Skalkaho Chapter 11: Bangkok, Land of Plenty

Off the plateau and on to Bangkok was the plan. After-all, Skalkaho had to find a way to acquire resources for his appointment and the settling up with John Charbonneau, who was his chief rival in life. He had a secret weapon and he needed to use it judiciously and for a higher purpose. The "flower" had his back. The long trans-south East Asian trail may have been one other had taken during prior wars. It was hot, sweaty and demanding. Mauli did not show any sign of wavering in the heat so Skalkaho kept his countenance looking forward without a frown and only a slight smile. This was a destiny, not a journey. He questioned whether revenge would impede his “gift" as was he instructed by chief Samarn from his village.

The last night on the trail, lights of Bangkok occasionally made its way through the canopy as they worked towards the city. It was about twenty miles from where Maui and Skalkaho trekked when the lights made the heading clear for the first time in many weeks. Skalkaho was concocting a plan. 

Entering the city they must deal with the right people immediately. Skalkaho did not want to spend his life in Thailand making rice cakes. He needed to build an empire before he could go to the next step.

He needed to remain true to his "gift" and it now formed clearly in his mind that his enemies would destroy themselves from their own compulsions and his "gift" would only be used to exploit the evil behind its tyranny of all the wrongs made against him and others. It was not satisfaction or revenge but it was righting the wrong for all the people who have succumbed to that evil from the self-aggrandizement from people paving the way for the "powerful". His gift was for the greater good.

Tomorrow would be a push to get to the city. But it could be done and it will be done by early evening. Skalkaho brought scant gold that he had at his disposal just to get started. About fifty pieces hidden in his pack adding about several pounds to his kit. It amounted to about $10,000 or good enough for any start-up in Bangkok.

"Tomorrow", said Skalkaho to Mauli, "it all starts, be ready and alert'!

The first stroll into town was about 7:00 PM. The first contact was a traveler sitting alongside the street in a heap of his world belongings. Skalkaho proceeded to know that this was a gem of a man, and everyone on the road would avoid and give a wide clearance. 

He spoke fluent in Laotian to the traveler, "phuakhao sokha muthiphak asaiyu that?" (Or translated) (Where do we find shelter, friend?)

He muttered back in Laotian, "You are welcome to rest behind my spot". There they made camp entering Bangkok.

The sunrise brought the city alive when the people and honking of car horns awoke Skalkaho and Mauli. Their prior night's "host" was gone. Bangkok was left for them to embed.

It didn't take but a mile of walking down the road before buildings and a marketplace devoured their presences. Bangkok was theirs for the taking. The old man, along the road the night before proved to be a valuable ally. He told them the main road in or action was the Khao San Road. You can get anything on that road even massive trouble if you stand long enough on the street. That sounded just like the place Skalkaho was looking for. He just had to find the power behind all this clamor. Every city has a power source which controls money, greed and ultimate power and Skalkaho needed to tap that source.

Khao San Rd expanse

The venture needed a contact and the right one on the first try. There was a mass of people walking to and fro on the street searching for places to unload money for a piece of Bangkok to take home. Skalkaho was looking for the money pot that would launch his mission for finding balance in his life while making the byproduct of a world without darkness from vanquished evil souls and lives liberated. Skalkaho had been watching every market front in hope of finding something that would unlock his mission. 

Then a bus stops in an intersection as if was a gigantic magnet collecting the shavings of people walking about. The masthead sign on the bus just read Wat Arun. 

Skalkaho's intuitive reaction was just to say, "Let’s go that's where the power we need is located". Skalkaho and Mauli ran across people and bicycle traffic as if they were escaping a prison camp when they boarded the Wat Arun bus. The temple on the bus brochure looks like the below picture:

Somehow, today would be the day they would know a way back for balancing the life they are living. It's too late to shape the current world's conditions but there is a way to make a big difference in as many lives as possible. This is what people do that have the "gift".The gifted strive to make the "DNA of light"the predominant over the DNA darkness. 

The bus screeched to a halt on a side of the temple, Wat Arun and the usual parasites seeking tourist emerged from various spots near the entrance of the temple. It was all for the tourist dollar or whatever financial exchange they may be carrying. However, in this case, Skalkaho and his partner were looking for a side door into the massive temple hoping to find someone to talk to about the journey they had taken and the journey ahead.

Wat Arun:

Buddha priest came out a side hallway to where we were standing. It appeared we were lost and it showed to the common eye how intense our business was for anyone of importance. The Buddha priest asked Skalkaho where he came from. 

He responded," I come from Samarn's village I drank of the flower and I need answers."

A dead silence followed that introduction, the priest expression turned from dismay to a smile of comfort.

He then said, “we have much to talk about Skalkaho".

In a moment Skalkaho knew his story had preceded him. He called him by his name without knowing it since it was never mentioned. The next question coming forward from the priest simply asked how much money he needed to complete your purpose at this time. The priest was reading his heart faster than what it was beating.

Why was this priest will to throw down an immense fortune to a foreigner he just met? In Fact, Skalkaho did ask why he trusted him without first knowing who he was and what his mission would be. The answer was startling.

The priest recounted, we have known of your arrival for centuries. Since the time of the warrior princess and the Huntsman. Skalkaho immediately knew they were talking about Running Eagle and Great Grand Dad Skalkaho. Your generation was much watched as evil had taken hold of the world is a masterful way. The war to the east has moved those who we need closer to the center of all that is good. You will need gold and in abundance. There is gold but you will have to retrieve it in secret as there are those who wish to take it and destroy those who know of its existence. If you know what I will now tell, you will become a target for destruction.

There is a temple found on the plateau from where you came hidden in the jungle. The Chief, Samarn is the guardian of the temple and its gold. He knows you will be going after it with a purpose driven goal to destroy the darkness which affects those who also have the special gift provided from the flower. Your life continues to be in peril until finding the one who controls that darkness. You call him John Charbonneau.

He must lose his standing as the Dark master with his own means. That is your mission, use your gifts for enabling the dark master to destroy himself. 

12: Bangkok, A Way Home