Leisure travel may be on hold for now as the world fights the Covid-19 pandemic, but for Pascual Dino Herrera a golfing excursion to Da Nang, Vietnam in early February will remain etched in his mind for eternity.
Herrera (centre) with Nguyen (left) and Ngo
Apart from the superb courses he and the rest of a 21-strong entourage played on a package put together by golf travel specialists Golfasian, it was actually a bit of misfortune that made the trip really memorable for Herrera – losing his waist pouch and passport.
After playing Ba Na Hills Golf Club on the first day, the group took a cable ride up to Sunworld Ba Na Hills for dinner. Following the meal, while walking back to the cable car station, Herrera realised to his horror that the pouch was missing. Along with his passport, the pouch contained other documents, cash in various currencies and a few sets of keys.
The group immediately took up a collection for Herrera and contacted their designated tour guide, Ngo Cong Thanh, who passed the word around to other tour operators in Da Nang.
The next morning, Herrera phoned the Malaysian consulate in Ho Chi Minh and was told that he would have to go there personally to process his temporary travel document. It was an eight-hour bus journey and, to make things worse, the approval process would take three days.
Just as Herrera was making plans to leave, Ngo contacted him with good news … the pouch has been found in the restroom of the restaurant by another tour guide, Nguyen Hoang Giang. Everything in the pouch was intact.
The Highlanders
“I am so amazed by their honesty and the lengths to which they went to locate my pouch. We arranged to meet and I offered Nguyen a reward, which he refused … but our tour guide insisted that he accept US$100 before we left,” said Herrera, a real estate agent and auctioneer by trade.
With his trusty pouch back, Herrera and the rest were able to enjoy their second game at BRG Golf Resort before heading home the following day.
“We are a golfing group from Kelab Rekreasi Angkatan Tentera dubbed the Highlanders and we travel frequently to play golf, although this was our first trip to Da Nang,” noted Herrera, who still golfs regularly at age 73. “We’ve been to many overseas destinations but I must say Da Nang is one of the best and we’ll definitely return once it’s safe to travel again. The golf courses as well as the arrangements by Golfasian were excellent.”
