52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks – Week 43: Transportation: Lorene Traveled Around the World Part III

This is my second year working on this year-long prompt, hosted by Amy Johnson Crow. I will write each week in one of my two blogs, either Mam-ma’s Southern Family or at My Trails Into the Past. I have enjoyed writing about my children’s ancestors in new and exciting ways.

I have previously written about my father’s sister, Lorene E. Hork, who worked for the U.S. Army in Tokyo before she and three other gals left for a trip around the world in the fall of 1953. Check out Part I and Part II.

I left off the last post with the gals in Taipei, Formosa (now known as Taiwan). They next continued their travels aboard the ship to Hong Kong for a few hours, where they shopped and took a cab to Repulse Bay where they drove “on beautiful winding roads high up in the hills overlooking the City.” 

The ship continued onto Manila in The Philippines. There they took a three-hour cab ride around the city, visiting the Malacañang Palace, where the President resides, and viewing the ruins of the Walled City, which was nearly completely destroyed in World War II.  Later, they stopped to see a Cock Fight, which Lorene thought they were

“too bloody and depressing; the betting was the most thrilling part to me—everyone yelling and placing their bets on their favorite cock.”

They finally arrived in Bangkok, Siam, where they off boarded the ship. Lorene was excited to receive letters from her sisters and mother! They met some Pan Am pilots who took them out where they checked out an opium den. They stayed there three days, touring the city and taking photos. Here are two post cards she sent to her sister, June, and her mother, Anne.

After Bangkok, they flew to Calcutta aboard Thai Air Ways. It was two of her friends, Donna and Mitzi’s, first flight so they visited the cockpit first. She said about the flight:

“At altitude we would be all rolled up in blankets, freezing to death, then as soon as we’d begin to fly lower or land, the heat was terrific. The girls were a little frightened and were trying to figure out which would be better—to crack up in the Indian Ocean or the jungles of Burma.”

They kept it economical in Calcutta by staying in a YWCA. One American dollar was exchanged for four rupees. Their single rooms with large fan came with board (three meals plus tea & crumpets in the afternoon) and cost nine rupees per day. They were bombarded with hundreds of beggars in the streets. A young man, Ali, took them on a tour of Hindu temples and Moslem mosque. They visited the botanical gardens on another day and rode a boat on the Ganges River. She lamented there was no night life, as they were told it was not safe for them to go out, so they spent their evenings reading or writing letters.

Their next journey to New Delhi would be by train.  To be continued....

So on this journey: ship, plane, taxi, and train: all great modes of public transportation!

1947 issue of Hammond's World Atlas, Handy Desk Edition

Copyright © 2019 by Lisa S. Gorrell, My Trails into the Past. All Rights Reserved.