TRAVELING AROUND THE WORLD: Our Tales of Delights and Disasters by Shelley Row

movie). After boarding a large raft that would be towed up the Kwai River, we were given a talk about the war and the construction of the railroad. Soon we were at the railroad museum that clearly described the deplorable conditions for the workers. More than 80,000 Malay and Thai workers died during construction. Prisoners died too but not in those numbers. Across the street from the museum was the cemetery for British and Dutch soldiers. It was beautifully maintained. A Thai woman was on her hands and knees scrubbing individual grave stones. The train staff gave each of us a handmade flower wreath to place on a grave – a lovely gesture.
     
    Time grows long on a three-day train journey so there were entertainment options. There was a piano player in the evenings in the saloon car, a reading car with an astrologer, a tropical-fruit tasting event, and Thai music and dancing. We tried it all. Since Mike had his fortune told in Istanbul, I chose the astrologer. She read my palm and predicted a long and happy life. She said that I’m responsible and organized, sometimes too much so. And Mike's favorite: I have a good-looking husband. How’d she know?!
     
    The afternoon of our second day, we stopped at Penang, Malaysia. We saw the Khoo Kongsi Chinese temple and had a trishaw (a three-wheeled bicycle pedaled by a tiny old man) ride through the streets to the historic Eastern & Oriental Hotel (not affiliated with the train).
     
    Back on the train, the service was exceptional. Beautiful women wore outfits typical of each country – Thailand (dark green and red silks), Malaysia (pink silks) and Singapore (bright red silks). Our steward served breakfast and afternoon tea in our cabin, made the room for day and night, and fulfilled every request. He was polite, kind and deferential. I was “Madam-ed” at every turn – “Excuse me, Madam,” “Thank you, Madam,” “You’re welcome, Madam.”
     
    Even with all the pampering, my main memories will be of the evolving scenery as we traversed from Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore. Everything changed as we traveled – the scenery, the agriculture and the lifestyles.
     
    Initially, Thailand was filled with vast swaths of green rice fields with white cranes flying low overhead, and we passed tapioca and coconut trees. The trees changed to rubber and banana in the southern part of the country. People here were poor. The landscape was dotted with skinny Brahma cattle lying on the side of the road, under a coconut tree, or next to a ramshackled trash-strewn house. For us, pampered and well cared for, it was a jolt to see barefoot children run from hovels to laugh and wave at the train. Their joy was invigorating but the differences in our circumstances were stark. Our train fare was more than they would make in a year. Stopped at a station, eating breakfast in our private car with a silver tea and coffee pot on the table, it was difficult to look out at the people gazing in awe at the train. It felt shockingly unequal and unfair.
     
    In southern Thailand and Malaysia, craggy limestone cliffs rose abruptly from the flat farmland. At the narrowest part of the peninsula, we glimpsed the South China Sea with its white beaches and waves washing ashore. It was beautiful but frustrating since photography from the back of the open-air observation car at the end of the moving train is iffy at best. Sometimes branches brushed our hands as we held tightly to the brass railings. Leaning out was definitely not a good idea. Agriculture changed first to rubber trees then to palm trees for palm oil production. There was hill after rolling hill of palm trees. Houses in Malaysia seemed to improve and the debris decreased. Dark-skinned workers toiled in the perpetual sunshine. Most people traveled on motorbikes – some had sidecars for hauling equipment. Other times, whole families were piled on the narrow motorbike seat. I saw a young woman riding a motorbike with her toddler standing in a