Day 15

Biking Through Bangkok

We overslept a little and had to rush out of our apartment to the sky train station to meet with Sibyl and Anatta without getting breakfast. They lead us to ABC Cycles (Around Bangkok Cycles) run by a Dutch man. We have a 6 hour bike tour planned for the day. We all were very excited and eager to start the trek.

Our group was about 11, (4 from Australia, 2 from New Zealand, 1 from Amsterdam and the four of us) plus our 2 tour guides. After a brief introduction and some safety rules we followed our guides downstairs to choose our bikes. Oanh and I settled for mountain bikes after test driving their darling old fashioned bikes. Let’s just say the basket were cute. Sibyl and Anatta had their own bicycle. Sibyl says it’s much easier taking Anatta to school on bike through the back alley walkways then in their car. A little pro, Anatta sat in the back in her special bike seat (reminds me of the seat my mother used to ride me in) in her darling red dress, matching bandana AND Helmet. She did tell us that she was going to wear her red dress today, but she assured us that is wasn’t too fancy! J

We all settled on our bikes, mine was number 10, I was told to remember that, and we were off! A long snake of foreign folks on bikes putting all of our trust in our guides to make sure we made it safely through the streets of Bangkok. I must say, I never thought I would have driven a bicycle in this kind of traffic, but after seeing Saigon, this looked possible. So… needless to say, though it was a bit unsettling bicycling next to buses and taxis, the comfort of the group made it much more bearable.

After about 15 minutes on the streets we were led into a quieter neighborhood through alleyways and small avenues. Watching the road was a must. There were many divots and holes one could strike out on. Going through these narrow passageways, it reminded me a little of Saigon and our breakfast lady. We stopped under a garage roof so some could take pictures on this little bridge. The sewer odor was overwhelming. So Oanh and I did not spend much time there. While waiting for the others, we noticed 3 men sitting on the ground in front of us with buckets of wire clippings surrounding them. What were they doing? Behind them were mountains of bags of used wire. They were stripping each piece of used electrical wire of its plastic coating to get to the copper. So this is how recycling works. I was amazed by the work conditions, but even more amazed by the resourcefulness and tenacity of the people.

Anyway, back to our ride.

We arrive at a daily market not too far from where we started and stroll through the lanes. It was an incredible sight: every kind of chili you could imagine, all sorts of fruits and vegetables, buckets and buckets of fresh fish still live, cages of live chickens and their unlucky friends cooked next to them on display, birds to release for prayer, and on and on. We bike through it, though we could have easily spent an hour or more here walking the aisles and staring at the wares.

It’s a very hot day, but we are lucky to have scattered clouds overhead and an occasional drop of rain, a good day for riding in the middle of Thai Summer. We stop in front of a playground, Oanh the ever Smart Alec, asks if we are there to ride the merry go round! My hubby. J

Our guide takes his jibes with true professionalism and jibes back. Good Job! She then takes out some fun fruits for us to try---- Mangosteens (Absolutely delectable) and Rambutans (like lychees, very good). Then she gives us all a little pancake and places some “candy floss” inside and has us wrap it up like a burrito. A tasty little morsel, I have a second. Remember this is our breakfast!

After our little snack we hop back onto our bikes towards the “Bangkok Slum” under the freeways. These folks have traveled down from their villages to work in the city, save up and return home. Rows of little shacks made out of miscellaneous wooden boards and tin scraps. These weren’t homeless people, these were a community of people working very hard for very little and comfort was not an option. It was amazing. The smells of the complex were definitely a bit overwhelming at points, but we rode past quite quickly and made our way to the boat dock.
We loaded up our bicycles onto a long tail boat across the river. We were now in what you might call a suburb. It was part jungle, part water village and now our true journey begins. Much of our ride is along a very narrow sidewalk that runs along the river and is raised about 3 yards above the ground. The ground is a series of water ponds, dirt, jungle bushes and who knows what. The sidewalk begins with one railing and has these very short quick turns every few 100 feet or so. Okay…. The guide proceeds to tell us that people fall off of these sidewalks during one of their tours practically every day. Nice! And BOY you DO NOT want to fall! Snakes, massive lizards and lots of bugs live here. As we drive I am sweaty palming it and trying not to imagine myself repeatedly slipping off this path to my death! I have an active imagination.

After about 15 minutes of riding, we hit real land and stop at a temple area to use the facilities. According to the signs on the door, I had my choice of Western or Eastern toilet. Let’s just say I went for what I know best. ;-) There was also a sign that said “monks only”. I wonder if their toilets were Western or Eastern.

Next stop--- the floating market. How exciting! The market is only open on the weekends and lucky us, today is Saturday. We park and walk. As soon as we enter the market we are blessed by a monk. That must be a good sign! And it was. Our guide walked us through aisles and rows of food stalls and handicrafts. Every so often stopping at a food vendor and buying something new and fun for us all to try. She was wonderful, everything we tasted was interesting and tasty: Sticky rice smoked in banana leaves, pork sausage with ginger and cabbage, fried fish cake with herbs, fried quail egg, and then… pig ear. Trying to be all macho I pop one into my mouth… um the first chew wasn’t so bad, but the 3rd or 4th made me want to hurl! I discreetly spit it out into my hand and toss it into the nearest bin. It was foul! Oanh loved it of course! Imagine eating only gristle and there it is. Yuck! Luckily I was able to wash away the grossness with some fresh coconut ice cream! Thank god! I was sad to leave the market, I would like to come back here again to try more of the goodies the natives have to offer.

We hop back onto our bikes and ride to lunch. On the way, our guide points out a VERY LARGE lizard! In the same family as the Gila Monster I believe. We only catch a glimpse of him, and at the time, we were on a very narrow bit of sidewalk, so I couldn’t really appreciate the cool factor of this sighting until it was too late! Sorry, definitely no pictures of that one! But he was as BIG as one of our bicycles, and apparently he was a baby! No, this is not a lizard tail!

A small outdoor shack on a bit of water was where were to have lunch. Westerner styled fried rice. Bland and awful. Take me back to the market where the good food was! Oh well, can’t win them all.

Only a small stretch of sidewalk left. Thank goodness, my knuckles were pretty tired by now! I am constantly amazed by the immense colors of this landscape. Everything is so bright and colorful. The greens are super green, the reds are super red and so on. Even the spiders are super- luckily they were all at VERY SAFE distances, but MAN they were incredible!

We eventually wind our way into a park with grass, ponds, and little pagodas. We stopped to feed the GI-NORMOUS fish. Back on the boat and back to the office. What a ride. Oanh even talked about dusting off our old bikes at home.

Back to their apartment for a little dip in the spa since the pool was being cleaned. Then off to our final dinner in Thailand, one of Sibyl’s favorite places for crispy chicken and afterwards to a much deserved, fancy, hip ice cream shop for dessert. Finally, we were dropped off again at the apartment. It was a full day of bicycling, eating and laughing. Boy were we tired. We stopped off and had an hour long massage: Oanh did a foot massage, while I did a head and hand massage. Then we were out for the count.

Tomorrow will be breakfast with our friends and a back on a plane to Ho Chi Minh City.