BANGKOKA

Most of local drivers love the extreme and also have pretty good sense of humor. We find seven carriages in very short time. The rules are following: they start here on Khao San Street and finish at the Chinese District at the Temple of Golden Buddha where the Buddha statue made from pure gold is exhibited, ten kilometers away from here. The main prize is this statue! Of course, it’s a joke, we make the prize stock ourselves: it’s 1, 500 bats ($40) large. So, the winner takes 1, 000 bats, the second place is 300 bats worth and the third one – 200. The drivers are totally happy and are ready to take off. It’s also time to do so before the police have become interested in what is this crowd gathering around us. The entire drive takes about 20 minutes and the winner has not only to be able to drive fast but even more, to be familiar with the streets at the hour of traffic jams. It probably would be even funnier at night; however, then we should have organized also extra safety equipment. A good three-wheel tuk-tuk driver can lean on two wheels in the turn or to take off on a crossroad on two rear wheels. The last carriage comes much later than the other ones: see, even locals are not always able to get through crazy traffic here. Also they are awaited with the glad hand.