COVID-19 during January and, like many, thought little of
it.
Alex Petrov, who was riding through south-east Asia at
the time agreed, “It was mostly business as usual really,
almost no one was wearing masks and there was no
social distancing whatsoever.”
Like the virus, murmurs could be heard trickling
across nations, borders no longer able to hold back the
whispers.
“I remember having a conversation with my father in
February,” explained (Tim) Notier. “He told me to keep
my eyes on the news about this new Coronavirus.
“Honestly, I thought he might be overreacting,” at the
time the Notier’s were in the African nation of Tanzania.
“Wuhan felt a million miles away.”
Reaching Rwanda, the Notier’s realised that cases
were popping up all over the world, including close to
where they were. On the shores of Lake Kivu, they found
that amongst travellers all conversation had turned to
the virus. Plans were being disturbed. Travellers were
becoming trapped?
“Some people had planned to go gorilla trekking,”
shrugs Notier. “Only to find that the border of the DRC
had suddenly closed overnight.”
It was a similar story in many places as Snyder
explained that not long after reaching Lima, Peru things
began to change dramatically, “within a week of arriving
they shut down the borders, initiated a curfew, closed
all non-essential businesses, and announced a strict
quarantine program.”
Australian, David Coulthard, riding from Sydney to the
United Kingdom found himself in a comparable position
although, he’d only heard of COVID-19 the day things
started to change, “I had just left the Cameron Highlands
on my way to Thai border.
“I got a message from a fellow Australian who was on
a similar journey in Thailand,” he continued. “It was the
day Malaysia implemented its Movement Control Order
on 18th March.
“I headed back to the Cameron Highlands as all hotels
were not taking new people.”
Numerous travellers sought refuge, to seek an
understanding of what it all meant and asses their
options. It presented different challenges dependant on
region, country, and circumstance.
“I did not want to go back to the civilised world,”
explained Mahsa Homayounfar, a dual citizen of Spain
and Iran, who realised that heading home meant
shutdown, tight rules, and limited movement.
Trapped?
“I decided to choose a nice place, with good climate
where I could spend my possible lockdown time,”
she went on, explaining that suggestions came from
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