Unforgettable guides – The Hindu

Engaging and enthusiastic guides leave touristss with lasting impressions and great memories.
| Photo Credit: Getty Images/iStockphoto

The travel bug bit us late in life. We were not tech savvy backpackers ready to do walking tours or bike tours and discover new places on our own. Guides played a major role in our travel. They became as unforgettable as the places we visited.

The most unforgettable was our driver-guide in Portugal. We had not done our homework. Our original dream destination that year, Austria, was still freezing at the end of February. But very soon, unlike Vasco da Gama, we had confirmed air tickets, accommodation and googled information. Outside the airport, we found a nine-seater minivan which could take our eight-member group to the hotel. Greeting us with a smile, the driver quickly hoisted our luggage onto the van’s boot. During the 15-minute ride, he offered to take us sightseeing in Lisbon. He spoke English and we began with the sights of Lisbon that evening, stopping at a 150-year-old coffee shop for custard tarts and amazing coffee.

It was cold and windy. His warmth and geniality were endearing. We asked him about travel to Porto where we had booked a service apartment for two days. “Well, you have the train, the bus and then you also have me,” he grinned. His reasonable charges would be split among the eight of us.

Sometimes he drove with a furrowed forehead, deep in thought. He said, “I am thinking what you should see the most.” Six days later, he bid us adieu, with gifts for each of us. The next year when relatives visited Portugal, we recommended him and they were not disappointed.

Cruises provided us with trained guides to enjoy wonderful day trips at every port. Berlin, Athens, Venice, Rome, Barcelona, Copenhagen, Oslo, Paris, London, every place we visited came alive because of the guides. British tour guides get the top place in humour.

Anna, our guide at Corfu, explained local legends and family traditions including dowry. Spiro, our driver, negotiated sharp turns on narrow streets over steep cliffs. She said 65% of Corfu men were named Spiro after St. Spiridion, their patron saint.

During the Holy Land tour, we were told that every bus had a Jew and a Palestinian, one as the guide and the other as the driver. The 10-day tour included overnight stays in Amman, Jerusalem, Bethlehem, and Cairo. At Mount Sinai, the guide moved us to tears speaking about St. Catherine. He was puffing a hookah a little later. Some wanted to get baptised in the Jordan river but there were no priests. Our guide said he was licensed to conduct Christian baptism. Later, we learnt that he was a Jew and had fibbed to save time.

The guide in Singapore warned us at Sentosa, “If you loss your ticket, don’t worry. You can buy another one. But I no buy for you. You buy yourself.” Zam, the driver-guide at Kuala Lumpur, demonstrated the difference between “photostops” and “drive passes”.

Our guide at Fatehpur Sikri deserted us to guide a group of foreigners, the only one who tarnished our experience of tour guides.

Back home in Thanjavur, a qualified guide explained the building process of the Big Temple. Our U.S.-born grandchildren were impressed. They had seen Ponniyin Selvan with English subtitles.

These tourist guides were engaging and enthusiastic and left us with lasting impressions and great memories.

devinaalbert@gmail.com