Many a day I’ll leave my abode and start traversing the street by foot. A moment after I hear words like, “tuk tuk,” “moto,” “hey,” and variations thereof. I’m a Westerner, which means I likely have some money to spend, and I’m really unsure if they think we actually like to walk. The more I choose to walk, the more I wonder how much anyone in the city actually walks more than a few blocks. They look at me all the more strangely when I walk in rain. Why on earth would I want to do that when I could ride in a covered tuk tuk for a few dollars?
It is without a doubt cheaper to live here on a standard American wage than in the USA. However, there are often local prices and Western prices, depending on who you are. Being Western, they will tend to charge me more, as people around here don’t make all that much. Thus, the cost of living is more for me, and that really does add up. Some days I have spent $8-10 just for a round trip tuk tuk ride.
A tuk tuk is actually quite nice. It’s kindof a covered cart pulled by a motocycle. It doens’t move as swiftly as a moto, but is certainly faster than a car at getting through traffic, and probably cheaper than a car taxi. Motos are a little cheaper to ride. This entails sitting behind the driver and holding onto the bike frame. All the moto drivers who offer rides are male. However, unlike Uganda, where I never once saw a girl driving a motocycle, girls drive motorbikes in SE Asia, lots of them. If a girl drove a bike in the parts of Uganda I was in, she wouldn’t have it for very long.
I’ve neglected to mention that there is a negotiation process for every ride. Yes, unless I tell the driver to wait, I must negotiate every time. Sometimes I’m surprised when they don’t start off higher than I’m willing to pay. I almost almost offer less, except for those rare times when they aren’t trying to overcharge me. There have been multiple times where I’ve tried to negotiate.
Them: “Six dollar.” Shows six fingers.
Me: “How about five?” I show five fingers.
Them: “Six.” Six fingers.
Me: “No, five.” Five fingers.
Them: “No.”
Me: “Okay. Bye.” I walk away.
Them: “Okay! Five! Five!”
Me: “Five?”
Them: “Yes, yes.”
There are almost always other options, and I have no aversion to walking most of the time, but I’m not keen on the ones who obstinately insist on not negotiating and overcharging me.
Twice, my driver has gotten lost. That is after we looked at a map together and I showed him exactly where we were going. Then on the way, we stop and look at it a few more times, and he’s still lost and has to ask other drivers for directions. You see, using maps is not second nature here. Some people have never used them. You would assume that drivers who make their living running taxi services would have a minimal understanding of maps. And you would be wrong. Instead, the driver sometimes looks at me questioningly, wanting me to show him the way. I’d be more than happy to, if I knew where on the map we were at that exact point. Thus, it’s a good idea to carry a compass around the city. That way, when the moto driver is going south when I want to go north, I can point the other direction.
Speaking of directions, the last challenge is communicating where one wants to go. This seems to work best if one tells them to go to the closest landmark, such as one of the wats. Then, it’s a matter of pronouncing it correctly. I sometimes just bring a piece of paper with the correct location. Cuts down on miscommunication, assuming they don’t get lost.
