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The forgetfulness and unmindful ways of people who go on trips can
sometimes be quite unbelievable. Some years ago I went on a trip to
Melaka. There was a busload of about 40 people among them many of
my friends. In the group was a couple whom I shall refer to as Mr. and
Mrs. Bong who were in their late fifties. Both of them were a little
absent-minded and had to be reminded about important matters by the
organizers whenever they went on tours.
We started our trip to Melaka early in the morning. There were the
usual briefing, reminders and allocation of seats through drawing lots.
Married couples understandably on seats adjacent to each other.
About half way in the journey, the bus stopped at a rest area for us to
go to toilets. After the break of about 15 to 20 minutes, we all boarded
the bus to resume our journey. The organizer asked all of us to check
that our seating partners were up on the bus already. Nobody reported
any missing passenger and so the bus started to move again. It was
about 10 minutes later when the bus was already a distance away on
the highway when Mrs. Bong shouted from the back of the bus, “Stop!
Stop! My husband is not on the bus!” Just fancy that! The bus had to
turn back to the rest area to fetch Mr. Bong. He was standing near the
parking area looking very worried indeed. In the bus later we were
‘entertained’ by the loud arguments and quarrel between Mr. and Mrs.
Bong each blaming the other for what happened.
One of the most important things I do whenever I go on tours overseas
is to look after my passport very carefully. I know the terrible trouble
and hassle one has to go through if the passport is lost. I usually would
put my passport in a passport sling bag and wear it over my neck like a
dog tag.
At the hotel I would place it under the pillow before sleeping. I would
not leave the passport anywhere around in the room visible to
anybody.

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A traveling monk whom I had known for many years told me about a
terrible experience he had when his passport was stolen right from his
hotel room. He was traveling in India and on one occasion he
befriended a fellow traveler and they decided to share room in a low
budget hotel in one of the cities they were visiting in India. After
checking into they hotel, they of course took turns to shower at the
attached bathroom. My friend, the monk left his passport on the
dressing table in the room while he took his bath. When he came out
of the bathroom he got the shock of his life to find both his roommate
and his passport missing. His traveling companion had stolen his
passport and absconded. Imagine the trouble and hassle he had to go
through to sort matters out at the embassy which was located in
another city.
It is common knowledge among tourists going on planes that it is
important to have a hand carry bag other than the main luggage to be
checked in. The hand carry bag should contain important items like
some spare clothing, toiletries, personal medication, house keys and
any other essential things. I remember something amusing that
happened in our Europe tour in the 1990s. There were these two ladies
in their mid thirties in our group. Susie and Jenny (not their real
names) were traveling partners and also good friends. Like the rest of
us they checked in their main luggage at the Kuala Lumpur airport and
before long we were on our way. The plane made a transit at the
Bangkok International Airport to pick up some passengers. It was
already quite dark in the evening when we reached our first destination
of the Europe tour. At the Rome airport we went through the usual
immigration, baggage claim and customs procedures.
Our two lady friends got the shock of their lives when it was
discovered that their main luggage went missing.

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The tour manager filed a report. Apparently through a mistake the
luggage had been sent to another destination in another part of the
world and it might take some days before the two poor ladies could get
back their luggage. Imagine the disappointment of Susie and Jenny
and to their horror they realized that they did not have any spare
clothing in their hand carry bags. The tour manager with her great
sense of humor made the following announcements at the bus when
we were on our way to the hotel:
“Ladies and gentlemen, may I have your attention please. As you
know our friends Susie and Jenny have not been able to claim their
main luggage. The airline is trying to trace where the missing luggage
items are touring now. Susie and Jenny need urgently some clothing. If
any of you could spare some clothing especially bras and panties, it
would be much appreciated.” There was a roar of laughter. Some of
men were ‘giggling’. Even if they had some ladies’ undergarments,
would they be bold enough to loan to them?
The tour manager consoled Susie and Jenny and assured them that
they would be brought to do some shopping in Rome the following
day.
It was some days later that Susie and Jenny got back their luggage at
the Frankfurt airport. By then we had covered our short tours of Italy,
Vatican City, Liechtenstein and Austria. What an unforgettable
adventure!
To be lost in a foreign place can be a most frightening experience. We
had this experience in Venice, Italy during our Europe tour. Venice
was the last city for us to tour in Italy. Earlier the tour manager had
explained carefully to us what we should do in the event we got lost
and could not join the group on time to proceed on the tour through
central Europe.

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She gave clear instructions as to how we could go by train on our own
and intercept the rest of the group in another country. At that time
there was no mobile phone for communication and we would have to
rely on public phones and hotel contacts for any enquiry or messages
to the tour manager. To me the thought of losing our way and going
through all the hassle was a rather disturbing one. I have a terrible
sense of direction and would feel jittery whenever I find myself lost in
a place.
Venice is a most fascinating place to visit, so rich in history, culture
and beauty. At the famous St Mark’s Square, the tour manager told us
that we would be given 2 hours to explore the place and had to be back
at the meeting point by a certain time. The bus would move on to the
next country leaving behind people who were late to fend for
themselves.
My mother, youngest brother and a family friend were moving as a
group. I had to rely on my brother and family friend for our
‘exploration’. There were simply so many small buildings, shops,
architectural structures, and so on. It was at a maze of alleys that we
got lost. One way seemed to be the same as the other. Initially we
thought we could find our way out. We enjoyed the sights, the food
and the shopping. About half an hour before the scheduled time, we
started to try to make our way back to the meeting point at St Mark’s
Square.
We seemed to be going round and round in the maze. Of course we
asked around for directions. Language was a barrier and many a time
confusing directions seemed to be given. Panic set in us. After an
agonizing ‘game’, finally we managed to get out of the maze …just in
time to meet with the group. What a relief!

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What is it like to be caught in a curfew when you are on a tour in a
foreign country? In November 2004, a group of 26 of us were on a
pilgrimage to Nepal and India. All the tour members knew one another
and were good friends. There was a monk in our pilgrimage; the rest
were from Teluk Intan and Ipoh. We spent the first 2 days in
Kathmandu, Nepal. This was the period of some political trouble
between the Nepalese government and the Maoists many of whom
were in the countryside of Nepal. At Kathmandu itself we noticed
some demonstrations and protest groups. There was a heavy military
and police presence in various parts of Kathmandu. After breakfast on
the third day, we started our journey by bus to Pokhara, the magic city
of Nepal, some 130 miles away. As road conditions were not good and
traffic could be heavy, the journey was expected to take about 5 hours.
There were road blocks at many points and when we had hardly
traveled 2 hours along the Pokhara Valley, we were prevented from
proceeding further as the security forces informed us that a curfew had
been imposed. So our bus and a few other tourist vehicles were
trapped on the road. We learnt that there was fighting between the
government forces and the Maoist rebels just a few hundred meters
away from where we were stranded. At times we could hear gunshots.
The tour guide could not be sure for how long we would be stranded
on the road due to the curfew. The strange thing was that none of us in
the bus felt any fear of what might happen. We spent the time singing,
chanting, sharing stories and cracking jokes. All the snack food and
tidbits we had brought along were virtually finished off by 4 or 5 pm
local time in the evening. The guide brought us some drinking water
from the nearby villages. When sunset came, the guide led us to a
village nearby and we found accommodation for the night in a couple
of village lodging houses.

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As all of us were starving, we found the food served heavenly. Our
Nepalese hosts were most hospitable.
The next morning we went back to the bus and the Nepalese guide told
us that he had got word that the curfew had been lifted and we could
move on. However 2 vehicles ahead of us, a van and a 4-wheel drive
jeep with some Japanese refused to move and lead the way for fear of
possible land mines planted on the road ahead. Well, the monk in our
bus said that somebody got to take the lead and so our bus led the
convoy. When we passed the area where the fighting took place, we
saw a couple of burnt military vehicles and a few dead bodies floating
in the river below the high road of Pokhara Valley. We shuddered to
think what could have happened to us. Each of us said a silent prayer
of gratitude. It was a great relief when we reached Pokhara; we just
spent a short time and proceeded on to Lumbini, the border town
between Nepal and India. All of us felt so happy to be in India after
crossing the border after a one night stay at Lumbini. We then
continued on with the rest of the pilgrimage.
Reflection
* Uncertainties are a fact of life. Knowing this, one has to be
prepared to face and accept any unexpected happening.
* To be attentive, alert and mindful is a most important thing. We will
then make less mistakes and not act foolishly.
* When faced with any trying or troubled situations it helps to remain
steady and calm and to tell ourselves this:
“This too will pass. Worrying will not help the situation.”
* Oftentimes our mind is filled with negative thoughts like regret,
guilt, remorse, anger, ill-will, worry, anxiety, stress, fear and other
negative emotions or feelings because the mind goes dwelling in the
past or going to the future. Training the mind to be in the PRESENT
helps it to be more calm, steady, composed and peaceful.