Bangkok by Bike
March 14th
Touch down into Suvarnabhumi Airport in March and you’re instantly slapped round the chops with Thailand’s intense humidity. After checking in, the ‘Places’ app told I’d covered just over 10,000km so far.
A 30 min taxi ride got me to my hostel in central Bangkok, just off the infamous Khao San road. If anyone reading this is ever looking for a hostel in Bangkok, i can’t recommend the Nap Park highly enough. At 440 baht a night (roughly £11) it isn’t that cheap, but the rooms are well air conditioned, showers are powerful and clean, staff are friendly and the social area downstairs is pretty damn cosy.
I met a couple of guys who were also experiencing Bangkok for the first time in the hostel, so we went out to see what Khao San Road had to offer. Stunning home made green Thai curry and a large Chang set me back a whole £3, while we sat and planned what to do with our first full day. 5hr cycle tour. That’s what to do!
Joe & Tim – the new recruits!
March 15th
The tour started at 7am so we got a relatively early night to make the most of it. 6am start was pretty tough, but it was well worth it to see the city before most people could be arsed to peel themselves out of bed.
eeriely quiet 6am Bangkok
Co van kessel bike tours – 5hr option is well worth the £35!
Our tour guide introduced herself as ‘bang bang’, and she made me realise just how useful it is to have local knowledge when you arrive somewhere new. We dipped in and out of tiny backstreets, floated past traffic on high streets and wandered through sprawling markets which were already rammed with locals at 8am. In one of these nutty markets, nestled between the bananas and the fresh fish, was a group of Thai ladies doing a morning exercise class. They were absolutely going for it, smiling away and loving the happy hardcore tunes. Only in Thailand!
Ornate detail in the temple of good health
Bustling indoor markets
Happy hardcore ravers
Bang bang giving us the low down
We caught a boat out to West Bangkok and cruised around rice fields, mango trees and banana plantations – a serene contrast from the bustling central streets.
Boat engines? Nah, just pinch one from that turbo diesel truck and stick a propeller on it
Spirit decorations to bless each boat with good fortune
Bopping around the jungle
Cycling around in 30 degree heat is sweaty business
The highlight for me was an incredible Thai lunch by the river, all cooked by a humble old lady who has been working with the tour company for over 15 years. I can usually demolish any amount of food put in front of me, but even I was beaten by this one!
There were only 12 of us…
This was for four people!
Back to the hostel for a well earned Chang, packed my bags and got to the airport nice and early for the flight to Chiang Mai. Jake has already booked me a place in the Baan Khun hostel for the next two nights. Time to go and check it out!
1 – First Stop – Dubai
First of all, this isn’t a travel blog intended to educate or inform… It’s nothing but a collection of random, nonsensical stories that probably have little relevance to anything whatsoever. But those stories always seem to be the best bits of my life and my memory is crap, so this is where I’ve decided to collect them.
Fresh faced and ready to explore!
12th March
Flight 1 – Gatwick to Dubai
First flight to Dubai was 7hrs, but after devouring my meal, taking full advantage of the free bar, then settling into an obligatory nap, it felt like 20 mins tops. Getting out of the airport and feeling some genuine warmth for the first time in 5 months was an exciting landmark of this adventure finally starting.
My room in Dubai
In an attempt to control my spending in this hedonistic city of luxury, I used airbnb to find a comfy little bedroom for £36 per night – my host Anas was an absolute gent and immediately introduced me to his friends and family, all sitting in the lounge smoking shisha when I arrived. The 36th floor view from my room and the balcony was pretty spectacular!
The view from Anas’ balcony
And another angle
After settling in I headed straight out to meet a mate at the Barasti bar. This sprawling collection of outdoor bars and stages looked like someone had picked up a luxury beach resort from the Bahamas and dropped it in Zante. ‘Eclectic’ is probably the best way to describe the clientele, and ‘mildly absurd’ is the probably the best way to describe the £9 it cost for a Corona. Still, the barman gave me a big wedge of lime and a suggestive wink… Still got it.
catching up with Bill in Barasti
13th March
Waking up the next day I realised the view from my room was looking directly out onto the palm and Century buildings. Nice way to start the day!
Pop a panoramic like this into the “Little Planets” app and the results are pretty cool…
I spent the day in Dubai with a family friend – a fascinating conservationist called Kevin who took me on a whistle-stop tour full of contrast and diversity. Kevin has lived in Dubai for the past 33 years, watching it turn from a quiet fishing village into the bustling metropolis it is today. In this city of relentless construction, Kevin has been responsible for protecting a 600 hectare plot of land and turning it into a wetlands for all kinds of wildlife – protecting that kind of land in this place is no mean feat!
In one day we managed to see the crumbling old history and glossy new future of Dubai – we paid about 10p to catch an abar (which the cap’n was driving with his feet…as you do) across the river to see old school, battered & bruised cargo ships carrying the most random freight imaginable. Fridge freezers piled next to car tyres, interspersed with kilos of loose leaf tea and Moroccan spices – all hanging precariously off the side of a 60 year old wooden boat. Kevin pointed out a small green crane which was the very first one in Dubai – genesis for a thriving city to emerge from baron desert and a quiet coastline.
Next we wondered down to the Wetlands Kevin had told me about to supervise the 2nd daily flamingo feeding session. I couldn’t quite get my head around the sheer scale and surprising serenity of this place, considering it’s trapped on every side by a motorway, high rise, or construction site.
Feeding flamingoes in the wetlands – Dubai skyline in the background
Before dinner we battled the evening traffic to catch the 8pm fountains outside the Burj Khalifa. I’ve seen the Bellagio in Vegas, but these were something else.
Packed out!
The only detraction was drowning in a sea of selfie sticks and pushy parents who seemed to fear for their childrens’ lives if they didn’t immediately get the best view possible. Just apply the sort of patience you would at Disneyworld and it becomes infinitely less annoying.
The Burj
The fountains
And me (contributing to the selfie brigade)
For dinner we went downtown to Ravi’s which was absolutely packed… With good reason! Traditional street food cooked fresh in front of you with a sweet cup of chai to finish was less than 1 beer at Barasti (about £8 total) – ridiculous! Couldn’t recommend this place highly enough – well worth a visit if you’re ever in Dubai.
14th March
After 3hrs sleep I packed my bags, and flagged a cab at 5:30am. Driving to the airport on eerily quiet roads as the sun appeared over horizon was a damn good way to start the day. Taxis seem to be the only cheap thing in Dubai – 30km in 20 mins for £13!
4900 easy kilometres to Bangkok in an Airbus A380 was the next leg. Luckily for me, Emirates had overbooked the flight and I had arrived early, so I was offered a 200 dirhams duty free voucher and a free meal to take a 40 min later flight… No brainer! Ended up paying £20 for this schweet swatch watch.
Let’s see what Thailand is all about.
vagabond15 