Backstreet Bangkok

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It was a very early start this morning. We had to be at River City by 6.30am. However, this was no problem after 26 hours of travelling, crossing however many timezones and losing a night as we raced the sunrise as we flew over Europe. A short taxi ride later and we arrived at Co Van Kessel, the Dutch cycling company. As I have mentioned, we have already been to Bangkok 4 times as a couple and I've been a further 5 times. We've seen all of the "must-see" tourist attractions, and now we were looking for something new and different. Cue a backstreets cycling tour, promising to show participants the "real, unseen Bangkok" perfect!

And indeed it was. We were each given a Dutch bike, complete with ridiculously high handlebars, and off we went, following our local guide away from the river, away from the traffic and into the backstreets of Chinatown. Being 7am, the city itself had been awake all night (forget New York, this truly is the city that never sleeps!) but Chinatown was just beginning to stir. We stopped at a banyan tree, the sacred Buddhist tree which was decorated with bright cloths, before cycling on further. We soon arrived at the market, where we dodged pedestrians, handcarts and other cycles through the labyrinthine narrow lanes, while traders called out their wares as shoppers haggled for prices. Spices, fruit, vegetables and rice were piled impossibly high and, as we whizzed past, the smells of broths, stir fries and barbecues were irresistible. After a while, we arrived at the main residential area, where three different religions and cultures live in harmony - Buddhist, Christian and Islamic communities reside, worship and educate side by side. We visited the Catholic Church, a beautiful wooden building, and then entered a temple, where we found the world's largest seated Buddha. Rising high above us, the gold gleamed in the early morning sun and the scent of incense created a calm atmosphere where we sat and reflected. Soon, we were on our way again, passing a mosque built in the local Thai style with a brightly coloured wooden pointed roof, no dome and no minaret. It is, apparently, the only one in the world to adopt the style of the main religion of the country it is in and was quite fascinating to see something so different.

We continued on, passing incredible wats (temples) on every corner, their vibrant primary colours and gold paint so striking in the bright daylight, but so common that they were unworthy of a cursory stop on the tour! Bangkok's vast range of architecture never fails to delight but this was a chance for us to soak up the atmosphere, rather than stopping for photo opportunity every two minutes, and to be honest, it was quite refreshing in our age of trying to document every single moment of our lives (which of course, I too am very guilty of!)

Our peddling soon took us away from Chinatown, where we boarded a long tail boat, bikes and all, and just a few minutes later, we were cruising down the Chao Praya river, the lifeblood of Bangkok. We travelled down some of the klungs, or canals, that led off the wain waterway, passing the Royal Barge, the scenery changing dramatically from the high-rise, luxury buildings that dominate the banks of the river. As we pootled further away, the houses became more traditional - shiny expanses of glass giving way to colourful stone and wooden houses with verandas out onto the river, boats strung up, ready to take the owners about their daily lives. It was a wonderful glimpse into local life, and one that can't be seen if you never stray away from the five star hotels and "big-hitter" sights.

We disembarked at one of Bangkok's floating markets that is rarely visited by tourists. As we approached, small boats were moored up next to market stalls on a fixed wooden pontoon. Here women sat in their boats, cooking up delicious-smelling food, passing it up to their customers on the pontoon. We parked our bikes and then began our food-sampling adventure through the market. We fed the huge amount of fish that were clamouring for bread, writhing over one another, their huge mouths making loud sucking noises as they greedily grabbed whatever was thrown their way, thrashing water onto the enraptured visitors surrounding them. We tasted coconut milk sweets, a thick base of vegetable - mine was sweet potato, Stacey's was sweetcorn - topped with a gelatinous layer of sweet coconut cream. It sounds horrendous but, as with all Thai cuisine, it was delicious! We enjoyed a local bread, green mango and then we were introduced to mangosteen - a small purple "queen of fruits" that is peeled, like a passion fruit, but inside is a small, white, juicy bulb, that looks like garlic, and which is sweet and flavourful and simply divine!

After we had finished with the market, we got back in the saddle and headed out into the surrounding area. We rode along narrow paths that twisted and turned, through residential areas, locals smiling and waving to us as we passed. There was not a sound to be heard as we cycled, a mere 4km away from Bangkok's CBD - the change in atmosphere was incredible. We soon arrived at a restaurant, set in gardens packed with palm trees and small tinkling fountains. Here, we enjoyed a feast of chicken and cashews, omelettes, stir fried vegetables and a coconutty, spicy chicken soup! It was delicious and well-earned after our three hour cycle! Back on the bikes, Stacey found herself with a flat tyre but we managed to make it back to the boat, where we enjoyed a bumpy ride back to the pier, water crashing over the prow of the boat as it battled with the ever-busier waterways now that we were so much later in the day.

After dropping off our bikes, we crammed into one of the water buses that ply the river, people practically hanging off the sides, and enjoyed the scenery as we passed some of Bangkok's main sights. A quick dip in the rooftop pool was followed by some much-needed downtime, before we ventured out for dinner - more pad Thai (what else?!) and red curry again, delicious, and then we found a wonderful street that is opposite the Khao San. It was a great place to amble down, with local bars and small restaurants on either side of the street, market stalls and food carts touting for business. Street vendors strolled up and down selling bracelets and necklaces. There was no pounding music, no neon lights and no pizza joints. It was the Khao San as we had known it years ago and it was a delightful place to stop for a beer.

As we headed back to the hotel, it started to rain and so we popped into a massage parlour we had seen on our way up the road earlier. We had planned to go to another spa but the prices at this one seemed reasonable, so we decided to give it a go! We are so glad we did. We both had the facial treatment for 250baht each (£6) and our beautician was excellent. It wasn't the most relaxing environment, with stark strip lights in an open room - I did ask Stacey to play some plinky plonky music on her phone and I did miss the darkened room with candles and ambience! However, we both still managed to fall asleep as she layered us up with potions and lotions, sucking our faces with some strange mini-vacuum cleaner! We left with baby-soft skin and feeling relaxed and rejuvenated, ready for our adventure to begin tomorrow.

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