A trip to Asia is one way to avoid depressing politics

SINCE my last column, the political news has been rather depressing.

- Angus Long

So I've decided to avoid politics for today’s column and discuss something as tad more pleasant.

Earlier this year, to celebrate turning 60, my wife and I decided to have a special holiday. We chose to visit Asia. Asia is very big with many countries and places to visit. We chose Vietnam and Cambodia. We went to Trailfinders travel in Newcastle to help plan the holiday. Trailfinders are very good at helping people to travel and visit exotic and faraway places with ease and peace of mind.

We landed at Ho-Chi-Min, the Capital of Vietnam, also known as Saigon. It was amazing, absolutely manic and very lively with loads of hotels, swanky bars, restaurants and shops. We found Asian food lovely, indeed in a typical family run restaurant a three course meal with a couple of drinks is only about £7.

We had a very packed schedule of visits and trips. I can’t detail them all, so here are details of a few of the most memorable:

We didn’t realise that this year was the 50th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War.

Like many, we were aware of the war, but didn’t really know much about it. So we visited the Vietnam War Museum. It was most informative and very graphic, leaving nothing to the imagination. It was clear all sides suffered badly.

We were also amazed to learn that there were more bombs dropped during the Vietnam War than in both the 1st and 2nd World Wars combined. Thankfully Vietnam had prospered well since the war ended. Surprisingly, Americans, along with Brits, are among the biggest tourists.