Honeymoon hold-ups

Not many people get to book three honeymoons – but we did.
More than a year before our big day the church was booked, the reception was booked, the vicar was booked, and yes, the honeymoon was booked.
But that year the world was plagued with terrorism and civil disturbance – especially in the places we wanted to visit.

Picture this: Pharaohs and the sphinx, pyramids and camels. It all sounded like the perfect romantic dream.
A Nile cruise in mid-May, taking in the tombs of the ancients as well as a top-notch newlyweds suite and the best view that money could buy.
It was to be the holiday of a lifetime.
The nice people at Voyage Jules Verne were falling over themselves to make it special.
Then, in November, we heard about the tourists being massacred. Sixty people were killed by gunmen at a temple in an incident which halted the tourist trade for months.

It was time to visit the travel agent in search of another romantic break.
Picture this: Bali. The mystic east. Beaches, temples, wildlife and sunshine.
It all sounded like the perfect romantic dream.
It was the best time of the year for Indonesia and we managed to get the honeymoon suite at the very hotel we had our eye on in the brochure.
It was to be the holiday of a lifetime.
There was a little tension on the islands over the New Year period, but nothing to worry about.

We were married on May 9 on the sunniest day of the year. Our first dance was Have I Told You Lately That I Love You, followed by Perfect Day, which it was. Then a week to relax before flying out for ten days in the sun.

But midweek, news came through that riots were spreading across Jakarta, the capital, after a student was shot by police.
Buildings were set alight and shops were looted. It didn’t look good, but we sat tight at home.
The following day, two days before we were due to fly, the phone call from tour operator British Airways finally came. The Foreign Office had stopped all flights.

You can only imagine the anguish and tears. Our honeymoon cancelled: twice.

So it was time to visit the travel agent in search of another romantic break.
Picture this: Turkey. Land of the mosque, friendly locals, apple tea and ancient monuments.
Our stay in Kalkan was to be the holiday of a lifetime. And it was.
Thanks to the expertise of Intertravel in Nottingham, where the manager told us: “You’ll love this place.”

We did. We went back again and again.