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Published: April 1st 2008
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On the ferry
One of the few shots Joe took on his bike ride... The next day was Sunday, we went for a walk but many shops were closed. Mon was not feeling well (ladies plumbing problems) so Joe decided to hire a bike mid-afternoon and go off and explore a bit on the crazy streets of Bangkok. He got a map from the bike shop and was told the best route to follow, which included a Siamese cat museum, some temples, some Buddhas and what was described as the most beautiful road in Thailand. Looked straight forward enough...
The first step involved a nice ferry ride across the river (called Mae Nam Chao Phraya, the river that is) to the western part of Bangkok which we had not really explored. Joe then stood at the first cross road astride his bike with map in hand trying to make heads or tails of it. He obviously looked as lost as before long a passing local stopped and attempted to help him. Unfortunately he was soon just as confused but tried to help anyway... In the end Joe set off in what he thought was the right direction... He was soon cycling along a small canal and the path got more and more narrow and
then led to a labyrinth of little path ways which he followed, weaving in and out of small children, stray dogs and families who had overflowed from their path side homes. Lots of smiles were exchanged as he wobbled past along the uneven tracks, a few of them slightly bemused. Many of the bemused ones were explained when he cycled back past in the other direction a few minutes later after meeting yet another dead end. He found a naval barge museum (not actually on the map he was “following” but at least some sort of point of interest, although it did turn out to be closed...) Eventually after more of the same he emerged at pretty much the same place he had started off, near the ferry terminal. So he tried another route, but got to a massive motorway flyover and tried to go under it but found there was a canal with no bridge. Getting slightly frustrated he then tried yet another route which was a busy road but not too bad if you stuck to the inside and used the pavement where required (although there was one junction which looked a bit lethal and had to be
walked). Past this it was looking more promising, but still no sign of any of the points of interests on the map... He stopped to ask someone, and was pointed back the way he had just come!
At this point the map was confined to his bag and he just followed his nose for the next hour or so, which was great and he found some great little out the way neighbourhoods and canals and temples and just generally saw the bits of Bangkok you would never normally see. Then at about 6pm he became conscious that the sun would be going down in about an hour and he was not exactly sure where he was. The road signs in Bangkok are a bit confusing to say the least and often seemed to lead in circles... Some were in English but none of them he was seeing had any familiar names on them compared to those he was seeing earlier, when he sort of knew where he roughly was. Hmm... As he rode on, the roads seemed to be getting leafier and more suburban, almost like he was riding out of Bangkok rather than back in to the centre from whence he had come. The sun was starting to make nice colours in the clouds and his thoughts were turning to contingency plans. Would this bike fit in a tuk tuk???
He stopped a friendly looking fellow and with lots of pointing at the map and gesturing was pointed in the general direction of the bridge which led back to the centre of town. With the light failing he pedalled along the route and eventually saw a sign that looked promising; bridge straight ahead. But again this led to another motorway style fly over. Again he tried to take the route below but this was a dead end and he ended up in a big train depot. He was stopped by two guys as he rode towards another dead end and showed them the map and they pointed back to the big flyover which he had not wanted to take. It was now almost dusk and there was no other option. He back tracked, then bit the bullet and joined the big road over the flyover. Once on it, it was not as bad as it had looked and after the slog up the ramp on to the main bit of it the rest of it was plain sailing and the down hill bit was good fun. On the other side he came to a familiar junction and was soon sweating his way to the ferry port to home. PHEW!!!! He had a cold drink then was back on the ferry and back to the shop to drop off the bike. By this time it was pitch black and he wished he had some lights.
Later that evening while having dinner with Mon downstairs at our guest house, he actually read the booklet (RTFM) that had come with the map and it turned out that the first leg over the other side of the river should have been a short train journey to take you to the start of the ride proper! That explained why the road could not be found!!! Nonetheless it was a great way to see another side of Bangkok...
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Sister Bec
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Love it!
What a joy to read your blog. Especially this entry as it made me laugh lots and realise that no matter where you go and for how long, you're never gonna change lil' bro. And I love you that way. With much sisterly love Bec xxx