African Tuk-tuks

"Was that just a tuk-tuk that puttered by? In Joburg?" 
 

As it turns out, yes it was! Tuk-tuks are being imported into Johannesburg for use as an economical alternative to the traditional higher-priced taxi cabs. Tuk-tuks are three-wheeled, open-sided "auto rickshaws" used throughout Asia. The name tuk-tuk comes from the original sound of the engine,"tsjoek ... tsjoek ... tsjoek". The engine has been upgraded since the original 2-stroke but the cute name has stuck. 

We used tuk-tuks in Thailand in place of the forever-idling, meter-eating taxicabs in the traffic-clogged streets of Bangkok. (A symbol of Thailand, I even bought a 14K gold tuk-tuk charm with three movable wheels for my travel charm bracelet as a souvenir of Bangkok!)

gold tuk-tuk in the middle of my travel charm bracelet

The problem we found out rather quickly was that the open sides offer you no protection from the non-catalytic converter engines of the other cars idling all around you. Bangkok in the 90's was like what I imagine New York to have been like in the 40's and 50's without catalytic converters to reduce carbon emissions. Dirty and sooty. 

As we sat in the endless traffic jam, my contact lenses slowly became caked with black carbon until I could hardly see. I had to pop them out at my destination and give them a serious cleaning before I could put them back in. We started using the Chao Phraya River with its wide open space and its longboat taxis to get around the city whenever possible after that. 

Fortunately Johannesburg has neither the air quality problem nor the traffic congestion of Bangkok and I stopped wearing my contact lenses a long time ago anyway. I will definitely try one out the next time I need a ride to the Mall from my house.