Nick laughed, splitting his lip further. Blood dripped down his chin as his thin bray drifted across the waves. Just as capsizing and sinking was a minor irritation, he thought, giggling again despite the pain.
Cracks of lightning tore across the broad sky. Thunder rumbled seconds later. The storm was closing in fast, Nick realized. He hadn’t taken into consideration the storms that frequently whipped across the jungle. If the rain started soon, he’d never be able to get the boat floating enough to paddle back. Especially with only one oar to help—the rest had floated away in the ensuing panic when his rowers discovered the gashes in both boats’ sterns.
As a second streak lit up the sky, Nick cleared his mind and focused on nothing but his coffee can. Dip, scoop, pour. Dip, scoop, pour. He had to survive—he was a Mayfield. It was his destiny to do great things, not die in the open ocean. Dip, scoop, pour. Dip, scoop, pour. And as every Mayfield knew, he had his destiny in his own hands.
Holiday Gone Wrong
An Adventures of Zelda Richardson Short Story
Book 1.5 in the Adventures of Zelda Richardson series
After a tiresome year of computer programming, Zelda Richardson is back on the road – destination Panama and Costa Rica. Learning to scuba dive, exploring Central American rainforests, and climbing a volcano sounded like the perfect antidotes to Seattle’s spring rains.
When a banana farmer tells her about the Disquís spheres he found on his property, she can’t resist going to the site. Her visit puts a deadly spin on her vacation and leaves her fighting for her life.
Despite Zelda’s best efforts to just relax and enjoy her trip, thrilling mysteries pop up at every turn. Will she ever be able to go on holiday without it turning into an international incident?
How did Zelda Richardson get from Nepal in Down and Out in Kathmandu to Amsterdam in The Lover’s Portrait? This short story will help fans better understand this unintentional amateur sleuth’s decision to study art history and give new readers a taste of her tantalizing misadventures.
If you enjoy reading this story, you will probably love the Adventures of Zelda Richardson mystery series!
Download Holiday Gone Wrong now for FREE via your favorite retailers!
For direct buy links, and to find out more about Holiday Gone Wrong, visit: http://www.JenniferSAlderson.com and
https://www.facebook.com/HolidayGoneWrong/.
Notes of a Naive Traveler: Nepal and Thailand
A Travelogue
“I recommend it for anyone thinking about taking a trip … anywhere.”
5 stars - Author Rebecca Carter
“Notes of a Naive Traveler is a heart filled journey through the eyes of a young nomad who had the courage to exchange Starbucks for Stupas. So pack your bags and enjoy your trip. Just be sure to bring hand sanitizer.” 5 stars - Libro Illustrato by Kyra, Book Blog
“I never thought I would have reason to say to someone, “Sorry I’m late, it took longer to dismember the goat than originally planned.”
I was twenty-six years old, worked at a well-paid job, rented a fantastic apartment, and enjoyed a large circle of friends. I had everything, except I didn’t. I couldn’t shake the feeling I was missing out on the experience of living.
Part guidebook on culture and travel, part journey of self-discovery, this travelogue takes you on a backpacking adventure through Nepal and Thailand and provides a firsthand account of one volunteer’s experience teaching in a Nepali school and living with a devout Brahmin family.
Trek with me through the bamboo forests and terraced mountaintops of eastern Nepal, take a wild river-rafting ride in class IV waters, go on an elephant ride and encounter a charging rhinoceros on jungle walks in Chitwan National Park, sea-kayak the surreal waters of Krabi, and snorkel in the Gulf of Thailand. Join me on some of the scariest bus rides you could imagine, explore beautiful and intriguing temples, experience religious rituals unknown to most Westerners, and visit mind-blowing places not mentioned in your typical travel guides.
Notes of a Naive Traveler is a must-read for those interested in learning more about – or wishing to travel to – Nepal and Thailand. I hope it inspires you to see these amazing countries for yourself.
Available as paperback and eBook at your favorite online retailer.
Buy Notes of a Naive Traveler now from your favorite online retailer
Visit http://www.JenniferSAlderson.com for direct links.
Turn the page to read an exciting excerpt of my real-life adventures in Nepal and Thailand...
Excerpt from
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
December 10, 1999: Chougadi
This morning I took a bus to Chougadi to do a half-day rafting adventure before heading down south to Chitwan to check out the national park. The rafting is part of my volunteer group’s “cultural program.” The rest of the volunteers rafted a few weeks ago, the weekend my family took me to Budhanilkantha and Sundarijal. Like most things in Nepal, getting there was more of an adventure than actually doing the scheduled activities.
The bus trip to our rafting point was quite relaxing and very comfortable. Three of us were dropped off at a dusty pull-off on the side of the road. There were two stores selling extremely overpriced water and food to the whities. There to meet us was Ganesh, an adorably short biker-type who was our trip leader. There were quite a few clients missing, so we grudgingly bought a bottle of water each and spread our gear and selves out in a patch of short green grass growing in painfully thin soil. An hour later, we were twelve whities strong with six guides and a bunch of gear.
The other volunteers had gone rafting in the Kathmandu Valley and said it was a float trip with no rapids, so that’s what I was prepared for. Little did I know – but much to my delight – we were in for some big rapids, easily class III and IV in parts.
Two hours after getting dropped off on the side of the highway, we hit the water. At first there were only a few small holes and tiny rapids, sections that would be class II back home. Lots of flat water in between, though, so I wasn’t sure how exciting this was going to be. Shortly thereafter, we hit one big class III rapid and some huge holes I was certain were going to tip us – very adrenaline-pumping stuff.
After a long lunch break, we hit the water again, though this time straight into a long rapid called “the monsoon.” We all thought this was the extent of the big rapids, and secretly I was happy. Twenty minutes later, we were getting tossed around in the biggest waves I’ve ever seen in rapids the guides nicknamed “upset,” “surprise,” “two rocks,” and “mother fucker.” We barely made it through “upset” and “mother fucker” without tipping when I got thrown into (thankfully not out of) the boat. The other raft – there were only two – lost a guide to the river in “mother fucker.” These were some big ass rapids – I had no idea rivers could generate such big waves.
It was a lot of fun, albeit very cold. The water was like ice, and when the sun was behind the clouds (which was during most of the trip), we were shivering in the boat. Beautiful scenery, though, with lush green terraced hills on each side. In several places, we floated under wires strung across the river from which bucket-cars hung, used by locals to get from one side of the river to the other. Occasionally, we’d see a kid using a pulley and a rope fashioned into a seat to get himself across.
At the end of our day’s trip, after about three hours total on the water, we quickly changed into dry clothes, then I headed off with the lead guide, Ganesh, to find a ride into Tadi Bazaar. Bikash had assured me it would be an easy, one-and-a-half-hour drive into Tadi Bazaar from the drop-off point. There was even a guide from Baba Travels waiting to escort me to Sauraha.
I ended up in the backseat of a chicken truck’s cab heading through beautiful scenery and disastrous roads to my hotel. About an hour later, we stopped to sell a few hundred of the chickens to a butcher shop. To determine the price, dozens of live birds were thrown into a wire basket on one side of a scale. Bricks were used to determin
e the weight.
My god, that was entertaining to watch – chicken feathers flying everywhere, the screeches of both chicken helpers and angry fowl, the dust-filled air, the truck owner and butcher shop passionately arguing over the value of each brick.
Half an hour late, five of us were sandwiched back into the backseat of the cab and two new passengers (a Spanish couple) occupied the front seat built for one, leaving just enough room for the driver to squeeze in behind the wheel. I was in the very tiny backseat built for three yet shared among five – three chicken helpers, myself, and another paying passenger, a Nepali going to his home in a small town close to Tadi Bazaar.
The truck itself was the shrine variety. The front interior was decorated with two lacquered peacocks molded around several blue and green lights, plus two shrines built into the front panels of the cab. There was a three-tiered set of multicolored bangle balls inside and a string of multicolored tinsel outside. The driver had to squish down to see past it all. Stickers of his favorite western actresses and Hindu gods completed the fascinating interior. I never got a good look at the gods painted on the outside, but I know they were there.
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Available as paperback and eBook from your favorite retailer.
To find out more about Notes of a Naive Traveler and find direct buy links,
visit http://www.JenniferSAlderson.com.
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