The Travel Show: Live from Thailand!

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:12):
Sawadi Kop and welcome to the Travel Show. I'm Larry Gelwicks,
that Getaway Guru, and I've gotten away with a wonderful
group of travel show listeners here in Thailand, and in
a few days we'll be in Vietnam. Now. Last week
I was in Bangkok during the show, and today I'm
up in the foothills of the Himalayas in chang Mai,

(00:35):
and I'm going to give you a full report of
what we've been doing. Absolutely fabulous. Through the miracle of technology,
we can come to you today. Wendy Fraki, a group
department manager at Morris Columbus Travel, is in studio in
Salt Lake City while I'm gallivanting about the globe. Wendy,
Welcome to the show.

Speaker 2 (00:56):
Oh thank you. I had to break myself away from
slaving to ensure that you're that you're just having such
a great time traveling the world.

Speaker 1 (01:04):
Do you epen to have a tissue that I could
wipe my eyes with? You know what?

Speaker 2 (01:08):
Yeah, if I could get it over there to you,
I would certainly.

Speaker 1 (01:12):
Use a bananaly for something.

Speaker 2 (01:14):
I'll ice that's very good.

Speaker 1 (01:16):
Well, you know, this particular trip has just been fabulous. Now,
we've never done this one before Thailand in Vietnam. We've
done Vietnam, We've done Thailand, Cambodi, We've been into Laos
and Vietnam. But this one was centered around the Loikretong Festival,
which was a few days ago, and I explained what

(01:39):
it was last week. The biggest, the brightest, the most
exciting festival in all of Thailand, celebrated all over the country.
But the epicenter is in the ancient capital of Sukotai.
And today we're in chang Mai. You know, I love
cheng Mai. It's cooler in temperature, and you know, it's
the beginning of winter here, although it's the tropics. You

(02:02):
know what the locals are wearing jackets and I am
in shorts, a T shirt and flip flops. You know,
of course I am.

Speaker 2 (02:09):
You're a utah.

Speaker 1 (02:11):
As formal as I get over here, I guess what
chang Mai is most famous for. You know, it's an
ancient city, former capital of the Lantic Kingdom. It's over
seven hundred years old. It still has a moat and
an ancient wall surrounding much of the city. But what
it's known for is the night market, the night bazaar.

(02:32):
I don't know that there's anything like it in the world.
I don't even know how to describe it because it
only it starts opening up street vendors, alleyways. You know,
there's one alleyway you go down and then it opens
up to bigger than a football feel of vendors, of shopping.

Speaker 2 (02:52):
Well, then you go down another alley and whole it's
insane thing.

Speaker 1 (02:57):
So the shopping course, I always tell the men in
the group, Hey, if all of you'll give me twenty bucks,
there'll be no shopping today. I promise you'll be dollars ahead.
But no, we're having a.

Speaker 2 (03:10):
Best souvenir shopping though you can really find anything and everything,
you really can't.

Speaker 1 (03:15):
Now today we ventured into the chung Dao Valley, which
is an hour plus outside the city, more in the
foothills of the Himalays, heavily forested, and visited an elephant
sanctuary and you got to interact with the pacoderm see
some of their skills, and then go on a safari. Now,

(03:37):
most elephant rides are like Dumbo on the kmart parking lot.
Sure not this one. You have a mahout, which is
the buana kid sitting on it guiding the elephant, and
those mahoots stay with the elephant for life. They bond.
And then you have a seating like a box, a pillbox,

(03:57):
and you actually have seat belts, and off you go.
It's usually about thirty or forty minutes, but it's through
the jungle, wading through rivers, uphills, downhills, and it is
I mean, it's one of the highlights for it.

Speaker 2 (04:11):
I was going to say, well, when I was just
there with you at the beginning of the year, it
was absolutely everybody's highlight of the trip. It really was.

Speaker 1 (04:22):
You know, every elephant camp claims to be a sanctuary,
but they're not. We go to the Matamon camp, which
is really a sanctuary. They take such good care of
the animals, and I mean it's just a great, great experience.
And then after they're at the elephant sanctuary, we get

(04:44):
on these bamboo rafts with seating and float down the river.
You remember, and again you have a guide on each
end with these long bamboo poles, very gentle waters.

Speaker 2 (04:55):
Oh yeah, you know, it was so much fun. It's jungle.
It's that you just got to ride as you're going
down on the raft. They're out there taking their baths.
It is just the funnest thing. They're shooting water. It
is everything you imagine it.

Speaker 1 (05:11):
And then we go to the Butterfly Farm and the
Orcid Farm and have a nice lunch there, some more shop.

Speaker 2 (05:18):
You're bringing back so many wonderful memories.

Speaker 1 (05:20):
Well, you know what's interesting. I do a usually in January,
a Thailand and Cambodia Anchor Watt tour. The twenty twenty
five tour was put on sale, it was January, we traveled.
It was put on sale in February. It sold out
in the week. The January twenty twenty six sold out

(05:43):
in a week. I keep it to thirty six people.
It's a deep diving culture, food and everything. And then
we had so many people we added a February twenty
twenty six sold out in a week. So you know,
at the expo, which was October eighteenth, we said, here
is the January, late January Larry's Thailand and Cambodia going

(06:07):
into early February. That was October eighteenth. By the end
of the week it was sold out. So the question
is will I be doing another Southeast Asia adventure And
the answer is yes, yes, it will, but it's going
to be unique. It's going to be different. I'm so excited.
I've done this one before. We will have a river

(06:29):
with Alma Waterways will be on the may Kong River,
sailing the backwaters of Cambodia and Vietnam, with an option
to go to Bangkok with me for three days before
flying up to Cambodia. We'll see opportunity to see Anchor
what one of the great wonders.

Speaker 2 (06:47):
The world, one of my favorites.

Speaker 1 (06:49):
You know, from the twelfth to the fourth century, it
was the most enlightened, civilized, educated civilization part of the
Khmer Empire.

Speaker 2 (06:58):
It will. I think what surprises people is that you
can still go out and walk through it. I mean
it's like.

Speaker 1 (07:06):
A warm, warm temple.

Speaker 2 (07:07):
It is and it and you just you're walking through history,
you're touching it. There's not a lot of places that
you can get that connected to history.

Speaker 1 (07:16):
It's always fun. We warn people don't put your sunglasses down,
don't put your hat down. There's monkeys and they'll grab them.
So if you see a monkey in a baseball cap
with wearing sunglasses.

Speaker 2 (07:29):
They're yours.

Speaker 1 (07:30):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, they're money. So the dates in twenty
twenty six. Really, what's today November? Well, it's November the
eighth for you. We are fourteen hours ahead. It is
just past one a m. Sunday, November the ninth here
in Thailand. And what we're going to do next year,

(07:50):
twenty twenty six with Alma Waterways, the ultimate deluxe river
cruise company. I've done the Maykong before with Ahma and
it's off the charts. Oh yeah, November ninth to the sixteenth.
And what we did, Wendy, is we bought half the ship.
In fact, these ships are a bit smaller than the
like the Rind or the Danube. They are, and we bought,

(08:14):
We bought the cabins, and so our discounts run anywhere
from five to six seven hundred dollars per person to
well over one thousand dollars less than going direct to
Alma Waterways, same date, November ninth, same cruise, or buying
it from any other travel company. You're gonna pay a

(08:36):
lot more. I will be your personal host and tour guide.
So we have an anchor. What option? We have a
Bangkok option? We still have some cabins left this one.

Speaker 2 (08:46):
Yeah, I was gonna say it's getting limited though, it
really is.

Speaker 1 (08:49):
I'd love to have you join me. And what's so
easy is you pack an unpack one time. We'll start
in Cambodia just outside of Sein Reap, that's Anchor Wat,
and then will disembark in Saigon now called Ho Chi
Minh City. One of my favorite stops is Tan Choo.
It's in Vietnam. It's a small Maykong river town that

(09:13):
is completely unspoiled by tourism. You'll be treated to a
very authentic experience, including a traditional rickshaw. Now a few
weeks ago I told a funny story about these. They're
called cyclos in phenomen Pen. Maybe some of you do it,

(09:34):
but it's known for the rattan matt workshops, for the
silk making, everything done by hand. And then you know
we that's in tan Chow. We visit Sadek. It's where
the French writer dur Us live for so many years.
What this really is. We'll see the big cities, PanAm Penn,

(09:54):
the capital of Cambodia, will be at c n Reap.
Option to see Anchora. We'll go to Ho Chi Minh
City we know as Saigon. But Wendy, we get to
the backwaters of Southeast Asia, places that tourists simply don't
go now. To get all the details, go to Morriscolumbus
dot com. That's Morriscolumbus dot com and on the very

(10:17):
homepage scroll down. I believe it's the third item Morris
Murdoch escorted tourists, and then pick the geographic area of
a land tour or if it's a cruise like this
one is. Click on cruises, find it by dates. Join
me for the riches of the May cong.

Speaker 2 (10:38):
It's gonna be spectacular. I'm I'm excited and come.

Speaker 1 (10:43):
You and Ted Khan I need to Okay, when we
come back, Wendy's gonna talk to us about private family tours.
We may even head to the River Senne in Paris.

(11:10):
Welcome back to the Travel Show. I'm Larry Gelwicks, the
Getaway Guru, joined in studio back in Salt Lake City
Wendy frakan Group department manager with Morris Columbus Travel. The
Travel Show is sponsored by Morris Columbus Travel, where you
always travel More and pay less, winner of the Best
of State Award for four years in a row, is

(11:33):
the number one best top ranked travel agency in the
great state of Utah. Welcome to the show, Wendy.

Speaker 2 (11:41):
Thank you always so great to be here.

Speaker 1 (11:43):
You know, I was talking to you, oh, several weeks ago,
and you'd mentioned a very popular trend that we're seeing
in travel is with families. And it's not just a
couple of people. It can be right, and it's really
a larger family travel family tours.

Speaker 2 (12:03):
Well you know it was, and actually it's such a
fun story because it happens so often. You know, it's
a small world. But I got this really great phone
call and he's like, I don't know if you remember
me or not, but I grew up with your little brother.
And we had this really fun conversation. He goes, you know,
I've been in charge of putting together our family vacation

(12:23):
and we want to go on a church history tour.
My father in law has told me this is what
we want to do. And there's like thirty maybe of us,
and you know what tour can you put us on?
And I'm like, oh, Scott, let's talk about this because
with that many people, we could actually build you your
own tour. We can custom it to the dates that
work best for your family. And I said what's the

(12:45):
ages And he's like, well, we're going to probably have
some babies, but you know, my father in law's eighty
and so it's like, all right, So we have an
age limit on most of our escorted tours of eight
years old. We do make exceptions on that. But on
a family this is your side. You get to decide
how to do it. You get to decide where you

(13:06):
want to go, the quality of the hotels that you
want to stay in. We had had a fun conversation about,
you know, hotels. He says, you know, his family's kind
of hotel snobs. They know exactly what they want, and
so we really customize this amazing church history tour for them.
And this is I think people forget that we can
do so a lot of times. A lot of the

(13:28):
travel agents in our company are fantastic putting family trips together,
and I just wanted to maybe let the listeners think
about this as an option. Be customizing these kind of
family trips have so many benefits, and the most important
one is is we're taking care of all of your logistics.
We're taking care of putting all your plans together, and

(13:52):
you just really get to go and enjoy your experience
in time with families. I mean, you know that, Larry,
You've done this many times with your family.

Speaker 1 (13:59):
You know what I that what I've said, and I
think one of the great blessings. There's so many benefits
to group travel, but you only have to remember one thing.
Peace show up on time.

Speaker 2 (14:11):
Well, you know one of the things. Talking to my friend,
I said, do you want a tour manager who's going
to manage the travel while you're on the road. Do
you want a historian who's going to be able to
teach at the sizes that you're like a menu? It
really was. I mean the things that we went through
and customize. And the thing is their family is going
to have exactly what they want. So sometimes you may

(14:34):
only have, you know, a family of you know, less
than twenty and maybe they want to go on one
of our our escorted tours that's already put together. If
we've got the space, we would love to have you.
But guess what, you're now going to have another ten
twenty people in the middle of your family all the time.
And so there is something to be considered about these
private groups. So whether it's a cruise, whether it's a tour,

(14:58):
whether it's a domestic church. You want to go to
Holy Land. Oh my gosh. One of the very, very
best programs is when you get to go and experience
the Holy Land with family and not just family. And
I keep saying it like that because that seems to
be the thing. These are missionary reunion groups that we get.

(15:19):
We get sports clubs that are ready to go out
and they want to go and chase Formula one through Europe.
We've put together dance crews who have gone on cruises
and they've gone and done performances. Those are the kind
of things that not just the group department, but our
travel advisors can do for you.

Speaker 1 (15:39):
How do the listeners get a hold of you if
they have a information on a family group tour?

Speaker 2 (15:45):
The best thing to do is, if you're looking for
something educational like what Escorted Tours does, is give us
a call at eight oh one four eight three six
three sixty three. That is our local number, eight hundred
eight o nine sixty six one zeros too many? Is
I know? Sorry, I'm confusing.

Speaker 1 (16:04):
One four eight three sixty three sixty.

Speaker 2 (16:07):
Sixty three sixty three and just tell them that you
want to talk to somebody about a private group. And
if it's one that we do, great, If it's one
that our travel advisors is better suited for, we're going
to get you to the right person.

Speaker 1 (16:19):
Well, so much fun in travel. I am doing a
program that I have never done before. It is with
Alma Waterways, the Ultimate Deluxe river cruise company. It'll be
June of twenty twenty seven. This one is guaranteed to
sell out. It's called the Adventures on the River Sinn.
Now we start and sail round trip from Paris, and

(16:41):
we'll have an option for two or three days in
the City of Lights Paris before the cruise. But this
itinerary is crazy good. It's Paris, Normandy, the D Day
Landing Beaches, Han Fleur, row in Vernon, Los Angeles and more.
And what's nice about this one is that again we

(17:04):
bought half the ships. Now, I'm going to tell you
that river cruises in France tend to be a little
pricier than elsewhere. That's just the way it is. Taxes
and everything else. I'm excited about the D Day Landing Beaches.
You know, I was there with the group this summer.
It's a very emotional experience. And Han Fleur Ruen. That's

(17:27):
Joan of Arc. It's a medieval city. There's archways and
cobblestone streets and everything right there. But listen to these prices.
The cruise is June seventeenth to the twenty four.

Speaker 2 (17:39):
Of twenty twenty seven, right, that's.

Speaker 1 (17:41):
Right, twenty twenty seven. And for the lead cabin which
has upper fixed windows, the published rate right from the
Almah Waterways website is five five hundred and seventy nine
plus some taxes. France is pricier. We bought half the ship.

(18:02):
Our price for the very same thing is thirty eight
sixty nine. That's a savings of one thousand, seven hundred
and ten dollars per person. Per couple, it is thirty
three thousand, four hundred and eighteen dollars. You've got for
a couple a savings of twenty four hundred dollars because

(18:23):
we bought half the ship. Now you can get all
the details of the itinerary at Morriscolumbus dot com. Click
on Morris Murdoch Escorted tourists, click on cruises. That's June
of twenty twenty seven. The Adventures of the River said,
we're going to be heading to Great Britain with Abi Bedell.

(19:03):
Welcome back to the Travel show. I'm Larry Gelwicks, the
Getaway a Guru. The travel show is sponsored by Morris
Columbus Travel, where you always travel more and pay less.
Be sure to check out their website Morriscolumbus dot com.
That's Morriscolumbus dot com. If you'd like to look at
any of their escorted tour programs, which are many and

(19:24):
which are wonderful, scroll down on the homepage to Morris
Murdoch Escorted Tours. Click on the geographic destination, or if
it's a cruise, simply click on cruises. Well, Wendy back
in Salt Lake City. I've gotten way to change my
Thailand today and we'd like to welcome. I guess I

(19:47):
should say welcome back to the show because you've been
with us before. One of my favorite people literally in
the whole world, Abby Bonell, a well known radio I
should say character personality, well known radio personality in Salt
Lake City. Abby, welcome to the show.

Speaker 3 (20:08):
You know this is my favorite show, and I hope
my bosses aren't listening because I do work in news
and I do do a music show, but this is
ultimately my absolute categorical favorite show. And I worked here
for twenty five years for this company and radio station.
This month, how about that?

Speaker 1 (20:24):
Really? Congratulations silver anniversary.

Speaker 2 (20:28):
Is it?

Speaker 3 (20:28):
I never got the silver I got an email.

Speaker 1 (20:33):
Thank you for your twenty five years of service. Well
you grew up in the UK, I did, and in
a wee village I did. It's all odd love, which
I need to hear about. But let me ask you
this Abby, as a brit yourself, what is the fascination
that Americans have with all things British?

Speaker 3 (20:53):
I don't know, because I'm always amazed because I live
there until I was twenty five, and I just something
about it. It's rich history. You just drive through Britain
and you just see these incredible landmarks and landscapes just
unfold before your eyes. It is the Emerald dial, you know,
it's so green and beautiful. It's people also, well, overall,

(21:16):
we're quite polite. For instance, we're the best cures in
the world. We will queue properly, we will.

Speaker 1 (21:21):
Stand there standing in line.

Speaker 3 (21:23):
Absolutely, and we won't barge in. That's what we do.
And we say sorry a lot. We'll say sorry for
things we have you've done, do that. Yeah, I'm so sorry.
I'm really really sorry. It's like, what are you sorry for? Sorry,
I'm not the microphone, I was getting it excited. But
the cultural heritage, the literature, Charles Dickens, Shakespeare, I mean,
it's just dripping in it. Really. It's just a fascinating

(21:46):
country and wherever you turn, even my little village. It
was mentioned in the Doomsday Book in ten fifty six.
It became granted a market because it was the point
of like three areas. It's like a T shape. We
still don't have a traffic light there. From Staffordshire to
Shropshire to Cheshire in the thirteenth century and it's amazing.

(22:07):
We've got this incredible canal that goes through there, the
Shropshire Union Canal, and it's narrow and it used to
be it was built by Thomas Telford, who's buried. We
actually see, you know, we walk on it. I hate
to say it, but we walk on.

Speaker 1 (22:20):
It's shameful, shameful, but it.

Speaker 3 (22:22):
Was one of the last and he built beautiful structures
and bridges like the Meni Straits in England. But this
they have four fifteen locks through the village. Now TODs yeah, now,
this is just a little Ordlum And by the way,
I never was going to take anybody to Ordlam. It
was you who said you have to take them back
to Ordham. My family's house is still there. My family

(22:44):
has lived there in the same place since eighteen forty.
If you can imagine the villagers, there's so many of them,
like Judy in the center, who has the village there.
Orderam online were devastated. We didn't go in September because
I opted not to because it was so busy.

Speaker 1 (23:00):
Yeah, now let me give you our listen. Is just
a little backstory on this. Abby regularly will take a
Morris Columbus group to England, Wales and Scotland. And originally
you weren't going to Oddlum And I said, Abby, you
must now share with us what happened that first year

(23:24):
When the bus rolled into Oddlum.

Speaker 3 (23:26):
Well one, the bus could hardly move round the statue
in the center of the village. I thought, oh no,
it's going to get wrapped around it. It was so huge.
This village is so beautiful. It wins all kinds of awards.
And the villagers had all the flags.

Speaker 1 (23:41):
Oud American flags.

Speaker 3 (23:42):
American flags, welcoming to the bus. Yes, and then I
tell them exactly where Judy's shop is. That, by the way,
Judy's Shop has been passed on through the centuries since
eighteen sixty two. She went to school with them.

Speaker 1 (23:55):
And what do they sell it?

Speaker 3 (23:56):
Everything? Do you need some wooden sticks? How about firelighters?
Children clothes? How about beautiful cards with a big hedgehog on.
I get all my cars there by the way stack
out because of the best, and everybody here says, oh,
what a beautiful card. Yes, it's Judy's.

Speaker 1 (24:11):
Tell me about the pub. One pub again. Pub is
not like a bar in Las Vegas. It's a family restaurant. Yes,
they serve alcohol, as most restaurants around the world do,
but it's a great place to take children. It's steeped
in atmosphere. You have one pub there.

Speaker 3 (24:29):
We don't we have more than that. You have a
British We have three in the village.

Speaker 2 (24:33):
Well, of course wow, three yes.

Speaker 3 (24:35):
And two on the canal because they're exhausted opening the
locks trying to get through it. On the bar.

Speaker 2 (24:39):
Any nourishment, absolutely.

Speaker 3 (24:41):
They need a pint. So this pub that we go
to is my family's favorite. It's the Cumbermere Arms. It
dates back to fifteen forty. The character is exquisite. It's
got crannies and nooks and roaring fireplaces. The food is fantastic.
They never take tour groups they have except the Bonnels
made it happen, and so of course we've gone there

(25:03):
for years and years and years since I was a
little dot. I to have a ginger beer in a
packet ose and there you go. So they said, come
come on, bring.

Speaker 2 (25:10):
Them in, We'll welcome them.

Speaker 3 (25:12):
Yes, absolutely, and it's neither a monks really, I think,
Brandy Swift, why.

Speaker 2 (25:22):
This is why you travel with Abby? I mean, are
you just talk about that?

Speaker 1 (25:27):
Because next year twenty twenty six September nine to the nineteenth. Yes, uh,
it's eleven days, ten nights. Yes, you will be personally
leading a group of travel show listeners. Yes, to England,
Wales and line Stockton. Right, some of the things that
we'll see.

Speaker 3 (25:45):
Okay, just very quickly obviously all the big London sight seeing.
You're just going to marvel over it. That what I
love is was staying at the Bailey's Hotel in Kensington.
It's so central.

Speaker 1 (25:55):
I've been to the Baileies. I was there in September.

Speaker 3 (25:58):
Yes, this is my favorite.

Speaker 2 (26:01):
It is we worked very hard to get it.

Speaker 3 (26:03):
Yes, so I asked, it's the best trel Yes, it
is so anyway, so we do at Windsor Castle, of
course is another highlight. Burnsey. My best friend and my
sister's friend will be there. We'll go around the castle.
Then we're going to hop up to the Cotswells. I
have to say. We're going to Wales, Wales, whales, to
Snowdon and.

Speaker 1 (26:23):
Sure whale watching. We have whale watching.

Speaker 3 (26:28):
Kind of wells, the Cumrai the real whales where I
went to university. So we're going to Snowdonia National Park.
It's one of the largest, most beautiful national parks in
the world. You are going to take this little rickety train.
Don't worry, it does work, and we go up the
track and we stop for sheep and then we get
to the very top and on a good day, like
a year ago last September, you can see island. We

(26:51):
even saw Swansea in the south of Wales and it's
all you stand on this incredible crag. They've got like
one hundred lakes in the national park there. It's exquisite.
And then we go to Edinburgh. I've missed out so much.

Speaker 1 (27:03):
I love Edinburgh. I was there in August.

Speaker 3 (27:06):
Lock loamand one of my highlights. It is incredible, one
of the largest locks up there, fresh water so deep,
so don't fall in and go for a little swim.
Not a good idea. It's very chilly at that time
of year. It's always chilly, it's never warm. Lock loamand
it's not the medisterran NeSSI no, well, I've never seen
Nessie and I've been going to Scotland since I've never

(27:28):
seen him yet, I have to say. But there are
all kinds of different monsters.

Speaker 2 (27:32):
Have another pint, Yes, if you have a couple of
I promise you can see anything with a pint, a
pulled pint in one of the old pubs.

Speaker 3 (27:40):
Yeah, there's so much to see and I'm not going
to break it all down because if you go online
right now you can actually see it all yourself. It's
so much fun. Honestly, you drive through Great Britain and
you see see real Britain firsthand, beautiful Britain.

Speaker 1 (27:54):
You know. One of the most beautiful areas that I
believe your tour will take you threw is the cutswalls.

Speaker 2 (28:02):
Yes, I love it.

Speaker 1 (28:03):
Me about the cutswalls, well, it's it's just like.

Speaker 3 (28:06):
Chocolate box, isn't it do. They have these beautiful little
low bridges you walk over in Boughton on the water
that's rue. The names, Oh, the gorgeous they're just so lovely.
And it's not that far from Chester and the border
of Wales and Ordland where we're going for the next stop.
So we'll stop there for lunch and within about three
four hours guess where we are. We're literally in the
old Roman walled city of Chester. Ready to drive into Northway,

(28:30):
Wales and see all the sheep and you can pick
up some lovely sheep rugs to bring back. Every single
year I break out a lovely Chester.

Speaker 1 (28:37):
I was in Chester this summer. Loved it.

Speaker 3 (28:39):
You can walk the walls. It's one of the oldest
Roman walls in the world. I mean it's so high,
and the Romans marched all the way obviously from Italy,
and they build this staggering wall with these Tudor houses,
white black and white timbered houses which now are incorporated
as businesses and can you imagine a retail shop and
all these in these buildings that date back to Tudor times.

(29:03):
I mean, it just absolutely blows your mind in history.

Speaker 2 (29:07):
You really wonder what the appeal of this tour is.
Everything that you've just said, well besides Abby, which is
she is the cherry on top, the history and the
stories that you tell, and the different guides and all
the character and you know, Larry, you said, what's the appeal?
All of this is the appeal. This is our history.

(29:27):
So many people, you know, family's bloodlines go all the
way back.

Speaker 3 (29:32):
Oh I hear it over again. Every time they'll take
a separate little day day off to go to Glasgow
or to Aberdeen where they know they have relatives exactly.
You know it is. It's quite fascinating.

Speaker 2 (29:46):
Well, going early, staying late, or just taking part of
the tour in general. You are just connecting to your roots.

Speaker 3 (29:53):
And we also have a really experienced tour guide with us,
a local guide, yeah local wherever we go, but we
also have a talk guide that travels with us and
oversees all of it, you know what I mean. So
it's really just covered well every You don't have to
worry about anything. You just get on the bus.

Speaker 2 (30:12):
The free time Abbey is there scheduled in the different
places for you to go exploring shopping be really where's
the shopping.

Speaker 3 (30:20):
Oh, there's lots of shop well London. By the time
you've got left London you should be all shopped out
and your suitcases should be packed. But I would save
some room also for whales, because there's a lovely gift
shop to the mount right at the bottom of the
Snowden railway. That's just a great little spot, it really is.
But Edinburgh, you get to Edinburgh and they all.

Speaker 1 (30:39):
Go berserk because magnificent mi.

Speaker 3 (30:41):
Oh my gosh, and there's half a day there. Always
get the Welsh woolen rugs as well and Scottish rugs
and brains.

Speaker 2 (30:47):
So well we'll give them a shopping guide, right, yes, okay, perfect.

Speaker 1 (30:50):
Hey, we've got about thirty seconds left, very quickly. Some
of your favorite British foods that are to remembers pasties.

Speaker 3 (30:58):
Yeah, I love Cornish past it is, yes, I do
like those. But fish and chips, of course, you can't
go wrong. And I'm sorry you can't replicate it outside
the British US. I don't know what it is, whether
it's the fresh air, I'm not sure what it is, but.

Speaker 2 (31:11):
It just tastes different, tastes different.

Speaker 3 (31:14):
Even my little village has a traditional chippy which is delicious.

Speaker 1 (31:19):
Well, lots of great food. Hey. Check out all the
details with Abby Bonnell, England, Wales and Scotland September ninth
to the nineteenth, twenty twenty six at Morriscolumbus dot com.
Click on Mooris Murdoch Escorted tourists, click on Europe and
be sure and join Abby when we come back. I'm

(31:39):
going to tell you the one thing you have to
remember so many cop and welcome to the travel show.

(32:01):
Sawadi is the local greeting here in Thailand. And you
know it's almost two o'clock in the morning here Sunday,
November second. We are fourteen hours ahead of Salt Lake City.
Back in studio today for the show is Wendy Frakia,
Group department manager for Morris Columbus Travel. Welcome to the show, Wendy.

Speaker 2 (32:24):
Thank you so much. I was just going to say,
I'm sitting here drinking on ice called Dieke coke, and
I can only imagine how many you've had to still
be awaken talking.

Speaker 1 (32:32):
I take it iv as you should, along with chocolate shakes. Hey,
listen we've talked about these wonderful group tours, and we
both said earlier in the show, among the many benefits
of a Morris Columbus group tour is you only have

(32:53):
to remember one thing, show up on time. Everything is.

Speaker 2 (32:57):
It is the golden rule. It's not the only rule,
but it is the golden golden rule.

Speaker 1 (33:02):
I want to share an experience. I'll be next week
in Saigon. I'll be in Vietnam halanng Bai, Hanoi and
Saigon or Ho Chi Minh City. And this happened several
years ago. This is a very private experience and one
of the most meaningful travel experiences I've ever had.

Speaker 2 (33:24):
Wow.

Speaker 1 (33:25):
So what I tell people when we're out on a
tour and we get off the bus, look around, look
for landmarks. You know, if you're out in the in
the countryside, it's easy to see the bus. But if
we're in the city and make a stop, look around
for landmarks. It's so easy to get misguided or lost
wherever you are. So we were in We're on a

(33:48):
cruise ship and Fu Mai is the port city. It's
about an hour hour plus from Saigon, and we did
everything in Saigon. But I always say the shopping or
last went to the Bentan market. Now, the Bentan market
is the traditional market and an indispensable part of the
history of Saigon. It's handicrafts, lacquerware, silk products, embroidered textiles,

(34:15):
children's things, hats, I mean, food, everything, and it's monstrous, wow. Everything,
much of it is covered, much of it is uncovered.
And so we get there and the ship leaves at seven.
All aboard is at six point thirty. So I say,
let's meet at five o'clock and give ourselves sits an

(34:39):
hour and ten minutes, fifteen minutes if there's traffic getting
back from Saigon to Fu Mai. And so we get
there at about three o'clock. And so they have two
hours of shopping and say, now look around. There's this landmark,
there's this building, there's this neon sign that you can
see anywhere. And I always give them my cell phone number.

(35:01):
The local guide gave them everybody the cell phone number.
I said, be back on the bus. We can't risk
missing the boat.

Speaker 2 (35:10):
No. No, that is like something that would be the worst.

Speaker 1 (35:13):
That would be the worst. And so people start showing up,
such a good group four forty five four fifty and
at five o'clock everybody is back but one couple, and
it's okay. You know, they'll be back a few minutes.
And it's five oh five and five ten and they're
not back. I call them, no answer, They'll go straight

(35:36):
to voicemail. So you know, it's five point fifteen, it's
five twenty. It gets to five thirty, and I am
really really concerned. I've called and called to go straight
to voicemail. This is the living nightmare, as you know,
of a tour host. Because we're on a cruise ship.

(35:57):
It's not like, well, they'll get back to the hotel
on there own. We are on a on a cruise ship,
and that ship will leave with us, leave with or
without us. Yeah, and we are an hour to an
hour and ten minutes, hour and fifteen minutes from Fu Mai.
And it's now five point thirty. The ship leaves in
an hour and a half. And you know, the several

(36:18):
of the men on the group said, hey, let's form
a search party. We'll go looking for him. I said, no, no,
I can't lose any more people. It got to about
five thirty five and the local guide is really panicking,
and I said on point Wendy. I have to pull
the trigger. Oh yeah, Now, this was an older couple.

(36:42):
They're off the ship. They're in the ship. I don't
know what the cards they have. Some are they in
the hospital. Have they had an accident? Are they lost?
I have no idea, but at some point I have
to pull the trigger. And I'm going to have to go.
I can't keep forty plus people from missing the boat.
And I said to the guide, it's like five thirty seven,

(37:04):
five thirty. I said, we'll leave in a minute. And
I said I'm going to get off the bus. Don't
leave without me. And I said a prayer, and I said,
Dear Heavenly Father, this couple won't make it. They won't
survive this. It's too much. I don't know they're lost.

(37:26):
I don't know where they are, but you do. I
need to find them, and I need to find them now.
And I got off the bus. No angels, no voices,
no thunder. I had to turn to my right, left
or go straight. And I just turned to my right
and walked about a half a block. There was an
alleyway there. I go left, I go straight, or I

(37:47):
crossed the street. I'll go to left and I ran
into them and they were just sobbing. They wanted to explain.

Speaker 2 (37:54):
I said, don't explain now, just get run.

Speaker 1 (37:58):
Yeah, get back. They got they got disoriented, and I
just said, put the pedal to the metal. We are
screaming down the highway and at about six fifty we
get to the ship. They're already taking down the ropes.
One gang plank was still there and we made it on.

(38:18):
But it was such a personal experience to say, to God,
I don't know where they are, but you do. Hey,
when we come back at our number two, we have
a listener request email that I got. I'm going to
tell you all about it. Thank you for listening to

(38:52):
the Travel Show every week on this very station, of
this very time. And we're now in hour number two,
the best two hours in radio. Larry gelwicks to get
Away Guru, and I'm so so happy that year. Can
I just express my personal appreciation, you know, I get
Getty getting so excited to do the Travel Show. Now

(39:13):
in my thirty fourth year hosting this show. We're syndicated
on nineteen stations, and we just have a lot of fun,
don't we. I got an email from Ted who requested
that I repeat some information that I did several weeks ago.
He said he didn't get a chance to write it
down with Ted. Go back and listen to it on

(39:34):
the podcast, which you can do at Morriscolumbus dot com.
But he asked about San Francisco. You know, San Francisco
has had some problems, getting much better. Even the National Guard.
Trump pulled him off because they said it is getting better.
Crimes down thirty eight percent, and you always want to

(39:55):
be careful wherever you are.

Speaker 2 (39:58):
But it was really bad, really.

Speaker 1 (40:00):
Bad a year or two ago. But they're cleaning up
the city. Maybe that's because Newsom wants to be president.
I don't know, but I love San Francisco. You folks
know I grew up there. I know the back alleys,
the fun places, everything about it, went to school there.
I mean, I have a love affair with the city.

(40:21):
And I go back to the same place as I
go to Fisherman's Wharf, I go to Peer thirty.

Speaker 2 (40:25):
It's nostalgia, it is it is.

Speaker 1 (40:28):
I go to Garadilly Square and get their overpriced hot
fudge Sunday, which it's worth it. You know, we're on vacation. Well,
here's what was request. I mentioned some of my favorite restaurants.
I have a long list, but I think I gave four.
Four restaurant recommendations for seafood. My absolute favorites on California

(40:49):
Street and that is the Tattish Grill. It dates back
to the gold Rush days and there, I mean all
of the food is good. It's high ceiling, surly waiters.
You know, it's old school, very very lots of woodwork.
And my absolute favorite dish is the chiappino, which is

(41:11):
a Italian seafoods to shrimp and scallops and crab. It
is to die for, the best I've ever had. Their
petrolley soul and sand dabs are outstanding. And if you're
not a fish eater, you can be blasphemous and have
chicken or beef.

Speaker 2 (41:29):
So spell that Ta.

Speaker 1 (41:31):
Tha d I c h the Tish.

Speaker 2 (41:34):
Grill and if you google it, there you go.

Speaker 1 (41:36):
It's on the Tattish Grill. It's down in the Financial district.
Sam's Grill is just up the street. That's another good one. Now,
if you want a seafood on the wharf, I recommend
Scomas s COO m A S. It's I like Tatish better,
but Scoma's is very very good now for Thai food.

(42:02):
Marnie Tie m a r Marnie ni Ee Tie Marnie
Tied south of Golden Gate Park, and I love dim
some which is like potstickers and harcoud almost like finger food,
and you can get noodles and vegetables and everything. But

(42:23):
the Yanks sing. There's two locations, one down on the Embarcadero.
Oh my gosh. It's a little more pricey than some places,
but they bring it around in carts and you just
take it when you want it. Those are some of
my favorite. Ted also asked I gave recommendations for sourdough bread. Now.
The San Francisco Sara door really is different and they

(42:43):
attribute it to the water, the air, humidity, the fall,
everything about it, and it is different. My absolute favorite
is the Tartan Tar Ti n E Bakery out and
Guerrero Street. The New York Times said, as to a
loaf of bread, it is perfect. Speaking of their sourydal,

(43:06):
now they have more than just sourdo bread. It's a bakery,
but people you get sandwiches there. People line up down
the street to get into the Tartan Bakery. I love
Mullinary on Columbus Avenue in the Italy district. I always
go there. It's the ultimate Italian delicatessen. Meats hanging, you

(43:27):
get a sandwich. But what I always do on my
way to the airport is I have this bag and
I'll get about five or six boxes of fresh ravioli.
And I mean you have not tasted ravioli. It's freshly
made right there on the spot. And my daughter Jenny
threatens me with physical violence if I don't bring her some. Now,

(43:50):
the other two breads I like. One is Acme Acme.
It has a good crusty outside. It's baked on a hearth,
so you get that bottom.

Speaker 2 (44:00):
Of the firm bottom.

Speaker 1 (44:02):
Yeah, and it just has a great taste, crusty on
the outside, pillowy soft on the inside. Bo Dean is
perhaps the most famous. Now I like it. It has a
really good sourdough taste. But it is cooked on a
rack rather than a hearth, and I like the texture
of a hearth bottom as opposed to the rack. So
those are mine, making me hungry? Hey, one other thing,

(44:25):
if everybody wants to ride the cable car, and it's
there's only there used to be twenty three lines. There's two.
There's the California line that goes up to Vans that's
east west, and then you have from Garriedelly Square area
and Fisherman's Wharf area. The two lines merge and take

(44:45):
you down to the Market Street and Union Square. But
a one way ticket is nine bucks, so you're gonna
go round trip that's eighteen bucks. Don't buy that. Get
a pass the passport San Francisco Municipal passport is good
on the cable cars, the street cars, which are different,

(45:07):
and the municipal buses. A one day pass it's a
calendar day, not twenty four hours. A one day passes
fifteen dollars.

Speaker 2 (45:17):
Oh, that is a biffite, and you get a.

Speaker 1 (45:19):
Three day thirty five dollars. A seven day is forty seven,
So ted, I hope that answers all your questions. And
I'll see you in San Francisco for a sourdough bowl
of climb.

Speaker 2 (45:31):
Chowder and throwing over to tatishes and then have some soup.

Speaker 1 (45:36):
Oh chiappino stew, Oh my gosh, kill me now, and
just get it over with. Hey, listen, you know I
have spent a lot of my time in the South
Seas Polynesia. I can speak enough tongue and to be
basically conversation. I wouldn't call myself fluent. I used to
be pretty fluent, but I can converse now. It's always
fun to go out to the PCC and surprise them.

(45:59):
Someli which I am. A white guy goes up and
they'll they'll say, my loi la, which is the native
greeting and tongan my loila fifthe hockey, you know, and
I'll go on and talk to them and they go,
what anyway. I love the South Pacific. Everybody really wants

(46:20):
to go, but it's expensive. It's flat, especially the food.
I tell people, if you're going to stay to resort
in Tahiti, you budget at least one hundred dollars a
day per person. And they say, oh, it can't be,
I said, And then they come back and say, just wait,
you just wait, you just wait for that, and it's
always one hundred dollars a day per person or more. Well.

(46:42):
I'll be personally hosting a South Seas Odyssey May fifteen
to twenty seven, twenty twenty six, which is the perfect
time of year to go. Weather wise, it's not the
rainy season, and it's always warm in the tropics, but
it's not that it's not that oppressive humidity you get
in our winter time down there. And we'll be sailing

(47:04):
from Tahiti through the islands of French Polynesia Morea right Yeta,
where a new LDS temple was announced Bora Bora. James
Mishner said it was the most beautiful island on Earth.
Will cruise through the Society Islands, the Tuomotu Archipelago of islands,

(47:25):
crossing the Equator, and then the islands of Aii and
finally on the twenty seventh, we have to say, audios.

Speaker 2 (47:35):
Isn't that audios audio Aloha.

Speaker 1 (47:38):
Aloha to we disurbarked.

Speaker 2 (47:42):
It is two o'clock in the morning, that's.

Speaker 1 (47:44):
Right, and to the twenty seventh. Now, what's really good
about this, Wendy is not only discount cruise rates, but
we have a free airfare promotion to explain the detail.

Speaker 2 (47:56):
So with Norwegian Cruise Line they have got a found
tause stick Bogo air fare. Bogo Bogo stands for a
buy one, get one So if you ever hear that
wonderful term, but it what I love most about this.
This thing that NCL does with their Bogo is the

(48:16):
first one is not twice the price, and you get
one free. Like some promotions, I.

Speaker 1 (48:20):
Don't jacket up.

Speaker 2 (48:21):
They don't jacket up. You're paying a real reasonable price
for that first ticket and the second person legit goes free.
It's fantastic. Now. The bad side or the downside, is
you don't get to pick your airline and you don't
get to pick your itinerary. So if you've got multiple
change exactly if you're what the routing is going to be.

(48:41):
So if you're traveling with multiple cabins, you need to
make sure that they're all connected because you may end
up on completely different flight itinerate cerio. And that's why
you work with the travel agent like Morris Columbus, so
we can assist you with all those things.

Speaker 1 (48:58):
You get all the details. May Fit fifteen to twenty seven,
the South Seas, Polynesia, the South Pacific like you've never
seen it, at a very affordable price. May fifteenth to
the twenty seventh. Go to Morriscolumbus dot com, click on
Morris Murdoch Escorted Tourist, click on cruises or give your

(49:18):
favorite Morris Columbus Travel advisor or call or call the
Group Department at Morris Columbus Travel. Welcome back to the

(49:50):
travel Show. I'm Larry Gelwicks, the Getaway Guru, joined in
studio back in Salt Lake City as Wendy Fracki, a
group department manager at the Morris Columbus Travel. Wendy, if
our listeners wanted to contact the group department direct eight
oh one.

Speaker 2 (50:09):
Four eight three sixty three, six three sixty.

Speaker 1 (50:12):
Three six eight oh one four eight three sixty three
sixty three for any and all of our Morris Murdoch
escorted tours. And you know, somebody like, why do we
why are there two names? Morris Columbus Travel is the
company named Morris Murdoch. Can you explain this deliberate intention
to confuse me?

Speaker 2 (50:32):
Absolutely? The name Murdoch goes clear back to the beginning
of the sixties, way back way back. So many people
recognize that name, and it is just one they're so
familiar with that when Morris Murdoch established their group tours
back in the fifties and sixties, this was just the

(50:52):
name that everybody got comfortable with. And so when the
merger happened with Columbus in twenty two. This was twenty
twenty one. What was the official date of our merger? Anyway,
the board really felt strongly about keeping a name that
everybody identified with, which is Morris Murdock escorted tours so excellente.

Speaker 1 (51:13):
Yeah, now here's a bit of trivia about my life.
Maybe you're aware of this. It was put out in
a company company trivia at one time. Did you know
that in nineteen seventy three, I was twenty three years old,
I applied for a job as a pan Am flight attendant.

Speaker 2 (51:33):
Did you know that? I think I did hear that.

Speaker 1 (51:36):
Yeah, I told you I'm a hopeless travel junkie. Yes,
and I didn't want to make a career, but I
thought I would maybe three years I would. PanAm was
an international.

Speaker 2 (51:49):
Area, Yeah, it was the early the.

Speaker 1 (51:51):
Airline, and I could see the whole world and get paid.
You know. I was in San Francisco back home, and
they had, of course a big flight presence. That doesn't
mean i'd be flying out of San Francisco, but PanAm,
and so I applied and I got a most interesting response,
they said in essence, and they were very kind. You

(52:14):
are exactly the candidate we're looking for, but we're not
hiring now. We are laying flights. This was, you know,
the first big oil crisis, which was October nineteen seventy
three to March of seventy four, and they laid flight

(52:35):
attendance and pilots off. During the nineteen seventy three Arab
Israeli War, the Arab members of OPEK imposed an embargo
against the US in retaliation for the US decision to
resupply Israeli military and to gain leverage in postwar peace negotiations.

(52:57):
So you know, they said, hey, had it been a
year earlier or something like that. And I've often wondered
how my life would have been different if I'd been
a pan Am flight. I didn't again, I didn't want
to make it a career. I wanted to see the
world and get paid to do it. Or little did
I know that my going on forty eight years now

(53:18):
in the travel industry would lead to me see one
hundred and seventeen countries.

Speaker 2 (53:24):
As being the world and being paid for it.

Speaker 1 (53:26):
Now as an almost flight attendant.

Speaker 2 (53:30):
There was a You have great empathy for them, right you, And.

Speaker 1 (53:33):
I'm always very polite. Please and thank you. There was
a survey made amongst flight attendants about which routes I
mean city, I fly to this city they hate working
the most and why those passengers on that flight make
them miserable?

Speaker 2 (53:51):
Oh how interesting?

Speaker 1 (53:53):
Well, the biggest complaints and they don't like the route
because of the passengers New York to South Florida leisure travelers,
New Yorkers, snowbirds plus Florida manstyle passengers. It makes it
a hot spot among flight attendants putting fears online New

(54:15):
York to Florida. Another one is the New York Premium
Transcon JFK to San Francisco JFK to LA. The problem
there is a high level of elite status type A,
personalities and overall entitlement. And then they said Los Angeles
generally self centered and customers oh wow. And then Washington

(54:38):
Dulles and Washington dcail Airport entitled political types lobbyists famous
for DC like cabinet under secretaries who are important within
their own domain and never recognized out of it. And
Caribbean and cruise riss. And here's some of the things

(54:59):
they reported, New York to South Florida. These are flight attendants.
The flight attendants complain about entitlement, arguments, rowdy behavior, and
constant attitude New York to Florida. Now out of Calgary.
This one surprised me. Calgary, Alberta, Canada, Karen like behavior.

(55:24):
You know you know. The name Karen, of course, is
for just a rude, entitled person ignoring instructions about in Calgary,
arguing during the security time get your seat belt on now.
In the La Basin, which includes Lax, Orange County Burbank
Long Beach, the flight attendant said strong entitlement vibes, I'm entitled.

Speaker 2 (55:52):
That's right, don't I'll take care of it.

Speaker 1 (55:55):
Yeah, and then JFK Lax or JFK to San Francisco
elite heavy, do you know who I am? Excuse me,
ladies and gentlemen. We have a mass person here in
row fifteen who said do you know who I am?
He doesn't seem to know who he is, and anybody
to identify him, multiple drink orders at the same time,

(56:18):
and an unfriendly entitled vibe. Okay, just maybe just a
couple of boys. I found this absolutely fascinating. Washington Dulles
and both Dulles and National quote annoying, rude, needy political
base entitlement one more San Francisco and California in general

(56:43):
entitled and needy versus East Coast and rude, but not needy.
They're rude constant anyway. I found that so maybe that
would have been my fate in life. I've often wondered
what would have happened if I'd been a PanAm flight attendant.

Speaker 2 (57:02):
Oh my goodness, well, I was just thinking. It's like,
as you get on the plane, you need to see
the sign that says check your entitlement at the door.

Speaker 1 (57:08):
That's right. I'm always very polite, even to kind of
disengage light attendants. Hey, when we come more, we're going
to Africa, Egypt, Paaris around the World with Morris Columbus Travel.

(57:39):
Thank you for joining us here on the travel show.
I'm Larry Gelwicks. Then getaway Guru. The travel show is
sponsored by Morris Columbus Travel and we always travel more
and pay less. Check out their website at Morriscolumbus dot com.
That's Morriscolumbus dot com. If you'd like details and more
information on any of the escorted tours on the homepage,

(58:04):
just scroll down to the third item. Morris Murdoch Escorted Tours.
Then click on the geographic destination that you're interested in,
or if it's a cruise, click on cruise. You can
also contact the group department direct at eight oh one
four eight three sixty three sixty three, and maybe even Wendy.

Speaker 2 (58:27):
You'll pick up the phone and just maybe I would
love to. It's one of my Actually, I really love
picking up the phone. It's talking to people.

Speaker 1 (58:34):
Oh what a great staff you have there. Now if
you can also book this, If you have a favorite
Morris Columbus travel advisor, you're happy to call him or
her for any of these tours, Wendy. One of the
things that we talk about is some of the benefits

(58:55):
of a Morris Columbus group tour. We've mentioned some of
them tonight, but in short, why why Morris Columbus and
Morris Murdock Escorted Tours.

Speaker 2 (59:05):
Well, we mentioned our longevity, the strength of our company.
I think we are such a trusted provider. I actually
brag about the point. I don't know if Brent Jensen,
our president, loves this point as we want to tell him,
but you know that we have refunded over five million
dollars in travel since the pandemic.

Speaker 1 (59:27):
Of during the COVID days.

Speaker 2 (59:28):
During the COVID days that there's a lot of companies
out there who are local do similar tours to ours,
who have very strong policies. They don't do any refunds.
Your deposit is non refundable from the moment that you
spend or that you pay it. We are so flexible,
but it just goes to speak about our policies and

(59:51):
stability and history.

Speaker 1 (59:54):
You know, there are travel agencies in the state of
Utah that during COVID declared bankruptcy. They were co mingling,
which isn't illegal, but it is a horrible business practice.
Customer funds with operating funds and millions of dollars. Local

(01:00:15):
media reported on these companies and many of them have
resurfaced under a new name with the same practices. There
is one company here in Utah that is currently operating
that says right in their brochure that the deposit is
non refundable. Now, if it's I have no issue with

(01:00:36):
a non refundability of a deposit, because some of the
deposits we make to travel vendors, cruise lines, hotels are
non refundable to us as long as it's perfectly disclosed,
and if the client cancels, there may or may not
be a non refundment. I got no issues. But this

(01:00:57):
company says that if we the company, if their company
cancels it for any reason, your refund or your deposit,
you won't get it back.

Speaker 2 (01:01:09):
Yeah, they don't have enough people to.

Speaker 1 (01:01:10):
Send the WEY understand that if a travel agency cancels
their tour, they still keep your deposit, or they may
offer you a trip somewhere else. But no, I wanted
to go to the Holy Land. I wanted to go
to Europe, and I can apply this on a Branson,
Missouri tour.

Speaker 2 (01:01:28):
Our Holy Land policy is actually one that we're very
proud of, and I think that most of our clients
say that they book with us specifically because of the
flexibility that we give them with booking to the Holy Land.
Because while we are so hopeful that this piece will
grow over there and that the tours continue. We have

(01:01:48):
a tour over in Israel right now. We've got to
sold out tour over Christmas, and our spring tours are
starting to book. People are getting their confidence, and you know,
it is definitely something that we're we're one hundred percent
working with but there's so many different places, and so
we talked about our strength, our stability, our experience, our

(01:02:10):
partners all over the world. I think we've got some
of the best tour managers that are not only including you, Larry,
but with a wonderful roster of professors and just just
some great professional What I specifically wanted to talk about
here was was the exotics, because you're in a very

(01:02:32):
exotic place right now over in Thailand, and you're going
to Vietnam. Vietnam to some people, you know, they're just
unimaginable to think about traveling there by themselves, but going
there with a company such as us, this allows them
to go and actually see something that they have dreamt about.
I mean, do you know what the word like exotic?

(01:02:54):
Like if I said something exotic, I know, you want
to go to Polynesia.

Speaker 1 (01:02:57):
By filamingo dancing, excidens exotic.

Speaker 2 (01:03:01):
Do you know that exotic just simply means strikingly different
or unusual.

Speaker 1 (01:03:07):
Let me get let me give you an example, would
you please comment on it. Let's talk about Africa safar
As because it really is a life change, and that's
an overused term, but that's the most frequent term. I
hear about our African safaris, both to Kenya and to
South Africa, and my wife Kathy really didn't want to go.

(01:03:31):
She thought it was all going to be chuck rama
for the Lions, and.

Speaker 2 (01:03:34):
That's not it's not now.

Speaker 1 (01:03:36):
I mean, that's just a small part of it. But
she went for the first time some years ago. She's
now been back many times. I've had her on the
radio several times talking about a woman's perspective of going
to it. I think of Lou and Sharon. That are
two of my dear friends who've traveled with me everywhere,

(01:03:58):
and Lou for years to go on our African Safari
the Great Migrations, and Sharon just didn't want to. Finally
he talked her into it, and Sharon has become one
of our biggest fans. She said, it's fantastic, greatest trip.
And she uses the term life changer.

Speaker 2 (01:04:16):
Well, strikingly different or unusual. And so when you say exotic,
you wouldn't always think about a safari, but it absolutely
fits the definition Egypt strikingly different. Absolutely, So you brought
up or Kenya Africa Safari. Let's just kind of talk
a little bit about that. Unfortunately your tour for the

(01:04:39):
twenty six has already sold out. That's end of July
and July. However, we do have another amazing tour in
May to Kenya. It's two days shorter. It is several
thousand dollars actually less expensive because of the seasons we're
going in May, there's going to be smaller crowds. It's

(01:04:59):
a different land escape then the migration that you go
to in August. The rain levels in the savannah, it's
green and it's lush, so it's a different it's a
different safari experience, but it's still life changing. But if
you still want to go during the migration, we've got
another one in August with Jim Gee, who's a regular
guest with you.

Speaker 1 (01:05:19):
And Jim will be on all of our tours. He's
like the number one tour guide in Kenya and out.
He's on my tour here. He is taking one August eighteenth,
and Mark Fldmo, my longtime business partner. He and Jim
will be leading one departing May the ninth. Now, as

(01:05:40):
you said, in May, it's not the Great Migration, it's
still a wonderful experience. It is two days shorter on
the Great Migration. We visit three game parks. This is
two I think the two best.

Speaker 2 (01:05:54):
You will still see the Big five and then some
and then some and then some and then some. But
so so Kenya. Absolutely, it's fantastic. But I also have
to put in a plug for South Africa because I
just got back a last month from an amazing tour
to South Africa, Zimbabwe, Botswana. We had such an amazing trip,
again life changing. It was safari, but it was also cultural.

(01:06:19):
It was so so impactful and life changing. But we
go to Morocco. Let's talk about Egypt. We talk about
Egypt quite often, which has got to be, next to
the Holy Land, one of the most life changing spiritual
type experiences. Exotics. Well, you talked about Tahiti. That is

(01:06:40):
surprisingly different. But the reason that you go with groups
is when you're venturing somewhere completely new. Traveling with a group,
it's not just easier, we're not taking you know, just
taking care of the logistics, but it's safer and it's
more fun and you really get a relax and just
throw your whole body into the experience.

Speaker 1 (01:07:00):
Let's talk about Egypt. You know, oh, what was it
two weeks ago? Dan Hone who was on the show
and talked about.

Speaker 2 (01:07:14):
Heale as he's going in February. He also oh yeah.

Speaker 1 (01:07:18):
Sorry, yeah, he also has a group to Egypt. Dan's
Egypt is in February and the Holy Land is in April.
We also have other wonderful, wonderful guides. If you'll go
to Morriscolumbus dot com then click on Morris Murdoch Escort
of Tours and click on Holy Land. You're going to

(01:07:38):
see the twenty twenty sixth lineup. That is just incredible.
But people ask, what is it about Egypt that is
so unique? Well, it really is the location that is
bridging the continents. Its ancient history is unparalleled. Monuments like
the Pyramids of Giza, the Sphinx, Memphis, the central role

(01:08:03):
of the Nile River, luxe Or and Karnak. I often
said to people, if you don't go to lux Or,
you haven't been to Egypt.

Speaker 2 (01:08:09):
Oh no.

Speaker 1 (01:08:09):
And the New Egyptian Museum, in addition to the you
know the one that's been there for years, the New
Egyptian Museum is displaying thirty thousand new not total, just
new items that have never been on display before.

Speaker 2 (01:08:28):
You know what I think Egypt to me, going down
to King Tut's tomb will never I don't know an
experience that will ever top that. You know, back in
the eighties when that was first discovered and put out
on exhibit it was, or maybe it was in the
seventies is when it was actually discovered, but it just

(01:08:49):
it really kind of changed my life just thinking about
how exciting that was. So Egypt is a fantastic option.

Speaker 1 (01:08:57):
You know, we had a minute left because you talk
about one more the twenty twenty sixth Paris and Countryside
with Reid Robinson that is April twenty second to the thirtieth.

Speaker 2 (01:09:07):
You know, is it exotic, yes, if it is different
in life changing and you know what Paris is that
for so many people, it is just a hot spot,
just like you were talking going down on the sand river.
Now read Robinson has got a passion for Paris. He
speaks French and he goes and he's giving you time

(01:09:29):
to explore Paris, but he's taking you out to the countryside.
It is going to be a full engagement.

Speaker 1 (01:09:36):
And what's nice, everything is planned out. It is great hotels,
your sight seeing admissions, many of your meals are.

Speaker 2 (01:09:45):
Included you are going to get to relax and just
know that you are going to get everything that you
want out of this experience. We're going to make sure
that you have a fantastic time.

Speaker 1 (01:09:58):
Check out all these Truscolumbus dot Com, then click on
Morris Murdoch Escorted towards you and then the geographic location
Africa Egypt. Holy Lands Egypt will be under Holy Lands
River Cruises. All that and more with Morris Columbus Travel

(01:10:19):
when we come back. What is a passport hard not
a passport book. Thank you for joining us on the

(01:10:41):
travel show. I'm Larry Gelwicks to get Away at Google,
and thank you. Thank you for making this the most
important part of your week. You know, it's almost three
am in the morning here in chang Mai in the
northern part of the Kingdom of Thailand. We're in the
foothills of the Himalayas and we've had just a marvelous

(01:11:03):
time here with a group of travel show listeners. In
a few days we'll be headed to Vietnam. We enjoyed
the Loy Kratong Festival earlier in Suko, Thai, Thailand. You
know how much I love this country, the people, the culture,
and the food, Oh my gosh, the food is wonderful.

Speaker 2 (01:11:21):
Still dream about that food.

Speaker 1 (01:11:22):
I think maybe my favorite is a dish. It's very simple,
fresh mango, sticky rice with coconut cream. Oh my gosh,
you know the pad Thai. There's a dish called kapao,
which is minced porker chicken. You get picked with that

(01:11:44):
hot sweet basil chopped up in it and stir fried
a some white rice. And if you know it's authentic,
there's a fried egg on top of the rice. And
when I ordered that here in the United States kapao,
I asked you put an egg on it. And if
they say no, I said, put an egg on it.

(01:12:04):
It's not authentic.

Speaker 2 (01:12:05):
You don't get up and walk out?

Speaker 1 (01:12:06):
No, I don't. I should. Hey, listen, my car is
parked at Parking Jets. What I recommend twenty percent discount
if you at parkin Jet, the only locally owned major
off airport parking lot, and they have the best rates
to begin with. But if you go to Morriscolumbus dot
com and I'll need click on resources it's right near

(01:12:28):
the top, and then sit on the airport discount print.
A half a dozen of them keep them in your
you can call yes, give them away as Christmas. Think
how much money you'll save.

Speaker 2 (01:12:40):
And I wish Halloween I could pass to treat that's.

Speaker 1 (01:12:44):
Going to be your Christmas present from me. Twenty discount
at park The car wash just asks for the coupon
as you come through. It the only locally local. We
hear that all the time. Shop local with parking, you know,
I get asked this question often, Wendy, what is the
difference between a passport as in a passport book and

(01:13:08):
a passport card. The US passport card is a wallet
sized plastic passport that has no pages to it, no
visa pages. The card is proof of US citizenships and
identity and has the same length of validity, which is
ten years for an adult five years for a kid.

(01:13:32):
As a passport book. The card is good for US
citizens who travel by land and or sea from Canada, Mexico, Bermuda,
and some Caribbean countries. The card is not valid for
international travel by air and is much cheaper than getting

(01:13:53):
the full passport. I still recommend get the passport, and
if you're not planning on any travel, get the passport. Well.
We love international travel. I have some suggestions of things
that you want to do should do before all travel,
but particularly international travel. First of all, as soon as

(01:14:16):
you get your travel documents, review all the documents for
spelling and accuracy, air crews, hotel transportation, passport validity. I
was driving my youngest son, Keaton, to the airport one
day and he was going with some friends to Mexico.

(01:14:37):
He was in college, going to have a good time
down there. And I say, we're on the freeway to
the airport and I say, hey, you got your passport yet, well,
so pull it out, check the validity. He pulls it
out and it was his expired passport. We turned around
and got the real one.

Speaker 2 (01:14:56):
And that's why you go early to the airport.

Speaker 1 (01:14:58):
That's right now. For inner national travel in your planning,
go to travel dot state dot gov. That's travel dot
state dot dot gov. Then click on international travel. Then
enter the country that you plan to visit, and a
whole page of information on entry requirements, currencies, health requirements.

(01:15:22):
All of this comes up. If you're going on your own,
download the Google offline maps on your cell phone. If
you're going to be a place where you have no access,
always call your cell phone provider and find out what
international calling plan they are. I also recommend that you

(01:15:43):
make three copies of the passport information page. One is
a simple photocopy, make at least two of them. I
make three, but and keep one in one place in
your luggage, one in your carry on in case you
lose one or the other. The second copy is simply
a photo that you take with your cell phone and

(01:16:03):
store in your gallery of photos. The third is you
take that cell phone photo and download it to your server.
Why in the unlikely event that your passport is lost
or stolen, you can have a photocopy. But what if
that's lost or stole. You have your cell phone. What
if that's lost or stolen, you can go to any

(01:16:24):
server and pick up get a copy of it, and
you can use With a copy, you can usually get
it replaced in a day, maybe two, and thoroughly research
your destination, you know, as far as holidays, everything going
about it. Well, Wendy, thank you for joining us on
another edition of the travel show that brings us to
the end. I'll say, Cob kun Kop, thank you from Thailand.

(01:16:48):
Next week, I'll be with you in Vietnam and looking
for I'll actually be in Saigon today. That'll be a
funshi min city, the Kuchi tunnels and the ben tail market.
God bless have a great week