We boarded the Eastern Orient Express and met our personal steward, Woody. At 4:00pm he brought us tea and a variety of sweets. Later at dinner, John had Australian beef and I had Barrimundi fish. Sleeping on the train was difficult as the tracks were very rough and jerky at times.

The train trip took us through Malaysia on our way to Thailand. At Kuala Kangsar we boarded vans and went to a village. Our guide, Raymond, told us about Darien fruit on the nearby trees. "It smells like Hell but tastes like Heaven". Another time he told us, "Malaysians say the only things Chinese don't eat is sticks and stones. Adam and Eve could not be Chinese because they would have eaten the snake!".

We visited a local knife maker. Some people showed us how they tap the rubber trees; similar to maple trees. We also visited a bee keeper. The bees are small and black and do not sting. The honey is more liquid than what we are familiar with. We had pasties and banana fritters at another house. Then we went to Rajee's home. It was his birthday and family had gathered to celebrate. His house is built on stilts to keep animals out and water out in a flood. The kitchen is attached in such a way as to detach and carry it away in case of a fire.

Back on the train, we crossed the border into Thailand. We had to disembark and go through Malaysia and Thailand immigration, then back to the train. We passed through green fields and say rice paddies, egrets, grey and black cranes and men working with cattle.

The next day we headed for Kanchanburi, Thailand. The locomotive had to move to the back of the train in order to get on the right track. Meanwhile there was a leak in the air line and the engineer patched it with duct tape. On arrival at Kanchanburi, John went on the classic tour and I went on the culinary tour. John boarded a boat and went down the River Kwai. He learned about the Thailand-Burma railway. He then visited Don Rak War Cemetery. 7,000 allied soldiers died while building the railway during World War II. The soldiers were Japanese POW's.

My tour took us to a "raft", or flat boat. A Thai chef demonstrated how to make Shrimp and Coconut soup and Chicken Curry. Then we all went to stations and they helped us make the same dishes. After cooking, we shared the food with our table mates.

Back on the train we proceeded to Bangkok. After the luggage was unloaded a bus took us to one side of the river. Then we took a boat across the river to The Peninsula Hotel. All rooms face the river and we had a beautiful view from our window.

The next day we took a canal cruise . We saw several temples, an old church, many houses as well as modern buildings. After the cruise we walked to the Grand Palace and Emerald Buddha. The structures are highly decorated with gold and other jewels. In one temple we saw the immense reclining Buddha.

We had lunch at the Blue Elephant Restaurant. Build in 1903 it was originally the Bombay Department Store. We sat at a round table and shared a variety of dishes. In the evening we went to a restaurant for a Thai dinner and performance. Since it was our 53rd wedding anniversary, we were surprised with a special dessert and everyone on the tour signed a card. What a nice way to celebrate our anniversary!