen that on Rated K/National Geographic/Kris TV anyway". There is no contest to see who went to the most tourist spots, quiz to check who memorized all the architectural details of all the stone houses in the country. Hello, you're on vacation..you SHOULD do as you please! 

So when your guide/guidebook/van driver says you absolutely have to visit this tenth church, just this last one, and all you want to do is lie back and read a magazine, go tell that to the rest of your group and watch everyone heave a sigh of relief and say, "Good! Me too!"  

Which is what happened one hot afternoon in Panglao, Bohol...

It was our third day. We were all churched-out...  





...done visiting the tarsiers..




Hot, hot day. Thirsty.  Waiting for sunset in Panglao Island. Waiting for happy hour. 





Too hot for a beach-side massage, even.




 What to do?



Uhmmm.....errr....








"Do not follow where the path may lead. Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail." - Ralph Waldo Emerson


No comments:

Post a Comment