Is there a conspiracy to put Colombia on the red list?

Simon Calder answers your questions on South America, Japan and Vietnam, and which US city has the most to offer

There are currently 54 countries that still require hotel quarantine after visiting (Getty/iStock)

Q I am a UK citizen, fully vaccinated with AstraZeneca, living in Colombia. I have been aching to visit the UK to see my daughter. Our Covid infection numbers have been declining. I can’t figure out why Colombia is still on the list? The US has confidence in our vaccination programme and doesn’t have as many barriers as the UK. Is there some hidden agenda to keep all South American countries on the red list?

Name supplied

A Sorry to hear you are separated from your daughter. Many thousands of people are in the same position due to the UK keeping 54 countries on the “red list”, requiring those arriving from them to undertake hotel quarantine – a designation that amounts to a travel ban.

Many people have speculated about the government’s motivation for keeping so many nations on the red list at a time when such a measure is clearly way out of proportion to the actual risk to public health in the UK – where rates of coronavirus are far higher than any other major European nation. Some claim it is a distraction designed to convince the British electorate that “something is being done” as cases soar. Others claim that it is a political move designed to damage certain countries. And a third group believes that the government simply wants to stop people flying as much because of climate concerns.

I am inclined towards “cock-up” rather than “conspiracy” to explain what has become a national embarrassment. Initially, panicked decisions were imposed hastily by ministers, based on inadequate and possibly skewed information from the mysterious “Joint Biosecurity Centre”. In time, I look forward to learning more about the data that lay behind the decisions. Meanwhile, a combination of inertia and incompetence have prolonged the suffering for families such as yours.

Ireland’s chief medical officer was courageous enough last weekend to announce that there was zero public health benefit in maintaining hotel quarantine. The Irish red list was immediately abolished, and all remaining travellers were released from their confinement.

But “We were wrong” is not a refrain heard often from this government. In an attempt to save face and deflect criticism from its having kept all of South America on the red list for most of the year, there will be a need for “new information” to be produced to allow Colombia and many other countries to leave the red list.

It could happen as early as this week.

Japan will be hot in August, but not as hot as Vietnam (Getty/iStock)

Q Having travelled less during Covid times, we’ve built up a reasonable holiday fund. We might just about be able to afford a three-week family trip to Japan and Vietnam in August 2022. From what I’ve been able to gather, it seems reasonably likely that both countries will be open to tourists by then. Are we better off getting our main return tickets to Ho Chi Minh, and an internal return to Tokyo; or the reverse of this; or a multi-city ticket so we could travel from London to Tokyo, from there to Hanoi, travel down the coast and fly back to London from Ho Chi Minh City?

Also, my wife and teenage daughter would like five days on a beach to unwind after travelling about. It would seem that Vietnam is probably the better option for this given the time of year and the extra cost of travelling around the southern island of Japan?

David M

A At the moment, while long-haul travel is problematic, it is a good time to dream – and to plan. But with so much uncertainty about the progress of different nations opening up, I also commend a positive decision to make no firm decisions just yet. I wouldn’t start planning a trip like this until approximately June 2022 – especially because multi-country itineraries have much more potential to go wrong than a straightforward “there and back”.

I suggest you also come up with a plan B to visit only one country in case international travel rules look tricky. In August I recommend Japan over Vietnam. Japan will be hot: Tokyo is on the same latitude as Malta and the southern tip of mainland Spain. But the heat will not be as oppressive as in Vietnam, which is much closer to the equator. Japan also has some fabulous sub-tropical islands – including Okinawa, which also offers notable Second World War history.

In terms of tickets: while the prevalence of budget airlines in east Asia now means that buying (say) a UK-Vietnam return ticket and then adding flights to Japan is straightforward and reasonable value, I would personally buy a fully connecting ticket through a reputable long-haul travel agent. Then if any part of the trip goes awry, aviation rules give you much more protection – as well as bringing benefits such as a baggage limit that remains the same throughout the trip. Better still, get an Asia specialist company based in the UK to organise it all for you.

San Francisco wins out over the Big Apple, but there are other cities... (Getty/iStock)

Q New York or San Francisco?

Name supplied

A Thank you for a question that is both concise and challenging. I imagine you are asking for advice on which is the more rewarding city to visit.

My short answer: San Francisco, a much more human and multi-dimensional destination than New York. The City by the Bay makes much more of its waterfront than does the Big Apple; it has spectacular urban hills and accompanying panoramas; and without the physical constraints of Manhattan, San Francisco has more range and nuance, I find.

Yet neither city is especially representative of the United States, nor do they make my top six American cities from the British tourist’s perspective.

In no particular order, the list goes like this:

Chicago: the most muscular and highrise US city, yet friendly, approachable and with an astonishing array of architecture and art. The “El” – the elevated railway that rattles around the huddle of highrises downtown – is the best of its kind in the world.

Washington, while distinctly “un-American” in its layout and cityscape, is a governmental theme park that comes with a wonderful diversity of cuisines and cultures, plus the unmatched appeal of the Smithsonian museums.

New Orleans may strike some as a museum piece, and certainly the French Quarter has echoes of Old Havana. Yet the “Big Easy” is the most atmospheric of all America’s great cities, with an otherworldly hinterland in the shape of the Bayou – a Native American word meaning “tranquil waters”.

Houston, just 300 miles west, could hardly be more different: a city built on oil, where more than a trickle of the vast profits have been ploughed into a stellar wealth of art. There’s plenty of Mex influence to complement the Tex, and down at the coast gorgeous Galveston is Houston’s seaside.

San Diego, border city between California and Mexico’s Baja California, is an American classic. Stunning beaches to the west, desert to the east, and crowned by Balboa Park – an extravagant collection of architecture, gardens and wilderness created as the location for the 1915 Panama-California Exposition.

Seattle, de facto capital of the northwest, is home to Microsoft, Amazon and Boeing. Yet the downtown area retains a sense of the pioneering days, and there is water, water everywhere. In a good way.

Email your questions to s@hols.tv or tweet @SimonCalder