Henry J. Neils’
Travelogue of 1959 Great World Cruise
Henry J. Neils was a businessman from Minneapolis. He wrote a daily diary of his voyage on the 1959 Great World cruise. Presumably, the 30 faded typewritten sheets had been duplicated for distribution to his employees.
The transcribed document now forms 25 pages of the Timeline, accessible from links on the January, February, March and April 1959 month pages. This was the first special feature to be added to the Timeline as it entered its 2nd year of being on-line.
Henry's quoted text throughout the site start with this indicator: H.J.N.…
Henry J Neils’ Travelogue 21 March 1959
Bangkok, Thailand
H.J.N.…
Overcast - 83°F
This city of 900,000 lies at the northerly end of the Gulf of Siam. Including the City of Thornburi across the Menam
River, the population of both nears 1,500,000. Thailand has an area of 200,000 square miles, and population of
twenty-two million.
It is a fertile land, growing the best rice in the whole world, also bananas, pineapples, mangoes, papaya and many more tropical fruits. Flowers are of endless varieties. Products are lumber and many others. The government is a constitutional monarchy. The religion is Buddhism.
H.J.N.…
The Caronia arrived at its anchorage about ten miles from the mouth of the Menam River at 4.00am. We were up at 5.30am
had our breakfast in our room and at 6.00am were on board the tender Bhanurangsi, an excursion ship that can accommodate
about 400 passengers packed in like sardines.
Before this ship left, our crew had put aboard all of the food, bottles of water and spirits, tables, chairs, dining service and untold other equipment to feed the passengers and keep them happy.
Stewards from the Caronia, and even three musicians went along. The Purser's assistants distributed the mail that had arrived. All those lucky enough to have some, devoured it speedily and showed signs of being very happy at receiving news from home.
After an hour we reached the mouth of the river and began the journey up stream. The delta is quite wide, with channels running into the river from both sides. It is an interesting trip.
All the huts along the river bank are built on stilts to allow for the tide, which runs quite high. Fish nets were set in many places, projecting from both banks of the river.
H.J.N.…
After 3½ hours, we reached the river pier on the outskirts of Bangkok. The warehouses were new. The terminal was
very impressive and modern. Ocean vessels up to 10,000 tons were numerous. Larger ships cannot cross the sand bar at
the mouth of the river.
Our cars were waiting for us on the pier to take us on our tour. Unfortunately our driver could speak very little English and had difficulty understanding us. This is a rather remote place; therefore, not as English as Singapore.
After stopping at the Thai Silk Company and meeting Mr. Johnson, a New York Architect who has gone into the silk weaving business here, we visited his house, now under construction in the old part of the City. It is quite unique, located on one of the many canals that are navigable for smaller hand-powered craft.
A pair of doors came from an old temple, the marble from Italy, the wood carving on the stair rail is done on the job. Equipment comes from the Thieves Market (so-called). When completed, it should be a gem.
His weavers live just across the canal. He has hundreds of them on contract work. The fineness of the silk, the intricacy of the designs and the skilful job of weaving is very impressive. There is no finer woven silk in the World.
Photo: Peter Stevens Collection
H.J.N.…
After lunch at the Ratanakosin Hotel, where the dining room borders the side walk and the birds fly in and out, we
were taken to the walled palace grounds where we visited the Temple of the Emerald Buddha, the Royal Palace with the
king's throne (the palace is no longer occupied by the king), the Golden Cheddi, the Pantheon of Kings and the Towers
of Nine Planets.
All of these buildings, both exterior and interior, are of such odd design, so ornate, so colourful, so vast in imagination, detail of construction and skilled workmanship that they are beyond description.
H.J.N.…
Unfortunately I ran out of film at the critical moment, because I could not get across to the driver that I wanted to
go to a Kodak store before going to the temple. No matter how much film I would have, the task of taking pictures of
all that is to be seen in so short a time would be impossible.
There are so many interesting pinnacles piercing the sky, so many interesting details, such a mass of beauty, that you get dizzy trying to absorb it all.
A person could spend several days in the temple alone, studying the frescoes depicting the life of Buddha, the fine designs of ornamentation, decorations, mosaics, statues of grotesque shapes of humans, animals and reptiles, all of which have a meaning in the Buddhist religion.
The procession of paintings, figures, statues, Buddha's is endless and very little repetition. The man-hours (or slave-hours) that created this fantastic accumulation of beauty and workmanship is incalculable. This temple is without doubt the finest structure we have seen, including the Taj Mahal.
H.J.N.…
Life in the City of Bangkok is a contrast between old and new. There are wide paved streets and sidewalks. There are
narrow streets with half or all naked children playing in and out of slow-moving traffic.
There are beautiful parks and lowly slums. There are modern automobiles from all countries. There are thousands of cycle rickshaws. There are 350 Buddhist temples.
There are modern shops, and on the next street, holes in the wall where business is being done as usual. The traffic is prolific!
When you have watched this for a day, you are glad to get back to the pier, board the tender and be off for the three-hour run down the Menam River to again board the Caronia.