Worrall Travel R's

Worrall Travel R's
Roz and Russ

Worrall Travel R's - Kicking the Bucket List

Thursday, February 07, 2013

Catch a Tiger by His Tail

Good Thing These Two Tigers are Sleeping

Thursday, February 7, 2013


We arose again early for another tour with Destination Asia. Today we are driving three hours out of Bangkok to the Bridge over the River Kwai, war museum and The Tiger Temple where we will have an opportunity to get up close and personal with with big tigers. After seeing the Life of Pi, we aren't quite sure whether getting close to Tigers is a wise idea. We are cautioned rhe night before our tiger visit, not to wear oranges, pinks, yellows or reds. Apparently, these colors make the tigers irritable. Well, ok we certainly don't want to be with an irritable tiger.

There are more people on the tour with us today and we have a small sized coach. The coach has a small toilet aboard. Our tour guide Sita, advises us that we should use it only in an emergency, and please no dynamite. Shooting the rapids(men)and picking flowers (lady squat) terms for urinating are ok. You can guess what dynamite means.We will be stopping at proper "Happy" Rooms along the way.

The war museum called the Railroad of Death museum, adjacent POW cematary, and the bridge over the river Kwai was a moving experience. The prisoners of war here were treated abominably. We walked across the bridge thinking about all of the men who lost their lives here.


The Tiger Temple started several years ago when a wounded tiger was brought to the rural monks compound for protection. Soon the monks were receiving deer, pigs, water buffalo, and all sorts of animals that needed care and protection. The tigers breed easily in this environment and their population at the temple is now in the hundreds. Every day they are well fed, bathed, and exercised. Visitors to the temple can assist with these activities.
Monks and Tigers at Tiger Temple


Roz, Walking the Tiger

Nice Kitty.  Please Stay Asleep


Kitty Toys - Watch Out!

Looks Sweet!  Ha! Sleeping Tigers!

Good Catch Russ!

It was quite exciting being close to these large and powerful animals.

The Worrall Travel R's Survived the Tiger Temple

Elephant Ride and Floating Market

Our New Sailing Vessel - But Does She Float?

Wednesday, February 6, 2013

Today we are on a small group tour (5 of us)  with Destination Asia.  Our itinerary includes driving 2 hours in a Toyota van out of Bangkok to a coconut sugar factory, an elephant trip along the river,  long tail boat ride through the waterways in a farm land to a floating market, lunch at the Thai Village Rose Garden, elephant demonstration, and cultural traditional performing arts show.  It's a full day, full of interesting  interesting experiences.  We are excited.

We were picked up from our hotel at 7:00 am and didn't return until 7:00 pm in the evening.  Rather than write a lot about our tour, I will post some of the best photos of the day
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Coconut Sugar Factory

Sugar made from the coconut flowers
Boiled Down Sweetness


My Friend, Rocky

Our Elephant Driver

No Thank on the Ivory!


Floating Market







Russ getting a Thai Dance Lesson

Russ and Tour Guide Sita from Destination Asia


It's been a great day.  All is well with the Worrall Travel R"s.

Exploring Bangkok

Tuesday,  February 5, 2013

After a hardy breakfast and camera in hand, we headed to the National Stadium train station outside the mall and boarded a sky train to the river area of old Bangkok. This area houses the museums and large ornate Buddhist Temples. We bought from the Tourist Information Center a day pass on the hop on - hop off ferry which would take us on a circle tour and back to the start for 150 baht = $5.00.

Our first hop off point was at the pier that leads to Wat Pho (wat means temple), Museums, and Wat Arun across the river. We did a a quick jump off the back of the ferry as it chopped up and down against the pier. The boat traffic on the river keeps the water in perpetual wake chop. Safety and littering is not a big concern here In Thailand. Just like in Kuala Lumpur, one needs to watch for unexpected bumps, surface change and potholes, and traffic. Vehicles assume the right of way. There are three types of pedestrians here...the careful, the quick, and the dead.

When we exited the pier area, we found ourselves in a market area that not only catered to tourists but locals as well. As we pondered over the array of dried fish in this one stall, a well dressed man told us the types of fish displayed.




Because many Thais do not have refrigeration, they can take the fish home and use it in cooking. We thought this man worked in the market until he started to chat us up. Where were we from? How long have we been here, etc. The antennae popped up, and especially so when he told us his father was a policeman and that we should be wary of pick pockets as we wonder through the market. We have now met two sons of policemen who have advised us to be wary of pick pockets. This must be a popular confidence building story.

When we told him we were not shopping, but headed to the museum, he said, "Too bad the museums are closed today, you should take a little site seeing tour with a tuk-tuk from here."

We said we were going to the Museum of Siam which we knew was open. "Oh yes," he said, "That one is open today, but not until afternoon. You still have time to go site seeing first. Take you to see sleeping Buddha."

"Thank you, but no" we responded. We started to walk away. He came after us, saying, "Tuk-tuk is here now. You take. "

"No, thank you." We hurried off without looking back. The Museum of Siam was only a couple of streets away from where we were standing. With map in hand we headed in that direction.

Wat ta Nah Siam

Siam (means land of gold) and is what Thailand (means free land) was called prior to 1949 and the change over from an absolute monarchy to a democracy. The word Siam brought back memories of my childhood. We used to initiate people at campfire settings by playing two games. One was called cheeky-cheeky whereby the unsuspecting player wound up with charcoal on his/her chinny chinny and cheeky cheeky.

The second game was called Wat ta Nah. The one who suggested the game, pronounced her/him self King of Siam. Those who had never played the game were his subjects and had to kneel and bow down to Siam three times with with arms straight overhead their heads and heads touching the floor. With each bow, the subjects had to say Wat ta Nah Siam. Usually after the first bow, everyone watching and listening would start to chuckle. By the second or third bow the subjects realized what they were saying. Everyone got a good laugh. To this day, this is the first thing I think of when I hear Siam.

We wondered toward the museum past markets, apartments, congested streets festooned in a tangle of telephone and electric lines.

As we approached the back gate of the museum (it had a chain lock on It), a man approached us. "Are you here to go to the museum," he enquired?

"Yes," we responded.

"I work here," he said. "The museum is closed this morning. We are changing exhibits."

This was a second person confirming either the first truth or the first lie of the first man we had met at the market. Maybe the museum was closed....then again maybe not. "But there is a Tuktuk here that can take you to some nice places and bring you back after lunch," he says.

"No thank you," we say now with finality and walk away toward the front entrance around the block at the next street. The gates,are open. A security guard welcomes us and points to the museum.

"Is it open this morning?" we ask.

"Yes," he says pointing us in the right direction. And indeed it was.

The museum was a well done and helped us to understand more about the origins of Thailand. One of the interesting facts we learned is that Buddhism came to Siam when most of the people were already practicing Hindu. The people readily adopted the tranquil and peaceful aspects of Buddhism, but maintained many of the cultural rituals of Hinduism. Buddhism is now the predominant religion here, but it is fused with a spirit world and superstitions. In front of every Buddhist home there are spirit houses where good spirits are enticed to share their good blessings in return for gifts of flowers, food, prayer, incense, and beverages. We got a kick out of one offering, two sodas with straws. Guess those are pretty hip spirits.

After our museum visit, we walked a few blocks to Wat Poh, temple of the reclining and sitting Buddha. Unlike the plump Chinese Buddhas, the Thai Buddhas are tall and muscular.


The architecture and craftsmanship of the temples are beautiful and often sit in stark contrast with the modern day, ill kept city streets, smog and litter.
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From Wat Pho, we walked back to the river and took a public ferry across to Wat Arun. A former Capital surrounded water ways, The river was crowded with barges, ferries, and long tailed boats.
























Wat Arun means temple of dawn and was the third capital city of Thailand, but only for a short time as the king died and his successor moved the capital across the river to Bangkok where there would be room to grow and expand. Photos are best at dawn or dusk as the low sun angle plays on the tiles and they twinkle and shine. We arrived late in the day, but not quite dusk. This temple looked quite different from the more traditional style of Wat Pho.

We finished our day by completing the circle tour of the river and enjoying the variety of shoreside dwellings and sites before returning by skytrain to the hotel. Our morning breakfast had lasted us all day, but now we were hungry. We had just enough time to take a shower and grab a snack before meeting one of my former fifth and sixth grade students, Dylan Schneider who is currently in Bangkok completing his PhD dissertation in musical composition, a one act opera. Twenty years ago, I never imagined I would be sitting in Thailand or anywhere in the world having a glass of wine with a former student, but how fun! Each and everyone of these young people are are on such wonderful and unexpected paths.

Dylan led us to a nice little Thai restaurant where we had a great meal and caught up on the last two decades. Dylan will be returning to the states in May to the University of Chicago to produce his opera for his dissertation defense. Meeting up with him here was a special treat. We look forward to hearing his music in the future.


All is Well with the 2 Travel R's

Wednesday, February 06, 2013

Bangkok - Thailand

Monday, February 4, 2011


Our plane descended through a thick haze into Bangkok about 10:30 in the morning. The Thai's claim the haze is water vapor, but it looked and smelled more like LA Smog. We were greeted by our pickup driver from Destination Asia Shuttle Company with a templed prayer hands, head bow, and big smile. The car was plush and new. It took us about 40 minutes to reach our hotel located in the heart of the city connected to the MBK shopping Mall. We were greeted by another Destination Asia tour representative who confirmed with us the two day tours we had booked that would take us out of the city to the floating market, Tiger Temple and bridge of the River Kwai.

Our representative also warned us off of opportunists who would appear friendly and encourage us to go shopping at the Thai Local Product Markets in a TukTuk (three wheeled, small open air taxi), Apparently lots of shoppers get ripped off by being charged too much for the taxi or the markets to which tourists are transported. We appreciated her tips and raising our awareness as we were approached within just a few minutes of stepping into the shopping mall.

After organizing ourselves and freshening up, we decided to venture out a bit, check out the sky train, and browse through the shopping mall and look for the Siam Square. I had called a former student of mine, Dylan Schnieder, (5th and 6th grade) who is currently living in Bangkok, and made arrangements to meet him for dinner the following evening. In the meantime, he suggested we check out the Jim Thompson House and the Siam Square.

Our first stop was to a bank to exchange some dollars. The rate here is $1.00 = 30 Bahts. Shortly after our departure, a young woman struck up a conversation with me. She commented on my clothing, and asked how long we had been in Bangkok? A few hours we said. "Has anyone told you a out the grand opening and celebration of the trade center? " she asked. "Too bad, today is the last day. Try to get there if you can? Where are you staying?" Even though I was becoming suspicious at this point with regard to her last question, I pointed down the mall and said, "just here". "You can catch a tuk tuk outside' the center is not far from here." We thanked her and extracted ourselves, thinking we had not really given her much information and she wasn't pushy.

Russ and I continued down the mall. Within two minutes a middle aged man walking toward us waved to us and said, "Hello, I recognize you from the Princess hotel. I work there. perhaps you don't recognize me as I am not wearing my uniform and am off duty. Are you enjoying your stay in Thailand?" "Yes, but we just got here, so we haven't seen anything yet," We replied. Our antennae are not yet working,

"Just be careful as you walk through the crowded markets, and watch out for pick pockets. My father was a policeman, so I would hear daily about tourists losing their wallets." We thanked him for his advice. "i am waiting for my wife," he offered. "She is getting her hair done. We just got back from the celebration at the trade center." Out pops the antennae. Two people in three minutes tell us a out this trade center. "Thanks," we say. Russ whips out his map, "Show us on the map where it is and we'll go tomorrow."

The man circles this place on the map and writes something in Thai. (probably.."these guys are ripe for the picking.") After he was finished writing, he says, " But you should go now, the celebration is over in 2 hours." Show this to a TukTuk driver outside and he can take you." We thanked him for the information, and he said goodbye and strolled away from us in the same direction in which he had come which struck me as odd, since he had been coming toward us originally.

Now, had we taken the bait and changed our direction to the doors and the TukTuk drivers, we would not have seen him turn around with his cell phone to his ear observing what we were doing. He was most likely describing his pigeons to a particular tuktuk driver. When he saw us looking at him and following him, he pocketed the cell phone and pushed off into the crowd of shoppers.

All of this happened with in the course of five minutes. It wasn't until later that we started to connect the dots and realized that the woman set us up for the sell job and contacted her partner telling him what hotel we were staying in, the man "hotel worker" did his best toto gain our confidence and sell us a tuktuk ride. Most likely a specific tuktuk driver was most likely waiting for us outside. Perhaps, the duo inside were the fronts for all the Tuktuks. It was quite a good little scheme, but it didn't work on us.

We enjoyed an afternoon of exploring the local malls and the Siam Square which is a set of malls that houses medium to upscale designer products and boutiques. There are no trade restrictions here and the food court had all sorts of American Franchise restaurants. Having had fish and rice for breakfast and nothing for lunch, we were hungry and ready for our own culturally comfortable food. The Sizzler salad bar looked good. After stuffing ourselves, we returned to our room and went to bed early for a day of exploration on Tuesday.


All is well with the Worrall Travel R's

Sunday, February 03, 2013

Exploring Kuala Lumpur and Melaka

Thursday-Sunday, February 1-3, 2013

Our timing in Malaysia is during a Hindu Festival, Federal Holiday, and the lead up to Chinese New Year. This is in addition to the the regular tourist travel and international conferences at the hotel and convention center. Busy traffic and a crush of people invade the city like bees to a hive.

The number one holiday activity in Kuala Lumpur and in Malaysia is Shopping! Unlike the malls in Australia that become ghost towns after 5:00 p.m., shopping is full on 7 days a week from 8:00-10:00 pm.

Shopping malls are multi stories, spanning acres of land and host cinemas, restaurants, and indoor amusement parks in addition of course to every conceivable brand name store that most Americans are familiar with and more. The consumerism fuels the economy but is ludicrous in terms of what we as humans desire, want, and need. It's a gluttonous overload.

The mega malls, stalls, shops, and traditional markets are glutted with people bartering, buying, and hawking their goods and services.

One of the most unusual services we came across is the Happy Fish Foot Spa. The men in this photo are from Atlanta, Georgia, and they frequent this spa during business tripsso that the little fish can eat the dead skin from their feet. There was one young woman from San Francisco that we could not see but did hear as she squealed either in terror or delight as the fish nipped at her feet.

Our experience has been one of a cultural explosion... Muslims, Chinese 23 percent, Malay, Indians, Hindus, and International tourists. Because of the multicultural population in Malaysia every traditional holiday for each and every group is celebrated throughout the country and markedly more so in the cultural centers for a given group.

We took a one day excursion to the historic port town of Melaka located two hours from Kuala Lumpur and halfway to Singapore. Originally the seaport for ships in the 13 and 14 century to and from China and India, also the hangout for Melakan Pirates in the Melaka Straits. Eventually the port was seized by the Portuguese, Dutch, and British. Influence from these conquering countries can still be seen in sections of Melaka. Landfill has swallowed up most of the original port and it is no longer deep enough to support large ships. Melaka boasts the first Chinese Temple, and the first Mosque in pagoda architecture.

On Sunday, we took the train out to the Batu Caves. These are large limstone caves in the peripheral mountains on the border of KL. The caves are geologically interesting, but are also home to the Hindu temples and festivals as well as lots of monkeys. Since we were there on a Sunday and the last day of a Hindu festival, the caves were swarming with Hindu monks giving blessings, followers seeking blessings, site seers, consumers snapping up last minute bargains, merchants bartering, and all types of food and drink being consumed, garbage piling up everywhere and monkey's pawing through the trash for food. It was quite a spectacle. We definitely knew we weren't in Kansas anymore....or Australia.

Russ and I spent our last day touring the Petronas Twin Towers skywalk and observation deck. Buildings that look very tall from street level, look like miniatures from them 86th floor. After our visit, we alked through the park and found a geocache. It was a good way to end our time in Malaysia...making sure our travel bugs got distance credit for all of their miles. We are off to Bangkok, Thailand in e morning.

All is well with the 2 Travel R's.