Views #731 | Intermediate 5

The Taxi Ride

Todd talks about a taxi ride in Thailand that ended up not like he expected.

Script
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Quiz


Greg	Todd

Todd: You know, Greg, you were talking about being lost in Thailand. I have my own story about being lost in Bangkok.

Greg: Really?

Todd: Yeah, I was supposed to go and stay with some Thai friends in Thailand and I was coming from America and I had a business card, like you suggested and so I got in the cab and I just showed the guy the business card and he took off. And he was this really old taxi driver. Kind of a sweet guy but I didn't know anything about Thailand. And we get in the cab and in the cab he had this smell like an orchid flower or something and it was really strong and it was really making me sick.

Greg: Probably jasmine flower.

Todd: Maybe yeah. That could have been it. And so we are driving and driving and we get out of the city and we're way out in the countryside in like rice fields and things like that. Now, I've only been in Thailand for about an hour.

Greg: And you're probably getting worried

Todd: Yeah.

Greg: Thinking, maybe you are going to get ripped off.

Todd: Right, like I'm thinking, "Oh, no!" This guy's gonna take me somewhere and take advantage of me or he's lost and he doesn't know, and I'm just getting really, really skeptical, so before we had left I had negotiated a price and I think I said I'd pay him a thousand baht or something like forty dollars and he was very happy with the price.

Greg: That's a lot of money in Thailand,

Todd: Yeah, and I didn't know that. So this guy is driving here, driving there. He's stopping the cab. He's asking people. He can't find the business, so eventually, I'm getting sick cause of the flowers, it's been like three hours, we've been driving around in the cab and I'm worried that I don't have enough money for the cab fare. So I feel really, reallyy worried so I just tell the guy, "back to the airport" cause he doesn't know any English, and I don't know any Thai, so I just sort of communicate, "back to the airport." The guy is like, "Huh! Alright", so he takes me back.

Listen to Interview #732 for the second half of the story.