Cycling Buddies

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Geo: 13.9833, 100.617

I've split my Bangkok entry into two parts with the first entry from north of the city and second part slap bang in the middle of the big smoke.


After fixing my puncture from the journey into Bangkok, I decided to look for a bike shop as the gears were slipping I think, on the way in. Although Nawin suggested a place nearby, the woman in the shop purely wanted money from me the minute she saw me, she could speak English well, but she was just nasty! She had no interest in me telling her what the problem was with the bike and before she even thought of touching the bike wanted 1000 TBH to change the chain or she wouldn't consider doing a thing. After getting a new chain while on the road I knew this wasn't my problem although I will need replaced at some point, she just saw a 'rich tourist' and was going to milk it. I even asked about fixing punctures but she wanted 30 TBH per puncture and suggested new tubes instead of bothering.


When leaving the shop with poor Lucy Lou, I took a picture of the shop sign so I could call regarding the service I received and she went ballistic, demanding that I delete the picture. Of course I refused to delete it as she was hurling abuse at me telling me I was a trouble maker because I wouldn't have my chain replaced, along with other suggestions…including that in Thailand it's illegal to take a picture without permission, nice. After suggesting she calls the police or get out my way I ended up calling Nawin while she was standing shouting at me to delete the picture, I tried to let him hear the abuse but she promptly shut up and eventually backed down as she stormed away. Oh well there's always one, I'll put up a picture of the shop I would recommend ‘not' using. So after an eventful start to the day, I went a tour around the local area and just had a chilled out day off, I would find somewhere else.


As Nawin and Anan are working I don't see that much of them except evenings however on their day off they took me out to Ayuthayya which was very kind of them, the ancient capital north of Bangkok which is filled with ruins, temples, tourists and elephants,and was a really lovely day out. First we visited some family for lunch before going a tour round, I was disappointed that my camera stopped working but Anan kindly let me use her phone to take some pictures which I later downloaded. On the way back into Bangkok we ended up visiting local malls for furniture and it's really just the same stuff as home which was interesting to see.


I was given lots of great information by them on how to get into town with directions written in English and Thai and I had no problems following their instructions but I will detail this is the second part. While heading from the condo for my bike one day I passed a gate which had a ‘touring bike' sign on it and doubled back to have a look further, this ended up in the first meeting of my now good friend Tanin and his wife Lek who provided a wealth of information as well as kindness and helping me out however possible. After my initial meeting I arranged to take my bike to Tanin to see what the problem was but it seems to be a new spindle I needed which he organised for me, as well as that he fixed my front rack which was burst, and provided me with maps for Thailand as well as lots of stories and tips for the journey ahead, and I can't thank him enough for his friendship and help.


His passion is bike touring and he estimates he has cycled around 100,000 km over the past 19 years, and this has actually resulted in him building his own touring bikes which are incredibly light weight and strong and if I only had spare pennies he would have a new customer in an instant! His work is the best I have seen anywhere and everything he does is for a reason and makes sense… my new best buddy in Bangkok I could listen to tales and stories all day long. His wife Lek shares his passion and goes out on cycle tours with him, she was kind enough one day to take me round the local market at the temple which was a wonderful experience as she explained things to me and told the locals a bit about me, and acted generally as translator, it ended up a real one off experience with lots of the market stall holders asking me to take their pictures.


Lek gave me details to head out to a nearby pottery island on the river which was fascinating, I jumped 2 local buses followed by 2 ferries (water taxi's) then cycled round Koh Khet which was fab. The temples were great and the pottery villages very unique with great detail put into every piece, they have many old brick kilns which they use which are massive, and pots lie around everywhere. I had a go on one of the wheels which were difficult enough to use, meanwhile one of the potters beside me was adding details and carving into his pot, these are very unique and I was so pleased I went to visit. Strangely enough Nawin doesn't know his nearby neighbour although he has one of Tanin's maps that he produced, so I do the introductions and I hope they become great friends with each other who share a mutual passion


The local mall encouraged me to buy a wee second hand camera as it was the same price as replacing the screen on my current camera, so I've got a new toy to play around with and it means I can take pictures at markets without me blinding the stall holders. The moto taxi's also all knew me by the time I left whether it was from the condo for the buses or Nawin's or Tanin's place and with no language I was dropped at exactly the right spot every time... result!

It was a nice area I was in and everyone except the cycle shop lady were lovely to me, so bring on the big smoke!

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Photos

Tanin
Rit Bicycles

Condo I stayed in North of the city
Warmshowers

Local Market
The old man here shouted me over to take his photo :)

Local Market
Durian - smells terrible like really terrible but takes pretty good if you can get it past your nose!