Readers, today I’m pleased to present my friend Skye Taylor to you. Her timely blog does two things–helps promote her new release, Bullseye, and gives readers a chance to travel vicariously to Bangkok when we’re trapped at home. Please welcome, Skye Taylor to Help From My Friends Friday! ~ Donnell
By: Skye Taylor
Author Skye Taylor
I’ve ridden on a lot of things in my lifetime, from tricycles and roller skates to jumping out of perfectly good airplanes and helicopters over ice glaciers, and the biggest and baddest of roller coasters, but there is one crazy ride in a tuk tuk in Thailand that was, perhaps, the most adventurous of all. At least the most memorable.
Thailand was an extraordinary experience in how many different things a person can ride on in one vacation, beginning with the big 747 that brought us to the country in the first place.
Then came the taxi driver who ignored my request to stay off the toll road and had his hand over the seat-back expecting me to pay the toll when he rolled into the booth.
River Taxi
The Chao Phraya River loops through Bangkok with dozens of smaller canals connecting the loops with a myriad of different slivers of the city. The river taxi carries commuters, shoppers and tourists the way bus routes do in America’s cities with stops on both sides of the river, where riders hop on and off at every stop.
Bangkok Canal Boat
Then there are the low-slung canal boats, so close to the water that clear plastic curtains are raised on the sides when they pull away from the dock to keep the riders dry inside.
It’s an interesting way to see the backside of life in Bangkok too, since all the stops are down narrow alleys behind the buildings that front the streets of the city.
Far more upscale is the Skytrain – an elevated train much like that of Chicago, but cleaner, brighter and not ridden by the hordes.
Skytrain — Bangkok
Night Bus
Even more colorful was the night bus to Chang Mai that looked like more like vehicle for hookers.
Thailand was also where I got to ride on an elephant. Luckily for me, my elephant was a well-behaved beast that followed the parade without deviation, but two elephants in front of mine was a critter with a mind of his own. He stepped off the path a number of times; first to scratch his underbelly on a log and then up a hill on a quest only he understood.
Elephant Ride
He was carrying three riders along with the mahout. Two ladies in the big wicker seat strapped to his back and a gentleman straddling his neck behind the guide.
But when the animal took off up that hill and the mahout couldn’t convince him to return to the path from his perch on the animal’s back, the mahout jumped off leaving the gentleman with no seat and only the ears to hang onto shouting, “Whoa! This is not good!”
The guide grabbed the elephant’s harness and urged him back into line and all was good after that, but I’m guessing it might be awhile before that gentleman gets back on another elephant.
Bamboo Raft
My kids and I rode a river raft in Chang Mai that was nothing more than a layer of bamboo poles lashed together and so low in the water we were advised to turn our cameras over to the tour guide for safe keeping. Perched on the cross-bars mere inches from the water, we rounded a curve in the river and came abreast of a line of wooden decks built out over the riverbank where local folk were picnicking, and before we knew it, we were being boarded by swimmers until our washer washed over our raft. It was April, and just happened to be the lead-up to the Thai new year called Songkran which involves much blessing with water. Well, we were duly blessed and stepped ashore thoroughly soaked and shivering in spite of the heat of the day.
Our Tuk Tuk
I have dozens of photos of so many interesting places we went in Thailand, but only one at the very start of our adventure by tuk tuk in downtown Bangkok, an adventure no one could ever have planned.
My son’s wife had mentioned that he might find some very nice silk to make curtains for their newly purchased first home, so Alex duly researched warehouses on the internet before traveling to Thailand and had the name and address of the best place to purchase the material.
This warehouse happened to be some distance from where we were and not accessible by river taxi, canal boat or the sky train, so we hailed a tuk tuk – Thailand’s version of our city cabs.
If you’ve never seen one, picture a golf cart with a beefed-up engine (although some are large enough for half a dozen riders or more.) Alex told the driver where we wanted to go, the man said he knew right where it was so we hopped in and off we went.
Having a general idea of where the place was located, we knew after just few minutes that the driver was going in the opposite direction and we brought this to his attention.
He just said, “Yes, yes,” and continued on, getting further away from our destination. At some point it occurred to us that he probably had a deal with a competing warehouse and would receive a kick-back for bringing in customers.
We admonished him twice more, but he wasn’t being swayed, so when he had to come to a full stop for a red traffic light, Alex looked at Lori and me, we read each other’s minds and jumped off. Alex tossed the man some Bhat to cover the ride up to that point and we headed off on foot back the way we’d come thinking the trip was over.
Apparently, that was not what the diver had in mind. How he managed to pull his tuk tuk out of traffic we didn’t stop to find out when we realized he was chasing us down, calling out promises to take us where we wanted to go.
The streets at that point were lined with kiosks selling just about everything, but up ahead was a bridge that ran over one of the canals, also lined with kiosks.
Alex jerked his head toward the opening, and we hustled after him. Over the bridge we ran, with the tuk tuk driver still calling out to us and just out of sight. On the far side of the canal we took a hard right into a back alley between the canal and Thais sitting in doorways resting or eating as they watched the crazy Americans dashing through their backyards with shaking heads and expressions of surprise or curiosity.
Unfortunately, the driver wasn’t that easy to shake. He finally caught up to us, and with his countrymen looking on, begged us to return and he truly would take us to the warehouse of our choice.
Chastened and realizing this was a matter of pride for the driver, we meekly gave in and turned to follow. Back down the alley beside the canal. Back past all the fascinated onlookers. Back to the bridge. The driver, confident that we followed, led the way over the bridge and toward his tuk tuk, wherever it was parked.
Then Alex had another plan. The bridge was lined with rows of tall partitions that displayed artwork on both sides. Alex ducked in between two of the decorated partitions, dragging my daughter and I with him, and we waited until the diver turned the corner on the far side and disappeared.
Then we booked it back over the bridge again,
Underground Market
but this time straight ahead into an underground labyrinth of shops, stalls, counters, and vendors of everything from silk scarves to cuts of meat. As we zigged and zagged between the jostling crowd the sound of a small motor grew louder.
OMG! Was this guy going to chase us right through this crazy market in his tuk tuk? I began to feel like we were in a James Bond movie trying to outrun hit men from the evil empire. This time we cowered beneath a rack of jeans and waited. Then laughed weakly as a motor bike zipped by zigging and zagging in the crowded space.
When we finally exited the crazy bazaar on the other side, we were on a quiet street lined with stately buildings and minimal traffic, very different from the chaos and milling crowds we’d just left behind. And right across the street was an entrance to the sky train. The happiest sight in the whole last half hour.
We never did get to that warehouse and my daughter-in-law got her curtain material in the US, but our adventure with the tuk tuk is a memory we will never forget.
About the Author: Skye Taylor, mother, grandmother and returned Peace Corps Volunteer, loves adventure and lives in St Augustine Florida where she enjoys the history of America’s oldest city and walking on its beautiful beaches. She posts a sometimes weekly blog and sends out a monthly newsletter, volunteers with the USO, and is currently working the next book in this series. Her published work includes: Bullseye, The Candidate, The Camerons of Tide’s Way series, and Iain’s Plaid. Visit her website: www.Skye-writer.com to read her short stories and essays about her time spent in the South Pacific with the Peace Corps. She is a member of Sisters in Crime, Florida Writer’s Association, RWA and Women’s Fiction Writer’s Association and has twice won silver in the Royal Palm Literary Awards with Healing a Hero and Worry Stone. She loves hearing from her readers at Skye@Skye-writer.com
And speaking of the author, Skye Taylor has a new book out!
About Bullseye:
Dan Hoffman’s wife is dead. His fingerprints are on the glass prism she was bludgeoned with, and powerful people want him in cuffs. But Detective Jesse Quinn has a history with Dan and she believes he’s innocent.
A man on the run claims the murder is tied to a long-ago cover-up over an incident in Afghanistan. Four people are dead, and two attempts have been made. A rival in the Sheriff’s office wants to take over the investigation and time is running out.
Will Jesse be able to put all the pieces together before she is sidelined and Dan arrested for his wife’s murder?
Review Quote:
“Time to pack up and head to Florida where revenge makes for a bloody summer for Detective Jesse Quinn. Don’t miss Bullseye, a sensational kick-off to a fresh new mystery series.” ~ C. Hope Clark, author of the award-winning Edisto Island Mysteries and The Carolina Slade Mysteries.
Buy links:
Amazon Kindle: https://amzn.to/2vvBwZl
Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/bullseye-31
iBooks: https://books.apple.com/us/book/bullseye/id1501263139
Thank you for inviting me to visit your blog. Here’s hoping others will find my adventure as much a hoot as I do looking back on it.
Skye, I am living vicariously through you! What an adventure. And your new release Bullseye sounds fantastic. I’ll leave a review after reading! Thank you so much for being my guest today.
I’ve had some strange adventures all over the globe – like swimming into an underwater cave in the South Pacific, or breaking into hotel at 4 am in Edinburgh.
Okay, I’ll bite. What caused you to break into a hotel at 4 a.m. in Edinburgh 🙂
Long story I’ll be happy to share a bit later on. My granddaughter invited me to a Zoom tea party at four so I’ve gotta go there right now.
So – my adventure in Inverness – sorry, it wasn’t Edinburgh. When my sister and I arrived in Inverness the Mod was on – an annual affair celebrating everything Gaelic – including speaking and singing the language. As it happened, it was the last day and everyone was celebrating and partying. My sister and I had gotten dressed up for HIGH tea advertised at a little establishment downtown. But when we were leaving a young man was playing the accordion in the bar across the hall, so we went in to listen and he invited us to join the party that was just getting under way. Everyone else had jeans on so we headed back to our hotel to dress down a bit and return. We told the clerk at the front desk we’d been invited to the party and he told us to have a good time. Well, we had a SMASHING good time and didn’t leave the party until somewhere around 4 am. Plenty sloshed the trip across the River Ness on the walking bridge was a challenge, but we finally made it back up the hill to our hotel. Only to find it locked up tight. We’d stayed in plenty of B&Bs that locked their front door at night but our room key would let us in. Not so at this hotel. We searched for another door but found no entrance. BUT we did find a neat round hole cut into a ground level window. I reached in and turned the handle and the window opened. NO alarms, Thank God. All my mother needed was a trans-Atlantic call to say her girls were in Gaol! we climbed down through the narrow opening onto the stainless steel counter of an industrial dishwasher in pitch dark. Hands on the walls, we explored until we found a door leading to the dining room, with a hint of light gleaming off the chandeliers. Then we booked it out to the hall and up the stairs to our room. I recall leaning against the door, heart pounding, still not believing what I’d just done. Another adventure a lot funnier now than it was when it happened!!
What an adventure brilliantly told! I would have been laughing hysterically and given our location away as the tuk tuk driver pursued us. Your story telling is so vivid.