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Published: April 9th 2015
Leaving the city of Bangkok by bicycle is not for the fainthearted unless you cycle with Paul Mueller (mad_mueller@yahoo.com), a local and enthusiastic cyclist who has resided in the city for the past 8 years and who knows every square inch of this metropolis by the back of his hand. Only two weeks before my departure another round the world cyclist had been killed on the outskirts of Bangkok with 140000 KM and 4 years of cycling under his belt. He had been cycling with his wife (whom he met on his adventure) and 2 year old child and was even cycling with a huge trailer behind him when he was knocked off his bike and died at the scene. A repeat episode of what had happened in the 2 previous years when a British cycling couple were mown down by a lorry outside of Bangkok, I was pleased to have Paul and his friend Laco lead the way out via the alleyways and canal systems of the city, thus avoiding the deadly traffic.
Our adventure took us via the 'lungs of Bangkok', a beautiful tropical forested area with no traffic, to the shrimp farms and salt flats to the
south west of the city where I ended up sleeping in a Chinese shrine for the night. Cycling on somewhat precariously built and narrow concrete pathways which follow the canal system out of the city we took in churches, temples, and a fish market along the way. In one small neighbourhood closely resembling a Hutong in Beijing I was surprised to see a pair of wild boar being used as pets and shortly thereafter we saw the unusual sight of thousands of eggs laid out on the roadside. A thoroughly enjoyable day out, I would strongly recommend contacting Paul Mueller should you ever decide to cycle out of Bangkok.
Saying my farewell, I continued on my journey to Meklong, a city famous for its train market. When the train arrives at the station it sounds its horn and the stall holders pull all their goods away from the track before the train glides past and the stall holders then push everything back out and continue with their daily business.
From there I continued cycling in the countryside where I was surprised to see what I initially thought was a crocodile lazing in the sun in the middle of
the road. However as I got closer it turned out to be a lizard. It was massive!
Arriving in the city of Petchaburi, I succumbed to the idea of having another Thai massage....it doesn't take much! The best massage I have had in the Far East, it was so good I decided to stay another day and have another one. Of slight concern was when the Masseuse told me that I had so many knots in my shoulders that it was reducing the amount of blood reaching my brain which could lead to a stroke. I decided to have another massage to sort out this minor problem.
The eastern coastline of Thailand to the south of Bangkok was surprisingly empty with western tourists and much cheaper than the islands further down south. It was whilst cycling down this stretch that I heard somebody call out to me, and shortly thereafter I met the wonderful couple Anthony and Caroline from France who are cycling around the World on their Brompton folding bicycles. Even more of a surprise was when Anthony told me that the British Bicycle Company Brompton had sponsored them and donated to them one of their bicycles
with spares and a front pannier. And so I accompanied them for the next 4 days, enjoying listening to their adventures and particularly Caroline's pancakes which we devoured one morning for breakfast.
One evening we arrived at a campsite where a former teacher from South Korea, Yung, introduced himself to us and then immediately invited us all out to dinner. A man with a real positive outlook on life, he is currently writing a book on character building and leadership and simply wanted to make the world a happier place. This was clearly evident with the oil barrels situated at the entrance to the campsite which all had meaningful and life enhancing quotes painted on them.
Saying farewell to Caroline and Anthony to cycle to the west coast of Thailand, I traversed the steepest hills I had so far encountered on my journey from the UK and despite trying my hardest, had to give in and push my bike for a while. Arriving in Ranong, I caught the boat to the island of Koh Phayam where I met up with my cycling friends Barbara and Sebastian and enjoyed 3 days of lazing on an empty beach and playing
frisbee in the sea.
Unfortunately, shortly thereafter, the curse which has plagued me ever since I arrived in Thailand occurred again and this time I got an abscess in my groin area, which meant catching a bus for the 350 KM journey to Phuket to once again visit the local hospital.
Resting up for a while it gave me an opportunity to visit the Old City of Phuket, which has some wonderful restaurants and great Siam-Portuguese architecture on show. No visit to Phuket is complete without a trip to Patong and I was curious what all the fuss was about.
The beach itself was very nice and with peak season now over the number of sunbathers was in decline. Evidence of the 2004 Tsunami was still visible with some of the waterfront apartments displaying brown stains where the water had reached during the disaster.
Sadly respect for the Thai culture was often ignored with many western tourists sunbathing topless and displaying so many wrinkles it was disgusting! Some guys were up to their usual tricks of the trade offering you drugs with a policeman close by, ready to pounce the moment you exchanged money. Other touts
offered you scratch cards where you were suddenly the luckiest person alive and went on to win a car, a holiday or a $1000 cash...... except you always win the holiday and have to attend a presentation on timeshare properties with conditions attached!
In Patong I also attended the evening's Cabaret show where the Lady Boys were dressed up in their finest costumes putting on a really good show. I declined to have my photo taken with them after the show, but at times it really was difficult to tell them apart from the genuine Ladies and a real eye-opener!
From Phuket the journey continued by boat to Koh Phi Phi, a wonderful idyllic island, with stunning beaches and hillside views, spoilt only by the holiday makers whose only purpose in life during their two week annual vacation is to drink themselves into oblivion and then ruin everyone else's holiday.
On the plus side, the evening's entertainment on the beach consisted of many fire show performers, who could walk a tightrope, whilst drinking a bottle of beer in one hand and spinning a fire torch in the other. Impressive!
From Koh Phi Phi it continued eastwards
to the islands of Koh Lanta and Koh Ngai in succession with the atmosphere somewhat more refined, but lacking the natural stunning beauty of the former island.
And so, I finally returned to the mainland at Pak Meng from which I cycled a further 200 Km southwards to Tammalang to catch the ferry to the Malaysian island of Langkawi and onwards to George Town in Penang. The journey continues........
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