So last October I went to Vietnam with my 80 year old Grandmother. I've been to Vietnam once before with friends and absolutely loved it so when my Grandma offered me an all expenses paid, 2 week trip I jumped at the chance! What could go wrong, right?
Now please don't misunderstand this post, I love my Grandma, but never in a million years would I travel with her again. Ever. I first felt the panic when I arrived at the airport to meet her. As soon as we sat down after getting through customs she started telling me that I shouldn't be wearing what I was wearing (pretty much just gym clothes because they are comfortable to travel in). Apparently the all black attire 'washes me out'. Ok, fair enough Grandma, probably an opinion you should keep to yourself seeing as I'm 30 now. I like black, it's not a phase, etc etc. And from then on the next 2 weeks proceeded to resemble something of a nightmare.
This wasn't your 'backpack around Asia' type trip. It was a fully booked tour with about 20 other people over the age of 60. Most of whom were totally lovely and were a lot of fun to hang out with. I deliberately booked in some day tours that I knew my Grandma couldn't go on (she has bad knees. Hell, she's 80, she has bad everything these days). Not because I'm a terrible Granddaughter but because I knew I'd need some time away from her. I thought I had it all sorted. WRONG! Staying in the same room as your Grandmother whose snoring sound like 20 braying donkeys nearly killed me. By the end of the trip I was popping sleep meds like they were candy, just so I could get a few hours sleep.
We arrived in Saigon and spent a few days there. Not a lot memorable happened there except for the amazing street Banh Mi I found. I think we did a few tours but I can't quite remember. We did a river dinner cruise which was pretty nice. We then headed to Hoi An which is definitely one of my favourite places in Vietnam! Easy to get around, another amazing banh mi place that I visited everyday and lots of shopping. I didn't actually buy much but it was great to just wonder around browsing. I spent most of my time in Hoi An next to the pool with a beer. By this stage I was pretty sleep deprived so I was struggling. I think I even spent 1 awful night crying in the shower. I was so tired I ceased being able to cope.
After Hoi An we travelled up to Halong Bay. Totally beautiful place. We were only there for 2 nights and I actually managed to sleep ok on 1 night so I felt a bit more normal again.
After Halong Bay we travelled to Hanoi where we spent the remainder of our trip. I love Hanoi as well. Another easy to get around place and I remembered places from my last trip so I managed to adventure off on my own a bit.
The Gang does lunch
There was 1 lady on the trip who drove me insane! The tour guide. Ugh. She treated everyone like they were children and I had trouble being polite to her. She brought out my inner rebellious, sulky inner teenager.
Grandma and I somewhere on the Mekong Delta
Anyway, I survived 2 weeks with Grandma and by the end of the trip I was convinced that I was the worst Granddaughter in the world. It was apparent by the end of the trip that we don't have much in common anymore which I found sad. Her outdated, homophobic, racist opinions made me really angry and I struggled to explain calmly why I disagreed.
And that, my lovely Steemit friends, is a very brief overview of a traumatic 2 weeks travelling Asia with my grandmother. I survived but not without scars.