The Travel Show - Larry's in Washington DC; Airline Over Booking Compensation; Holyland Travel Update

Episode Transcript

(00:16):
Welcome to the Travel Show. I'mLarry Gelwicks. They get Away Guru,
joined by the Argentinian gaucho himself freshoff the Pampas of Guadalajara, Carlos Feet,
what do you mean. I knowthe Pampas are out on the plains,
the prairie are from Argentina. He'sa gaucho, a gauchho. We've

(00:39):
got a very special program today,and first of all, thank you,
thank you, thank you for joiningus every weekend here on the Travel Show.
We look forward to this and whetheryou're a regular traveler or an armchair
traveler, welcome to the show.We have lots of things to talk about.
Now. It's a special show showbecause today I am in Washington,

(01:03):
d C. The nation's capital.I'm going to straighten them out back here.
You know. I'll call a meetingof the White House, the Congress,
the House, the Senate. I'lljust tell them what's up, as
I always do. If they remember, I'll tell them where to go and
how to get there. I'm talkingabout travel, of course, but I'm
back here. Carlos was gracious enoughlast week to bring up the subject later

(01:30):
today this evening. Actually, Iwill be inducted into the Rugby Hall of
Fame. Rugby the second most popularsport in the world as a sport with
fans and participants. It's bigger thanthe NFL, bigger than the NBA,
bigger than Major League baseball. Soccer, of course, eclipses everything. But

(01:56):
you know, it is overwhelming tome to be considered in this very,
very elite group. I had mycareer as a player in both Brighamam University,
one of the premier college rugby programsin a men's professional competition league,
then as thirty six years of coachingthe Highland rugby team, which the movie

(02:21):
for Everstrong was based upon, andwe came away with some great teams,
twenty national championships and a varsity winloss record of four hundred and eighteen wins
and just ten losses in thirty sixyears. All of that will be highlighted
in a video tonight that they'll beplaying. I didn't put it together,
but they did. But we're havinga great time, whole families back here

(02:44):
in Washington, DC. We cameon Thursday, will be coming home tomorrow,
and we've been seeing all the sightsand sounds of Washington. Now there's
so many things. You go downto the mall, the Washington Monument,
which, by the way, lookat the history. There's three different colors
on the Washington Monument, as itwasn't all completed or built at one time.

(03:09):
They added on to it and youknow, they had to go to
a different quarry and there's a slightdifference in the coloration one of the places.
My daughter Sarah asked that we go. She as a history buff.
She was a history teacher at CentervilleJunior High. I think all junior high

(03:30):
school teachers have an immediate wings toHeaven. All teachers will get there,
but the junior higher middle school teachers, I mean that's something different. You
know, you got kids that arenot kids and not adults, and they
don't know what's going on with that. Anyway, she wanted to see Forges
Theater, and the Fordes Theater,of course, is in Washington, d

(03:54):
C. It's the site of anddedicated to the history of the assassination of
the President Abraham Lincoln on April fourteenth, eighteen sixty five. Now, the
building that houses the fords Theater wasbuilt in eighteen thirty three as the first
Baptist Church of Washington Well. Thecongregation moved to a new building in eighteen

(04:16):
fifty nine and John Ford hence Ford'sTheater. John Ford built it and converted
it into a theater, and hecalled it Ford's Antheum. Well. Less
than the year after it opened,the theater was destroyed by fire in eighteen
sixty two, but Ford rebuilt itnow. On that day, April fourteenth,

(04:42):
eighteen sixty five, it was fivedays Carlos after the surrender of General
Robert E. Lee that ended theCivil War, Lincoln and his wife,
along with two guests, went toFord's Theater to see the popular comedy production
Our American Cousin John Wilkes Booth Boohoo. John Wilkes Booth, who was a

(05:08):
leading actor at the time and aConfederate sympathizer, decided to assassinate the president.
There was another plot at the sametime to assassinate the Secretary of State
and one other government official. WilkesBooth stepped into Lincoln's box and shot him

(05:29):
in the head. Well. Ofcourse, the theater closed immediately amid calls
it to be burned to the ground, but the federal government seized the theater
from Ford put one hundred thousand dollarsaward out there and converted it to an
office building, which it served foradministrative purposes until about eighteen ninety three.

(05:50):
And this is horrible. Three interiorfloors collapsed, killing twenty two clerks and
injuring many others. Well, itwas repaired, but really used as a
storehouse in nineteen thirty two, andby then you were a very old man.
The Lincoln Museum opened on the firstfloor of the Ford's theater Lincoln Museum

(06:15):
nineteen thirty two. Well more exhibitswere added, but it wasn't until nineteen
sixty four that a project was undertakento restore the theater to its appearance,
which was absolutely opulent. I've beenin that theater well, not only on
this trip, but four absolutely opulent, and restored all of it, and

(06:38):
then another major renovation in twenty ohseven, a two year renovation. It
is. It is just stunning.Now I may ask you a question.
Yeah, how come that you're havingfun there and you leave me here alone?
ChRI it's not fair? Could youask in English? Please? I

(06:59):
got the Well, listen, it'svery simple, Carlos. Your job,
your function in life, is towork so that I can travel the globe.
You do it very well, Thankyou very much. As long as
we understand our roles. Yes,I listen. Folks don't think me mean.
Carlos and I have been best friendsfor forty years or more, and
we can talk to each other thatway. We don't keep it. No,

(07:23):
he goes to church on Sunday andall of his fellow congregants, they
listen and talk about the abuse thatwe throw at each other. Hey,
you know what's a fascinating Did youknow that the White House has public tours?
I do. Yeah, they're selfguided. You walk through. There's
no tour guide or anything. Bythe way. On Saturdays at Fords Theater

(07:46):
from I think it's eleven am totwelve you can have a guided tour with
a park ranger. Ford's Theater isunder the National Park System. But to
get into the White House, whichis open Tuesday to Saturday on most days,
it won't be open this Tuesday,there's a NATO summit that they've closed

(08:09):
a lot of the government buildings inthe White House. They'll be hosting I
don't know all the NATO leaders.Quite a congregation there, but you have
to request a ticket. You musthave a ticket. There's no walk in
from a member of Congress and thenyou yet you get a date and it's
first come, first served. Well, it was when you were in primary

(08:33):
school. In seventeen ninety two,construction began on the White House where with
a cornerstone in place. However,they don't know where the cornerstone is because
no one It wasn't inscribed on butthey said a cornerstone, but nobody recorded

(08:54):
which stone it was, and thenthe construction started. It's also inter that
Philadelphia was not happy when the newcity of Washington was getting the president's executive
mansion, so during the seventeen nineties, the city built its own presidential palace
as a way to a tempt GeorgeWashington and others to stay in Philadelphia,

(09:18):
which at the time was the actingcapital. Washington refused to use the palace
in state elsewhere in Philadelphia for thatNow. Interestingly, George Washington never lived
in the White House, but youcan look for his ghost on the next
White House tour. Some people saythey've actually seen him walking. I think

(09:41):
that's after a few libations. They'rewearing the beer goggles with that. But
the mansion was in the city namefor Washington, but he stayed in an
executive residence. George Washington passed awayin seventeen ninety nine, about one year
before John Adams became the first presidentto live in the building. You know,

(10:05):
it's a fascinating tour there. Thewomen picketed the White House for two
years, these suffragettes for the women'svote in nineteen seventeen, but for two
years they had women picketing the WhiteHouse earning the right to vote. And

(10:26):
you always hear about the West Wingthat was created by Teddy Roosevelt, and
he had that particular build. Anyway, the White House was nearly condemned in
nineteen forty eight. FDR didn't dothe upgrades and they went in and Truman
had to move out while they savedthe building in nineteen forty eight. Hey,

(10:50):
all that and more, we're goingto come back here on the Travel
Show. Welcome back to the TravelShow. I'm Larry Gelwicks, the Getaway

(11:13):
Guru, joined by Carlos Fida MeAmigo and all around good guy. These
Latin American expert and Carlos will betaking us to Latin America. Later on
in the show, Carlos. Duringthe break, I asked you a question,
have you ever been bumped off aflight? Yes? What does that
mean? Bumped off the flight?So I was left without a seat and

(11:35):
I was supposed to be in ameeting. I was coming from from Antonarivo
and I arrived in in the goaland when I ran the meaning Paris.
Yeah, the Paris, and thenthe flight was almost ready to I'm sorry,
sir, we can on board you. Airlines, hotels, car rental
companies. Overbooked mean they take morereservation than they have space for. You

(12:01):
know, if an airplane, sayhas two hundred seats, maybe they take
two hundred and twenty two hundred andten, two hundred and forty reservations.
Knowing that people change, people cancelall of that, and it's legal.
Overbooking is a legal practice. Theywant to maximize. What about you,
So now I've been bumped before.In fact, I'll tell you a story

(12:24):
about it. There's two types ofWell, when you get overbooked, the
airlines are required to give cash compensationin the event of an involuntary denied boarding,
meaning you have a reservation, youshow up at the gate on time.
In the United States, this competition. Compensation can range from two hundred

(12:48):
to four hundred percent of your oneway cash fare, up to a certain
limit depending on where you're going.Rules for international travel. Uh, what
may very now the catches. Manyairlines won't even offer that compensation unless you
ask for it. What they wantto do is give you some voucher.

(13:11):
So here's the deal. They arerequired to give you a denied boarding compensation
a d b C. Now whatthey do if there you've you've been there
where they're asking for volunteers, yes, and they give you. Some airlines

(13:31):
will give you credits. Delta Airlineswill give you cash using in the form
of visa card, you know.And so if you if you volunteer,
you accept whatever compensation they offer andyou sign away right, well, they
sign away your rights on that becauseyou have accepted their offer. Yeah.

(13:54):
But in my case, you know, I had I had a flight,
you know, arriving in Washington dC. I mean you York. I
had a flight to go to Santiago, Chili for a meeting. And so
what they did is they put meon another flight on an air front,
on a different airline. Yes,that is called a fim F. I
am flight interruption manifest that's when oneairline what was what was the original airline

(14:16):
you were on from New York toSantiago. I was on La Tom okay
tom So La Tom then bought aticket on Air France, Yes, for
you to get to Santiago, Chile. They don't like to do that because
that's cash out of their pocket.So one of the critical things is they
if you accept it, or evenif you don't accept it, they will

(14:39):
put you on the next available flight. Always ask what is the next flight
I am guaranteed on? Because itmight be, particularly during holiday periods,
it could be two or three dayslater because all the flights are sold out
for Christmas. So you want now. If you do not agree to whatever

(15:01):
their offer is, you are legallyentitled to a written copy of your federally
protected passenger rights. Now the airlinesare required to give it to you only
if you ask. They are notrequired to tell you that you have federal
rights. And so before you signanything, unless you just want to take

(15:22):
the offer, always always ask forthat now. Just last week, giving
up your seat can be very profitable. Here's a report of a man who
had two Delta flights a connection,and he made five thousand dollars on the

(15:43):
very first flight he gave up onDelta Airlines last week. He gave up
his seat and they got so desperatethey were offering two thousand dollars cash in
the form of a visa car thatyou can spend on anything, not a
flight. Crap on Delta. Well, they put him on a later flight,

(16:03):
and then a changed his connecting flightto a later flight. So he
gets to his connecting city and hissecond flight is overbooked and he accepts a
later flight, and they gave himthree thousand dollars, so that one day
he got five thousand dollars. Now, just as FYI, American Airlines,

(16:26):
which we talked about last week,loses more luggage than any other major airline
in the US, also has themost involuntary denied boarding that any other airline.
Oh my goodness, now the filmagain. Airlines don't like to do
that. Now. I had acase where I was flying United Airlines.

(16:47):
This was pre COVID to Honolulu,of course, and so I flew Salt
Lake to San Francisco, connecting onUnited. They were over sold big time
on the flight from San Francisco toHonolulu and they're asking for volunteers that They
just kept raising it, raising ituntil we got to an obscene amount of

(17:10):
money and they said, we needone more seat. Nobody was coming for
I was traveling alone. I didn'thave an appointment that day, so I
said I'll volunteer and they said,great, you know, get off the
plane. I said, just aminute before we get off the plane,
I'll accept the It was in theform of an air credit, is what

(17:30):
United was giving. I said,I want to be upgraded to first class
on this next flight. And theygo and I said that's the deal,
and they said, okay, ofcourse that's right. And oh, just
before I step off the plane,I'll take the cash. I'll take the
first class upgrade. It's going tobe four hours. I need a meal

(17:51):
voucher, so I'm kind of hungryand I want something to eat. Okay,
okay, get off the plane.They want to have so bottom line.
Bottom line is, folks, youcan negotiate. Airlines generally don't get
into the thousands of dollars, butthey do when they're desperate and always know

(18:17):
what is the next flight. Iam guaranteed give me a boarding pass right
now. And a seat assignment forthat next flight. And then if you
accept a travel voucher, you wantto ask is that voucher transferable? Does
it have a meaning? Can Igive it to somebody else else? And

(18:38):
does it have an expiration? Allthat and more here on the Travel Show.

(19:03):
Welcome back to the Travel Show,or should I say Aloha from Washington,
DC? Yes, I have mygrass skirt on and coconut tops and
ready for another exciting show here onthe Travel Show. I'm Larry Gelwicks to
get Away Guru, and I've gottenaway to the Nation's Capitol. I'm going
to straighten these clowns out here inthe Nation's Capital of Washington, D.

(19:26):
C. Carlos is back in studioin Salt Lake City, where he belongs
because he works so that I cantravel. We've had this arrangement for forty
years, Carlos, what's the deal. Yes, it's a lot of fun,
that's right. You know, lastweek we were talking about Hawaii and
I got a lot of comments fromour listeners that really wanted to expand on

(19:48):
that. You know, we weretalking about the aloha spirit. Now,
the word aloha means the breath oflife. I talked about the Maudis and
the hongy that how they greet peopleand which is a breath of life,
very common elsewhere in Polynesia. Butthe aloha spirit, and I also spoke

(20:10):
about in Samoan mana and anganga thathave different meanings and no equivalent in English
for mana. And it's a spiritthat you can feel, you know,
when I go to Hawaii and Iactually have been there one hundred and seventy
times, that's a real number.First was when I was sixteen and I
used to commute there once or twicea month for years. Well, you

(20:33):
can rack up a lot of tripsthat way. And I always feel something,
Carlos, when I go there.There's a drawing power that just comes
back to me for that. Andyou know in my wardrobe, I have
maybe fifteen Aloha shirts. I knowthem all. Yeah. Well, you
know, every Monday on the noonnews, I give travel advice. It's

(20:56):
not a commercial and it's usually playsbetween twelve forty and twelve fifty on KUTV
Channel two in Salt Lake City.And I mean this earlier Monday, I
talked about the new Salt Lake PassportOffice, and I'll be talking about that,
because this is a game changer,what's going to be happening there.

(21:18):
But I always wear one of myAloha shirts. And a couple of times
I just didn't wear it, andI actually got text messages, emails and
phone calls. Where is your alohasshirt? I've had people stop me on
the street, you know, thesay I recognize that shirt. No,
I can recognize your car because youhave a couple of shirts in your car.

(21:41):
Yes, I always do well.The first and perhaps the most notable
originator of the Aloha shirt, andthere's certain people that claim it, but
most people talk about an Ellery Chun. He was the son of Chinese immigrants,
and Chun returned to Hawaii after graduatingfrom Yale University in nineteen thirty one.

(22:07):
I would love to go back thereand visit the islands. In nineteen
thirty one, and he was goingto manage the family's dry goods store in
Honolulu. You go to Yale tomanage a dry goods store. I got
that anyway. He saw local Japaneseteens wearing shirts made of rayon, and
local Filipino boys wearing colorful barong shirtswith these crazy patterns. So when the

(22:33):
Great Depression. Hit Chun changed thestore's name to King Smith Close Ears to
attract non Chinese customers, and hebegan making shirts out of flashy Japanese kimono
material, which later they changed towhat we might call a more traditional aloha

(22:56):
shirt. Now you get him inall different variety, but the Aloha shirt
probably goes back to the nineteen thirties. With that, you know, we
talked last week that Hawaii really hasbecome expensive, but there still are some
good deals out there. Now.All deals are subject to availability and change

(23:18):
at the time of booking, andyou can easily spend four or five hundred
dollars a night on a five stardeluxe over the top hotel plus tax plus
the evil resort fees. I mean, you can go crazy. So I'm
looking for something in the middle.If you want the five star, which
I love, then go for it. But if you're looking at you don't

(23:38):
want to stay in a one ortwo star dump, you know, the
hula hula huts. No sound.I found a couple of deals here.
Let me just give you one fromHawaii, and the question is Hawaii or
Mexico. I love them both.I have a particularly love of Hawaii.
But I gotta say Mexico's the betterdeal. Right now, let me give

(24:00):
you one of each. There's ahotel about a block or so from Kapiilani
Park, so it's down that end, you know, the southern end of
Waikiki, in a great area halfa block from the beach called Twin Finn.
I think it's kind of a weirdname, but it's easy to remember.
Twin Finn. And I just lookedat some dates in September. You

(24:22):
know, the summer crowds are gone. This is September twenty sixth to October.
First, it's your it's six days, five nights, hotel, hotel
taxes, round trip air from SaltLake City. And you know we broadcast
all over the country, all theway to Florida, and I can't give
fifty airports, so I use ourhometown of Salt Lake City. But there'll

(24:45):
be similar deals from your home airport. One thousand, fifty nine dollars for
six days. Now you can addextra day. That is a great deal
for the pricing in Hawaiian. Now, now what's not included there was sort
fees. Those have to be paidin cash. Now I found a great
deal at a first class, allinclusive resort. Good four star. By

(25:07):
the way, Twin finn is likea three and a half stars. It's
a nice hotel in the middle category. How far from the beach half block?
It's a half a block off CalicawaAvenue. Anyway, For Porto Viarta,
I love Porto Viarta. I lookedat September nineteen to the twenty fourth,
six days down there. Air.It's all inclusive air, transfers,

(25:30):
meals, drinks, entertainment, tips, gratuities, everything, nine hundred and
ninety four bucks. Is it ario hotel, It's a real Jalisco.
Oh. Yes, that's a goodhotel, good four star. Yes,
so a lot of things. Now, last week you said that one of
your favorite places on the Big Islandwas Volcano National Park. That is correct.

(25:53):
You know in Hawaii there are sixteenvolcanoes, but three of them are
active. There's the Killaway, whichhas been erupting somewhat continuously on and off
every year every couple of years sincenineteen eighty three. Something's going on.
I think the second Coming is comingwith all those eruptions, then you have

(26:14):
Mana Loa, the last eruption atMauna Loa, which, by the way,
is also the name of a chocolatecovered macadamia, the Mana Loa macadamia.
The last eruption was in nineteen eightyfour, and Lohei is the other
active volcano. Last eruption nineteen ninetysix. The other thirteen volcanoes erupted hundreds

(26:37):
and hundreds of years ago. Now, what's interesting. On the same day,
on Monakea, which is a dormantvolcano, you can snow ski and
surf down in the water. Yeah, they get snow on Monakea in Hawaii
in the winter time. Now there'sno ski lift, there's no ski so

(27:00):
you have to hike up. It'sicy, but you're skiing, snow ski
and then you go down to thebeach and go surfing, boogie boarding or
like I do. Just get thatbronze golden tan. What what's that?
You know? Let me tell youA really fun thing at Volcano National Park
is the Thurston Lava Tube. Nowwhat it is in Hawaiian it's called Nahuku.

(27:25):
It's a subterranean tunnel that you canwalk through. The hot lava.
Molten lava forced a giant tunnel throughsolid rock and so it was flowing the
lava they estimate was over two thousanddegrees and it was discovered in nineteen thirteen
because it was all covered up withvegetation. Estimated to be anywhere from three

(27:52):
hundred to five hundred years old.And you know what you gotta do is
the Hawaii Volcano National Park Crater Drive. It's an eleven mile road that skirts
the edge of the Kilawey at Caldera. And you know, if you only
do one thing on the Big Island, you do this. Now. A
lot of waterfalls out on the Hiloside. You know, one of my

(28:15):
favorites is not far from the VolcanoNational Park. It's called a Kaka Falls
a ka Ka and you drive toit, a four hundred foot waterfall,
absolutely magnificent. There's a little parkinglot there that self appointed. You have
to pay a couple of bucks todo. Now, you know, I

(28:38):
love Waikiki Beach, I really do. We talked about Owahu and I talked
about the swap meet there. Youknow that they have. We talked about
the Polynesian Cultural Center of the NorthShore, shave ice. You can tell
of someone really outside of Hawaii peopletalk about shave ice, and some call
it shaved death with it. Theice, well, you know right then

(29:02):
they don't know what they're talking about. Is shave ice not shaved ice.
Well, you always want to knowthe weather. Now it rains, we're
in the we're in the tropics herewith Hawaii, and the rainiest month is
December where Owahu. Now you getmore rain on Kawaii. On Oahu averages
four inches a month in December.November is three. The best month for

(29:32):
no rain is June where the island, and you'll get more rain out on
the windward side. You know,north shore is a half inch in June.
Now, the winter months, I'lljust go through them. We have
November three inches, December four inches, January two point nine, February two
inches, March two point seven,and then it gets really nice. The

(29:56):
summertime is a great time. Knowwhat to do on a rainy day in
Honolulu. That's right, I wasgoing to ask you about it. Here.
Here's some things. The Waikiki Aquariumfive hundred marine animals, and that's
right there at Kapilani Park, Waikiki. They also have a Hawaii Children's Discovery

(30:17):
Center. It's an interactive museum forthe little ones that offers plenty of space
to get hands on and explore.You can go down to the Alamawana shopping
center. By the way, there'sa bridge just just near Alamawana that you
go over from Waikiki and if youlook out into the harbor, that is

(30:40):
where the departure of the boat,the minnow in Gilligan's Island. You know,
a three hour or tour they showup the minnow, the Gilligan's boat
going out of a harbor. Itwas filmed right there at the Alamajuana Harbor.
The Honolulu Museum of Art, they'vegot van Go, Monet, Gogne,

(31:00):
European and American masters, and overtwenty three thousand objects from Asia in
the Art Museum. Iolani Palace that'swrit in downtown Honolulu, the only royal
palace in the United States, andyou want to see the opulence in the
throne room. Two other quick things, of course, the Bishop Museum,

(31:22):
which is it's the centerpiece of Hawaiianhistory, a three story collection of native
Hawaiian artifacts and culture. They alsohave indoors. The Pearl Harbor Aviation Museum.
No shortage of things to do.Well, when we come back,
we're going to be going to theHoly Land here on the Travel Show.

(32:01):
Welcome back to the Travel Show.I'm Larry Gelwicks. They get Away Guru,
joined by Carlos Feet of the ArgentinianGaucho fresh off the pampas of Puerto
Bayarta. That's right, thank youvery and joined back in Salt Lake in
studio the lovely and talented Wendy Fraki, a group department manager for Morris Columbus

(32:22):
Travel. I your humble host,a character trade I've never been accused of.
I'm in Washington, d C.Today, hot and humid. Oh
my gosh, cheese, Louise,You're not. You know if this one
was like the Garden of Eden,I know why they wore fig leaves.

(32:44):
Okay, my goodness, Hey listen. Earlier this week when I was back
in Salt Lake, I had awonderful meeting with tourism officials from Israel particularly
and they they're up in the Galileearea. We focused on that. And
I'm not going to get political herewith October seven or two state solution,

(33:07):
other than I will tell you this, They're going to have a resolution some
of the problems you hear about innorthern Israel coming out of Lebanon with Hesbelah.
Don't get down into the Galilee,right, And it's kind of like,
well, we have problems in Laso let's not go to Phoenix,

(33:30):
you know, as far as distancesand Jerusalem is normal. Now, I
don't want to minimize. You can'twhat's going on because what they asked,
when do you think tourism will return? And I said, well, first
of all, Americans are more cautioustravelers than the Europeans or the Asians or

(33:52):
the Africans. The moment there isand there's some tourism going back to Israel
now from Europe in Asia. AndI said, soon as they sign a
ceasefire, Asia, Africa, European, Latin America will come back almost the
media, but the American market won't. We've always been more cautious. And

(34:15):
what I said to them is it'smore than just a cease fire, but
people have to have an emotional comfortabout safety, correct, And it's just
kind of let's wait and see,and that could happen in two to three
months, but it's going to bea waiting period. Well, it could
happen in two to three weeks.The thing is there is people right now

(34:39):
who are demand, Well, they'rewanting to go. I'd say they're demanding
to go, but we you know, we are having to be cautious about
it. But people, people areready, and so everybody's comfort level is
a little bit different. It reallyis, you know. And so we'll
keep you posted right there. MorrisColumbus Travel, I don't know anyone who

(35:01):
operates more Holy Land programs, especiallynot only the number, but the quality.
And as soon as we get togo back, you'll be the first
to know. I want to turnmy sights to something else, Wendy,
because you asked me earlier this weekabout the Panama Canal cruise that Kathy and

(35:22):
I will be hosting in October.I think it is sold out. It
is. We have wonderful group we'llbe selling from La to Tampa and everything
in between. You were able,as the group department manager to grab a
second Panama Canal with our friend Scottand Marine Proctor as your host January fifth

(35:46):
through the twenty first, sixteen days, fifteen nights LA to Miami. Give
us the insight. Well, likeyou said, your crew sold out and
we just had so much demand forit. Scott Marine Proctor. People if
you're familiar with them in the LDSfaith. They do a wonderful online magazine.

(36:07):
They do a podcast for the ComeFollow Me program, and they've been
serving a mission down in Puerto Ricoand they finished the end of this year
and they're so excited to get backinto the travel world that they left behind
when they went to serve. Nowyou mentioned they're serving as missionaries for the

(36:29):
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter DaySaints. But this particular cruise is not
exclusively a faith based grist. Thankyou so much for saying that it is
not now opened everybody. It's opento everybody. There's going to be the
special group excursions that we do onyours as well private group excursions, but

(36:51):
we are going to be doing ononboard lecture series with the proctors that are
going to be around the Church ofJesus Christ of Latter Day their option.
They are absolute audition. You don'twant to go to them. You can
go to the dance class, thecasino, there's so much Carlos, the
bar will be open. This ison Norwegian Cruise Line and of course they're
such great sponsors of the show andgreat friends of ours and their groups are

(37:15):
fantastic with the freebies that they offer, and we're just really excited to be
able to offer another product to thePanama Canal. I was just there a
year ago for the very first time, and you just think that you're gonna
know how you're going to feel whenyou see the Panama Canal. It is
just such an a massive feat ofengineering. Wendy, there's something else too.

(37:38):
Those short excursions are fantastic. Iknow that I know the couple that
is taking this to it, andthey are wonderful people. I think that
that would be a history to it. Also, my greatest memory about the
Panama Canal was the last one Kathyand I did is pre COVID. The
US military and the Panamanian military.We're having joints exercises. You go through

(38:00):
the locks. There's Lake katoona manmade lake that you sail through. Well,
right there on the land by thelake, they're doing military exercises.
Paratroopers, tanks, racing soldiers andyou know, firing blanks. I watched
World War IREE from the back withmy Virgin Pina Colada in my hand.

(38:21):
Did you tell them that it wasall included? Well, of course,
I arranged this. Hey, whenwe come back, I want to take
you on a free international promotion forairfare that's legit. Here on the Travel
Show. Welcome back to our numbertwo of the Travel Show, the Best

(38:57):
two hours in the Radio. I'mLarry Gelwiz They Get Way Guru, joined
by Wendy Frakia, Group department managerfor Morris Columbus Travel. Check out all
of the outstanding escorted tours at Morriscolumbusdot com and then just scroll down on
the homepage to the group listings andthen you'll have a choice. You can

(39:17):
either if it's a cruise, youclick on cruise. If it's a land
tour, pick the geographic area.And of course, no show would be
complete without Carlos feed, a directorof Latin American sales at Morris Columbus Travel.
You know, I have made thiscomment before Wendy and Carlos, that
we've all traveled our whole adult lives, hopeless travel junkie. You know,

(39:42):
as a kid, as a teenager, I hitchhiked down and into Mexico.
I wouldn't recommend that today, No, but it's something that is deep inside
of us, and I think travelersrecognize other travelers. So I take off
at age sixteen to Hawaii for aweek so I can go surfing. I
was just in my college years.I took off as some bohemian not it

(40:05):
wasn't a rhapsody, but some bedoone traveler. And I went to Asia,
you know, Japan and Korea,and had just traveled all over Asia,
staying in youth hostels. And Imean, this has been my whole
life, and I think about it. I think about this often. I
dropped my daughter last week off atthe Salt Lake Airport. She took a

(40:29):
flight, and I'm seeing two planeslanding and I said to Emily, I
said, you know, as muchas I have flown, I've never lost
the miracle of flight. There's anexcitement about it now. People ask me
to get tired of traveling there.I don't get tired of going to exciting
places. I get tired of sittingin row fifty two on the plane.

(40:53):
You know, if it's road upfront, no you're in row two.
It's a different experience. But youknow, back in all humility in row
fifty two. And they you know, I got a choice, you want
rack of pretzel or filet of peanutto eat on your flight. That's right,
that's ah, that's just horrible withthat. But you know, I

(41:15):
think about all the experiences I've hadin travel and it does something to me.
I think about Letti Sayili, andhe's a dear friend of mine in
Samoa, Western Samoa. Works forthe government. He lives out in the
Lefanga Matreva area on Upolu, theisland of Upolu. And whenever I go

(41:36):
to Samoa, and I've been theremany times, I always go out.
I usually stay in a pia atAggie Gray's hotel, and it's the place
to stay. And I rent avehicle, a pickup truck. Nice.
And you know Robert Louis Stevens.And by the way, I go up
to his grave, he's buried inSamoa, and I'll go out to Letti's.

(42:00):
Well, it's not a house.It's a folly, open sided.
You know, they've got pretty muchgotten away from the grass shack. They
use like a corrugated iron because itholds up under the rains. But it's
all open sided and the floor isriver rocks, those smooth rocks, and
they pile mats on top of them. I always go out and stay for

(42:22):
a night or two. If Kathy'swith me, she comes and we fill
up the back of the truck withwhat we call it in tong and male
Opha get the coy a gift andtake these giant bags of rice and what

(42:42):
they call cocoa samore. It's theirown version of hot chocolate, corn,
beef, all you know, vegetables, and give it as a gift,
you know. And what's interesting aboutthat is and then we sleep there and
you just sleep. They give youa sleep on. But what's interesting is
dinner time because in the Polynesian cultures, the young people, the children serve

(43:07):
their parents. The man will domost of the cooking, so they don't
eat as well as if you ladiesdid the cooking. No, the men
do most of the cooking. Probablytaste a little better too. Yeah,
And the kids then serving, andthey'll serve their grandparents first or guests.
And then the kids are skinny andthe parents are a little larger, a

(43:31):
lot larger, because the parents andgrandparents eat first. Then the kids get
to eat what's left over. Andthey're sitting there with these beautiful brown faces
big you know, they have almostperfect teeth and because there's not a lot
of sugar or process foods. It'sfresh food, fresh fish, fresh coconut
and papaia and mango. And they'resitting there with these wide open eyes.

(43:57):
Is there going to be anything leftfor me to eat? That's what I
get out now. Letty in thetrue Samoan tradition, when he died and
passed away, he was buried inhis front yard. That's what they do.
They don't go to a cemetery.You bury your ancestors in your yard.
Do they have markers, Oh yes, yes, and it may just

(44:21):
be a pile of rocks or something, but usually they have a little headstone
for an important ancestor. But theseare the things learning about the other cultures
and how they honor and what theyhonor the er. Yes, I love
that too. You know that Iwould live in Thailand if it weren't for

(44:44):
my kids and grandkids. In fact, I take a group there every year,
usually January because that's the best timefor weather. The January twenty twenty
twenty five tour, as you know, sold out completely in one week.
Now. I have some dates,it's not there yet you we'll announce it
here. So don't call yet,but I'll be doing it in January of

(45:07):
twenty twenty six, and that willsell out in a week. Yeah,
we'll we'll announce it here first,okay, And everybody who's currently on the
waiting list for twenty twenty first shot, please do not call us. You
will get first opportunity at twenty fivewe have For those on the twenty twenty
five wait list, we will contactyou before we publicly announce it. That's

(45:28):
why I always tell everybody if youare at all interested, put yourself on
the wait list, because you don'tyou're not committing yourself to anything if we
get an opening, but it doesallow you first shot at the next tour.
You know, what I'm going todo is take you to my favorite
temple. We can safely do atemples tour now of Thailand because they have

(45:53):
Catholic cathedrals, LDS temples, Buddhisttemples. You know, we can cover
all basis. They have a Jewisharea as well. They do some important
synagogues. But I want to takeyou to my favorite temple in Thailand called
what dous sutep now what means temple. So for like, we have a

(46:15):
LDS temple here in Salt Lake Citybe called what Salt Lake the temple in
Salt Lake City, so Soutep itself, what Deusutep. Sutep itself is a
district in the in the western chengMai City. It's outside the city and
it gets its name from the adjacentmountain. Now doy means mountain in Thai,

(46:38):
so dou mountain. Sioux Tepe isthe district, so that identifies where
the temple is. Anyway, interms of impressive temples, the construction of
what Dousutep began in thirteen eighty sixwhen Carlos was just a young man,

(46:59):
and according to popular legend, thetemple was built to hold a piece of
the bone of Lord Buddha's shoulder.They got what they did is according to
the legend, they had a pieceof Lord Buddha's shoulder and broke it in
half. One went to a templein another area and the other came up

(47:21):
to Sutep this district. Now itwas they wanted the king wanted to build
a temple, but didn't know whereto do it. And it has to
be a special temple because you haveLord Buddha's bone. A relic an icon
for it. And so what theydid is they mounted this bone on the

(47:44):
back of a white elephant. Nowelephants are sacred. White elephants are very
very sacred and important symbol in Thailand. And so they said the elephant,
well, this sacred elephant, thiswhite elephant, will show us where the
temple should be built. So theelephant climbed Doui Sutep member Doi is mountain,

(48:07):
Sutep is the district and wandered about. He went to the top of
a mountain and there trumpeted the elephantthree times, and then the elephant laid
down and died. And so theking knew that this is where what Doi

(48:27):
Sutep should be founded. And it'scalled the Gold Temple, and it,
you know, it was very importantin the Lantic Kingdom in the fourteenth century.
But people say, oh, ithas some gold. No, no,
it's gold, and you can seethat. No real gold. Now
everything's not solid gold. Some isleaf. And what I like to do

(48:50):
is go into one room and geta blessing from the priest. He'll dip
a lily pod in holy water andjust kind of shake it out over the
audience. You're down on your kneesin a respectful thing. It doesn't violate
anybody's belief, but it's a wonderfulthing. I want to take you to
wat Doisutep, the Golden Temple,and again we will announce when that comes

(49:15):
out. Hey, very quickly,Viking Cruises has if you book before July
thirty first with Morris Columbus Travel,you'll enjoy free or reduced international airfare with
just a twenty five dollars deposit onselect cruises. More when we come back
here on the Travel Show. Welcomeback to the Travel Show. I'm Larry

(49:52):
Gelwicks, the get Away Guru,joined by Wendy Frakia, Group Department Operations
manager at Morris Columba's Travel where youalways travel more and pay less, and
Carlos feed A, director of LatinAmerican sales. I hate hidden charges.
We've talked before about what I callthe evil resort or destination fees. They're

(50:15):
horrible, you know. President Bidenhas repeatedly promised, even said it in
the State of the Union address.He calls them junk fees, that he
wants them added into the advertised price, and not surprisingly, the hotels are
fighting tooth and nail. They don'twant to disclose. It's kind of a

(50:37):
hidden charge. Well, they're makinga lot of money on these extra charges.
You know, sixty dollars a nightfor a newspaper and free internet.
I mean, that's really all you'regidding. It really is now. You
know, it seems that hotels,airlines, airports, everybody has never met
a fee they didn't like. There'san outrage at the Philadelphia Airport. On

(51:01):
any and all purchase they are nowadding a three percent up charge surcharge,
and they don't disclose it in thepricing. There's a little tiny card somewhere
in the register and in the fineprint. Nobody reads it. Nobody can
read it. It says we're goingto charge an extra three percent so and

(51:24):
they print it then on the receiptas a search charge. So if you
buy something for I don't know,anything, food, souvenirs, anything,
they're going to add a hidden threepercent. I think they've taken a page
out of the playbook of hotels andairlines. They're jumping on. They really
are. Now. One of thethings that I really like about the Salt

(51:49):
Lake Airport and some others is what'scalled street pricing. At so many places,
that hot dog that costs fifty centsat seven to eleven costs five bucks
or eight bus bucks at an airport. But Salt Lake City Airport has a
street price in meaning what you wouldpay for a drink or a meal or

(52:12):
a purchase in a store in town. It's the same price. You want
to have lunch at Cafe Reo andit's ten bucks. It's ten bucks at
the airport. Now maybe you've notnoticed this, but there is no McDonald's
at Salt Lakeport. Burger King everybodyasks, yeah, and you see McDonald's
at almost every airport. But whenMcDonald's submitted the application to come in,

(52:39):
they said, no, we willnot do street pricing. We want to
do our own unique pricing. Andgood job, Salt Lake City Airport.
They said, thank you, butno, thank you. They're holding fast
to that. So watch out atPhiladelphia. And the prices in Philly are
outrageous to begin with, and thenthey want to hit you for another three

(53:01):
percent. So by your hot dogat the Salt Lake City Airport. And
just to remember, just a reminderis Alasa continues to be a very popular
destination and there's some space left thisyear. But if you're thinking of next

(53:23):
year, absolutely positively start planning rightnow, do not wait. Yeah,
in fact, you can give MorrisColumbus a call and talk about twenty twenty.
There's some really good deals out there. I will be hosting a one
week cruise and it's north south andthat's Vancouver to Anchorage. We depart August

(53:47):
twenty third and get off the boatAugust thirty first, so you're back in
plenty of time for football. Butwhat's nice about this. We'll do Juno,
Chigan, Skagway, Glacier Bay.But on the north south Vancouver to
Anchorage, you get two glacier days. The first ones in Glacier Bay,
the second one is College Fjord.And in that fjord, carved out by

(54:13):
glaciers millenniums ago, you will seethirteen different glaciers from your from the ship
thirteen and it's just mind boggling.So give Morris Columbus a call. We
do have space on that. It'sjust a one week cruise, wonderful Vancouver

(54:34):
to Anchorage. Now, Carlos,let's turn our attention from the glaciers of
Alaska to South America. Which country. Oh my gosh. You know,
I remember about a year ago youand I were talking and I said,
let's do something different, Let's dosomething a tour that I have never seen

(54:58):
before, and of course have todo Custco Sacred Valley pitch. But we
said, let's do Peru, Chileand Easter Island. Yeah, let me
tell you talking about Peru. Ithink it was a couple of years ago,
maybe a year ago, I wentto Peru and they invited me to
climb to a new hike. Youknow, the Wina pitching is the celebrated

(55:22):
Did you say I want to pinchyou, Carloss, I don't want to
pinch you. And we don't dothat story none of the radio. It's
want to pitch you wine up pitching, Winea pitch. You stop your whining.
That's right. So there is thereis a new hike that is called
Uchui pitching, which means little wineapjust a little pitch. She said,

(55:45):
Well, I thought that it wassuch an easy climb, you know,
to go there, because it iswell it's as little, it's little,
and it's not as big as theother one. Well, it was quite
a challenge to climb up to thetop from the top, because we are
not on the very top of themountains, but we halfway only we had
the best view of the Citadel ofMachu Picchu. People went while taking pictures.

(56:09):
I went wild because I could notcome down and I have to tell
the guy please please help me tocome down. So that is included now
in most of the tour we offerthat. We offer also a climb to
the Gate of the Sun, whichis where the people that do the Inca
trail, which you will do.Yeah, let me ask you this,

(56:29):
Carlos. How we are about oneminute left. How is this tour of
Peru. In the next segment we'lltalk some about Easter Island. How is
this different than all the other toursthat we offer to Peru. Well,
we do they overnight in Machu Pichu, which is at the bottom, you
know, so which most people don'tdo they just go And what's the benefit.

(56:53):
What's the benefit of that? Thebenefit is that you have two ways
to enter Machu Pichu and do theclimb into one of those iconic places.
You know. The thing that Ilike is that you come down on the
train. It's a dome train withglass top. And they now have reservations.
You go in the morning or afternoon. When you overnight, you can
go up the next morning before thetrain gets there. Hey, more on

(57:19):
the Wonders of South America and othertours when we come back. Welcome back

(57:40):
to the travel show. I'm LarryGelwicks, that get Away guru, and
I've gotten away to Washington, dC. Hot and humid, but my
are we having a good time orhere with my family? Back in studio
in Salt Lake City is Wendy Fraki, a group department manager at Morris Columbus
Travel, and Carlos fieda direct ofLatin American sales. And we're going to

(58:01):
come back to that Wonders of SouthAmerica. I want to hear some more
about Easter Island, which is aPolynesian island. It's part of Chile back
I think it was eighteen eighty eightthey annexed it. And it's closer to
French Polynesia than it is to Chile, and yet it's part of the Chilean

(58:22):
country. I have all the documentariesthat are out there on Easter Island.
Do yourself a favor. It's nothard to find and it's just fascinating.
Well, very brief, let's talkabout it now, Carlos. Yes,
this Wonders of South America, whichis in March eleventh to the twenty fourth
next year. You and I willbe your personal host and tour guide.

(58:45):
We see Lima, Cusco, MachuPicchu, the Sacre Valley, we have
Santiago Vigna del Mar in Chile.Tell me about the Wonders of Easter Island.
You know that Easter Island is anopener museum. In fact, it
was the first island declared by UNESCOa World Heritage Site. So that tells

(59:07):
you everything. You go every dayto a different ceremonial site. These huge
monuments that I call MOAIs, youknow, are opening the everybody would recognize
the photo, the elongated body andface with that. There's some nine hundred
mowai's standing, but there are underunder that covered. Yes, yeah,

(59:31):
it's it's one of the if you'relooking for something different. Now, this
is going to be a small group, Wendy. I think about twenty people
exactly. It's small and intimate.Carlos and I. We have couples to
fill it up, couples. It'shalf sold out. Now you can get
all the details at Morriscolumbus dot comand just scroll down on the home page

(59:52):
to Morris Murdoch Escorted Tours. That'sthe group department. Click on South America
and there it is March eleventh tothe twenty fourth, twenty twenty five.
The short answer, Wendy, whatare the blessings and benefits of travel?

(01:00:14):
Short answer, I'm going to say, for me, it is appreciation and
gratitude for what I have and whatI need in my life. What I
see other cultures embrace simplicity, andhow I can improve my life and my
family by witnessing Carlos same question.I think it is traveling with your own

(01:00:38):
family. Oh, you make memoriesthat they will never forget, never because
that children love it to go withGrandpa and Grandpa, with Mom and Dada,
especially when Grandma and Grandpa are payingfor it. It's always a chlse.
You know my kids, we havefive kids, they're all married,
doing wonderful twelve grandchildren. We're startingto travel with some of the older grand

(01:01:00):
children now, but we have traveledthe world with our children. And I
remember a story when my daughter Emilywas in the second grade, second or
third grade. I believe it wassecond grade, and that they had kind
of a children's introduction to world history, and the teacher held up a picture

(01:01:25):
of Westminster Abbey in London and kindof tease the class, does anyone know
where this is? My Emily raisedher hand and the teacher said, Emily,
you know where this is? Shesaid, yes, well where is
it? And what is it?Westminster Abbey in London. Emily, how

(01:01:50):
did you know that? My daddytook me there? And then the teacher
asked, and they talked a littlebit about the history and showed Parliament building
and then went back to Westminster Abbeyand says, holding up a picture of
the interior now and said, doesanyone know what's under the floor. Emily

(01:02:13):
raises her hand and says, deadpeople, because they bury people under the
ground. I mean, there's somany experiences that we've had. I think
it helped my children expand their understandinggrow up. I three, So it's
kind of my answer in Carlos's answer, all wrapped up one and they grew

(01:02:35):
up. I think without prejudice.We have Grandma Cava, their grandmother in
Tonga. We have Uncle Dean Amaudiin New Zealand. We have friends in
Europe. We have friends in Africa. I have Jackson uncle Jackson in Kenya.
I have my family in Italy.So when I went to Italy with
my sister, we visited every cemeteryaround and found out what our family experience.

(01:03:00):
You know what I'd like to do. I want to highlight three tour
say I'm the luckiest guy in theworld. First because I married Kathy.
We have a wonderful family, butI'm so grateful to be in the travel
industry and have traveled the world onehundred and thirteen countries, three new ones
this year. I'd like to justhighlight and I'd invite Wendy and Carlos brief

(01:03:22):
comments from you on each one thatI'll be personally hosting. That I'd like
to invite our travel show listeners tojoin me. Let you and I travel
the world together. I can giveyou my perspective. We also have local
experts on that one is Iceland toLondon. Now, this is June twelfth

(01:03:46):
to the twenty second. We'll sailfrom Rekivik Iceland and make three stops in
Iceland. By the way, wehave a free airfare promotion. It's really
a buy one, get one free. On this tour, we go to
Norway, to Olissen and Bergen andthe the Fjord Country, then to Amsterdam

(01:04:08):
Bruce, Belgium. Now you've beento Bruce, haven't you. I haven't,
but you're going. I'm going somedays, maybe the most beautiful city
in all of Europe. You'll loveit because it's known for lace work.
There's lace shops everywhere. You forget, don't even get married? How could
I? What about the US?Well, then we sail over to Southampton.

(01:04:30):
We'll have u the London, youknow for our listeners. Yeah,
fish and chips. Do you knowwhat I don't like about English fish and
chips? Now they don't allow thevendors to wrap them in newspaper. I
swear that printers ain't gave it aunique flavor that I loved. Something.
Probably will cause carrier or something,but anyway. June twelfth to the twenty

(01:04:51):
second Iceland, Norway, Netherlands,Belgium and England. If I would love
have you joined me? Remember goto morriscolumbus dot com, scroll down to
Morris Murdock Escorted Tours and offer theseclick on cruises. Oh here's one that
I did two years ago that wasa home run the Empire of Japan and

(01:05:15):
Korea. The actual cruise dates.It's an eleven day cruise May sixth to
the sixteenth, and it's you know, Japan is fascinating, the history which
is so polite and so clean.You know, the only one who jaywalks
in Tokyo are the tourists. TheEuropeans and the Americans are the ones that

(01:05:41):
apply to us. That's right.Anyway, what we do we basically see
most all of Japan. We sailround trip from Tokyo to Kochi to Toba,
Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Shimizuo, Shimizuis Mount Fuji and the Japanese Alps,

(01:06:04):
and then over to Busan, SouthKorea. And I mean I did
this two years ago and people justlost their minds because Japan tends to be
expensive. I was just going tosay that I invite all the listeners who
are interested in seeing Japan to priceout a tour to see all the different

(01:06:25):
places that we're going to be doingon this cruise and compare the price to
well. To afford that, you'dhave to be Bill Gates. Well,
you know, what some people cando it very economically, but even then
you do not get all the benefitsthat you get on a cruise. Every
well not everybody loves a cruise,but there are so many benefits and the

(01:06:45):
cost well that you will have onthis one compared to a land when it
just does not compare well. Thecruise days are short days because you're going
from city to city. All yourmeals are included. We will do our
own sh your excursions again the Empireof Japan and Korea, May sixth to
the sixteenth. I will be yourpersonal host and tour guide. And then

(01:07:11):
one more. This one has reallygot my wife excited. Is it England?
Yes, it's the British Isles.It's July seventh. I kind of
wish we were there on July fourthand just say this is a holiday for
us over across the pond. That'sright, July seventh to the twentieth folks,

(01:07:33):
the British Isles. We sail roundtrip from Southampton, which is down
in the south of England. We'llvisit England, Ireland, Northern Ireland,
and that's a difference. Northern Irelandis still part of the UK. The
Republic of Ireland is an independent country. There we'll go to Scotland and then

(01:07:56):
to France. You'll have a chanceto go to Paris. We dock at
Lahov and you can take the trainright into Paris. So we have we
have England, Scotland, Ireland andFrance. You know, one of the
favorite places is Cork and that's theBlarney Castle. And you know I told

(01:08:23):
this story months and months ago,but the legend of the Blarney Castle is
if you kiss the Blarney Stone,you're given the gift of gab Mark falmost
said, well, if that's thecase, Larry made out with the Blarney
Stone, are there, Yes,I have pictures to be kissing the Blarney

(01:08:45):
Stone. Okay, folks, justvery quick review. Iceland to London by
way of Norway, the Netherlands andBelgium that is June twelve to twenty two.
These are all next year. TheEmpire of Japan in Korea May six
to sixteen next year, and BritishIsles July seven to twenty. We will

(01:09:06):
have our own on board activities andour own shore excursions. If you're even
interested, give Morris Columbus a call. You can call your favorite Morris Columbus
Travel Advisor, or just call thegroup department direct. You can get all
that information at Morriscolumbus dot com.Scroll down to Morris Murdoch Escorted Tours and

(01:09:30):
you can get the phone number forthe group department with that. Hey,
I just want to remind you,Wendy, would you I'll give you the
dates. We've got about thirty secondson the Panama Canal the scott Marine Proctor
January five to twenty one. Well, you just said, there's the dates
right there with Norwegian Cruise line thatgoes from La Full Canal or Transcnal crossing

(01:09:54):
through the lake all the way overto Florida. Yeah, you'll you'll make
stops in Puerto Wayarta, a Capulco, Puerto Quetzal, Guatemala. You'll stop
in Panama City and transit the canalonto Carlos Cartagena, Colombia. Maybe beautiful
city, beautiful city. Well timein Guatemala as well. It is in

(01:10:16):
Puerto Quetzal and then the Grand CameanIslands and on to Miami. Hey,
more to come here on the Travelshow. Welcome back to the Travel Show.

(01:10:44):
I'm Larry Gelwicks and I got awayto Washington, d C. We're
having a wonderful experience here with thefamily. Back in studio in Salt Lake
City is Wendy Frakiad, the groupdepartment manager at Morris Columbus Travel. And
the Argentinian gaucho himself, Carlos Feeda, the Google of all things Latin America,
South America. So welcome to bothof you. You know you were

(01:11:09):
talking about you really, Carlos,enjoy the Big Island. We talked earlier
about the Volcano National Park over onthe Kailuacona side. And by the way,
Wendy, I love the I callit the village of Kailuacona, you
know, walking on the boulevard onthe waterfront, shops, restaurants and the
history of that. The first church, Christian Church was built right there in

(01:11:33):
Kyluacona. But a favorite place justsouth of Kayluacona, an easy drive is
pooh Anua Oh now nau what Andif I mispronounced that, which I did
not, you would not know.I don't know what you're saying. It's
the city of refuge. In theancient Hawaii, pre European influence, they

(01:11:58):
had what's called the kapu aapu.They had no written language, but in
English we'd spell it kapu the kapuand that was laws. Think of taboos.
There was, for example, thepenalty if the Alie which is the
royal family, if the Alie shadowpassed over you, you were put to

(01:12:20):
death. Oh my goodness. Yeah. There was no appeal to that.
And other other things. There wascapital punishment or other punishments, a good
beating, a good hiding or somethinglike that. Or they would take your
property if you stole, and thingslike that. Well, the city of
refuge Puohu ho anw oh now nowin Hawaiian. Yes, to getaway Guru

(01:12:44):
fluent in Hawaiian and all languages.If you could, if if the person
charged, if the trespasser of theirkapu laws were was able to get to
this city, all was forgiven acomplete pardon. Nobody held a grudge.
And this is part of ancient Hawaii. In part it came about that twenty

(01:13:09):
three elites, remember the chiefs,the royal family, whose bones were protected
and placed in the Haau now theHaau in Hawaiian is their temple. The
royal grounds were the center of power, only open to the alie. So
the the I call it the trespassors. I'm not talking about property trespassers,

(01:13:32):
the breakers of Kapu. They wouldget into the city, not into the
very center, that's the allee only, and all was forgiven. They could
go back to their village. Whateverthe crime was, nobody remembered. It
was a complete pardon. So hI. You know. One of the
things about Hawaiian etiquette for visitors is, you know, be kind to everyone,

(01:13:57):
respect the hula. Don't laugh atIt's part of their culture. It's
more than just entertainment. Remove yourshoes when you're going into someone's home.
But what a big thing is isdon't take anything. And there is a
legend of a curse that if youwere people like to take a stone from

(01:14:17):
the hayout because it's a visitor centernow it's a state park, and if
you take a stone, you arecursed with bad kar bad luck. And
they have this whole display of rocksthat have been returned with a letter saying
I took this rock and everything inmy life fell apart. My business failed,

(01:14:39):
I got in an accident. Ican't tell you there is a connection,
but I haven't taken any rocks.There was a Brady Bunch episode about
really so sooo oh now, nowdon't take a rock from the City of
Refuge unless you want your life togoing to that tour karma, I will

(01:15:00):
leave you all right. Hey,listen, you and I were talking earlier
in the week when I was stillhanging out in Salt Lake City about this
tour that was kind of the inspirationfrom the trip we took during Obamagau to
Switzerland. But you have one that'smuch more in September. Tell me about

(01:15:21):
it. So this trip leaves onSeptember twenty seventh, and it's called the
Highlights and Mountaintops of Switzerland Tour.We've only got a couple of spots left
on it. But what's even greatis we've got eight ninety nine round trip
airfare Salt Lake City from Salt LakeCity to Zurich. I've got two spots

(01:15:41):
still available for eight ninety nine tojoin us on this tour. So this
is a unique tour is that itis a land tour, but we are
doing Swiss is very swistainable is whatthey call it. They're very green and
we are doing a lot of travelby train, including the world famous Glacier
Express US from Zermatt to Saint Martin. Now this isn't the Polar Express with

(01:16:04):
not the no no, no digitalpeople, but amazing sight. So we're
going to Young Frau Yolk, We'regoing to the Matterhorn, We're going to
the Rosenberg Glacier on horse drawn carriagesand that's Saint Moritz. I was going

(01:16:24):
to ask you that was one ofthe greatest experience in my life. You
take this horse drawn carriage about Idon't know how long did we were there
for at least an hour? Imean the ride up is like you're looking
for grandfather and Heidi coming down.Well, you can get all the details
at Morriscolumbus dot com. On theSwitzerland Highlights and Mountaintops with Wendy Fraka,

(01:16:47):
your personal guide leaving in September,and the tours that we talked about,
the Wonders of South America again asmall group March eleventh to the twenty fourth,
and the cruise I talked. I'llbe back in studio in Salt Lake
City next week. God bless you, God bless America, and you guys
have a great week. Audios fromthe nation's capital. Goodbye,