Heard her on the Orient Express

My mom clutches her life philosophy firmly in a thickly stamped passport.

“God made this world beautiful and we have an obligation to get out there and see it,” she says.

I heard her on the Orient Express as we chugged along an 884-mile stretch between Bangkok and Singapore.

We returned last night from an amazing journey through jungles, on rivers, up mountains and into the most beautiful marina in the world.

Each of our stops deserves it’s own post (and I’m writing this particular one directly following our 26-hour journey home so please excuse typos and non sequiturs).

My mom, Margaret Polo, and I began in Bangkok, where our hotel balcony overlooked the mesmerizingly busy Chao Praya River. We loved Thailand and found it as sweet and delicious as its world-renown mangoes (which we gobbled up every morning).

We took a long-boat tour through the canals, saw about 4,000 Buddhas, visited temples and night markets, and rode the brand-new sky train.

Then, we boarded the magnificent Orient Express and experienced old world travel and the elegant lifestyle of a bygone era (I had to dress for dinner).

I spent the bulk of my time on the observation car, enjoying natural lessons in history, botany, geography and civics as gorgeous scenery whizzed by.

Later, I’ll write about our visit to the River Kwai, my educational climb up through the Malaysian countryside, and my fascination with Singapore, which bubbled over so enthusiastically during a photo walk that I stopped strangers and said, “I just can’t believe how amazing this place is. Can you?”

For the record, the Sultan Sri Tri Buana felt the same way when he landed there in the 13th century.

I took a few (hundred) photos and I’m sharing a very short video I took off the back of the train.

I’m looking forward to sharing more travel stories I hope you find as interesting as I did.

In the meantime, here’s a taste:

Here’s a little view from the back of our train.