Two Bruised Bums Hit The Saddle

It’s been a strange sort of day.
Everything went as planned.
Every part of the day was very, very enjoyable.
Yet it could have been better……

On previous visits to Thailand we haven’t bothered with the Damnoen Saduak floating market. (Too far to travel for something that has lost much of its original charm, selling its soul to become a Tourist attraction). But while we were researching Cycle Tours we came across a day-long trip that combined the floating market with a long-tail boat ride and a 32km bike ride. Perfect! We contacted Spice Road and made the booking for a personal tour.

A 5:30 am call saw us eating breakfast as soon as the restaurant opened. It was 500% better than yesterday, with freshly cooked and piping hot food. A Great start to the day :o)

Our guide arrived in the lobby bang on time and whisked us away. Our air-conditioned van was comfortable enough, and well stocked with cool water and cooling scented towels. We chattered as we drove along and explained that we had booked a private tour because, as old wrinklies, we wouldn’t want to hold a group up.
On the way we had a near “Sri Lanka moment”, when a lorry tried to destroy our van. This time the outcome was happier and the collision averted. (In Sri Lanka our vehicle was totalled and our driver arrested)

The floating market was as expected: boats laden with tourists weaving in and out of boats of produce, while the banks were lined with rows of stalls of tourist tat. A few clicks of the shutter was enough to capture the essence and we were soon in our boat and high-tailing it (or, rather, long-tailing it) off down the Klongs. The boat ride was a joy and brought us extensive views of Klong and River life.

On to the bikes at last…. and the first hint of possible disappointment when our guide said we could be back at our hotel by 3pm. (Our booking had told us to expect to be home by 5pm). Hmmm.

The first part of the ride involved cycling along walkways beside the Klong and Jan amazed us all by failing to knock a single local inhabitant into the water. An unexpected result :o) Then we started off on roads and tracks …. and the first hint of a problem: Our young guide set the pace and dawdled off as if she was escorting a pair of toddlers. It was to stay that way for the entire trip, with me free-wheeling for much of the time. Even when I rode virtually alongside her the pace remained the same.

We looked at a few Wats and had some fresh fruit to eat before heading off on the main part of the ride. This involved a beautiful ride through coconut and banana plantations where we saw plenty of local wildlife. Out here the Thais working the fields were wonderfully friendly - lots of waves, smiles and “Hellos” to speed us on our snail-like way.

Numb Bum syndrome started to set in by about midday, which was frustrating because we hadn’t covered anywhere near the distance we could have. (At home we cycle at least twice the speed … and in a hot climate the faster you go, the cooler you feel.) And still we crawled along until we came to a riverside restaurant for lunch. Here our guide hinted that perhaps we might like to finish. But if our bums were numb, our legs were fresh. We felt dismayed by the assumption that this might be too much for overweight Farang like us!

The meal was tasty enough - beautifully prepared snake-headed fish. But our guide chose to sit with our driver rather than us. And the break dragged on long after we had finished eating. We were once again asked if we wanted to stop - but insisted in going on. But we were only taken another kilometre or so before we arrived at a Catholic church and school. While we looked at this our bikes were taken away and stripped down. The ride was over!

The ride back to Bangkok was fast and silent.
For the first time in memory I failed to give a tip.

The day was a success. But a qualified success. I would heartily recommend Spice Roads for cycling tours, but don’t make the same mistake as us - book with a group and force the pace :o)

Now we have just one day left in Bangkok before flying off to Laos and the start of our Indochina marathon….

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