It's been a few days since I wrote, so please settle in for a wee read, and a few pics (in order of mention). I will make this two posts, to make it more manageable.
Friday - van, skytrain, metro, walk
Mini-vans seating about 14 people are apparently replacing bus routes in Thailand, and this was the only option for Gayle and me to get from Don Chedi into Bangkok. If you have luggage (which we did) you have to buy an extra seat as there is no luggage capacity. It's a much more bumpy ride than a bus, so no chance to read or journal, and there are lots of van stops en route where people just flag down the driver, I guess they know the number they are looking for. There are also van stations though with timetables and routes so if you know where they are I guess you could use those. I've had a wee look online but I dont think theres heaps of info about this sort of option. Still, it was and interesting way to travel. Martin had warned me they make their own rules in the city and he was not wrong! Still Gayle and I had the van mostly to ourselves, so it was nice not to be cramped next to our bags for the three hour trip.
Once in Bangkok we found the Skytrain station (not quite the closest one to the van station for which we were looking, but we were just glad to see it) and I successfully navigated us both onto the right train for the airport (only one transfer required). I then got off and left her to get to the airport on her own (which she did fine and is now home) and I transferred to a metro (subway) station a few mins away and caught the underground train to the train station. That all went quite smoothly.
I am a big fan of public transport. There are always signs and maps, almost always with at least some English (yay for speaking the default universal language!) and there are always helpful people you can ask if you can't figure it out. I find it much better than relying on a random taxi driver who might understand you and might get you to the right place by the best route, or might not! And will charge through the nose for the privilege.
The walk to the hostel was only 15 minutes or so, but combined with all the activity and the fact it was about midday, lets just say I was pretty hot and sweaty when I arrived, so had a quiet rest of the day and ended up snoozing in my (happily empty) room in the afternoon, and watching a DVD in the evening which I enjoyed.
Saturday - bicycle, train, bike, longtailed boat, bike, skytrain, bike, walk, train
I woke feeling quite refreshed and ready for my all day bike tour starting at 9am. There were four of us, the others from Japan, Bahrain and Thailand, and our Thai guide was Pam. Amusingly she referred to herself by name ('please follow Pam single file', 'if you get lost, stop and Pam will find you'). First, we spent over and hour cycling (slowly) through Chinatown, the fresh market area was so crowded with people, bikes, scooters, trollys, some interesting looking food for sale and all manner of other goods. We also saw some temples and some (much quieter) residential areas.
We then went on a train for about 45 mins to the east, still in Bangkok but much more rural. Apparently most people in this area are Muslim (still ethnic Thai) and work in factories in the area. Pam was a bit vague on what sort of factories, and said the minimum wage of 300 bht/day (maybe NZD13) only applied in Bangkok city, not these types of areas. We spent over an hour cycling alongside canals on a suspended concrete path maybe a metre wide with a 1.5 metre drop on either side to the water (some areas did have a rail on one side). I asked how many cyclists they lost over the side, she said one a week and didn't seem to be joking! Happily none of us came to grief, in spite of some reasonably bumpy paths at times, and being passed regularly in each direction by scooters. We did have a stop for an icecream and drink during this period (I was already on my third or fourth water!), and then we stopped for a yummy Thai lunch overlooking a rice field.
After a rest we cycled to a temple complex beside a much larger canal where there was a pier with a longtailed boat waiting for us. We had time for a nosey around the complex, but it wasn't a place I wanted to spend a lot of time. Heaps of idols, mostly animals rather than the human Buddhas I have seen elsewhere, and lots of places people could 'make merit' which seems to be paying money to do something (pour water over an idol, burn incense, feed fish) to gain favour and presumably fortune or a better next life or something.
Speaking of feeding the fish, that was apparently the thing to do here, and the water was just teaming with fish. I've only seen pictures like this, and then only of fish farms. It was hard to take photos, but hopefully you can see them. With impeccable timing, while we were at the (well roofed) dock the rain started. It had been threatening for a while, and while it started not too hard, it was soon absoultely bucketing down, with thunder and lightening. And it lasted for 30 mins or so. I was very happy we weren't riding in the open at that point, though it did have a significant cooling effect which I totally appreciated. Again it was hard to take photos, but I think I got one which shows at least a little of the rain. I was fascinated that the fish seemed to react to the lightening, and leap out of the water in unison almost at the same time as the lighteneing flashed. That was impossible to catch on camera, so you'll have to take my word for it. In hindsight I probably should have tried taking a video.
We got underway on the boat as the rain was subsiding, and motored along the canel for maybe 45 mins. The water was much more polluted with rubbish than the smaller canals, but all the water was pretty murky. The canals were clearly the 'road' in these areas, complete with rubbish bins, telephone boxes and gates on the side paths leading to houses. I was amused that the gates had no 'wall' with them, as because the path was suspended, there was no way to get around the gate, hence no need for a wall. It did look odd though. At times I was a touch concerned about the engine on boat, but it got us where we were going with no rowing required :-)
Off the boat, a bit more cycling through the city to the skytrain station, bikes on the escalators, the (reasonably crowded) skytrain (including a transfer) and then a bit more riding through the city back to base at 5:30pm. During the day I probably went through at least six 600ml bottles of water as well as icecream, lunch and three non water drinks, all supplied as part of the tour. Few!
I enjoyed the day, so nice to be on a bike even with no gears and pretty spongy breaks, but was a little disappointed it wasn't a little more informative. Other tours I've done (walking or cycling) has had a lot more stopping at specific spots to say something specific about what we were looking at, either a specific thing, or a good example of a thing. Nevermind, I might do some more reading online now I've been to these places, there's no shortage of info there.
Back to the hostel for my luggage, walk back to the train station (hot again), a shower (yay for travel towels) at the train station (I'd scoped it out on Friday so knew what I was doing) and then on to my next adventure, the overnight train to Chiang Mai.
I had been warned about the aircon, set to cold!, and was not disappointed. I was glad of the blanket they provided. I was sharing a compartment with a Japanese guy on the other top bunk, and a Thai couple with a child sharing the bottom two bunks. It was dark when we left (a bit late), and since there wasn't really an option to chat with my fellow passangers, I read for a bit and pulled my curtain for lights out. I was happy to sleep reasonably well, only awake a couple of times, and after waking around 7am, sat and watched the countryside and small towns through which we were passing. The hills were a nice change from the completely flat terrain of central Thailand, and we even went throught a tunnel more than a kilometer long (according to the sign I spotted).
The train arrived about 9:30am, Sandra (Martin's sister) kindly picked me up from the train station in her jeep, and we were back to her place super quick. Their place is a very handy five mins from the station.
*end of part one*
kontennya bagus, terimakasih
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