Tralalā!
I'm sitting in the park called Sanam Luang in Bangkok. Yesterday morning we arrived to the city.
I'm sitting in the park called Sanam Luang in Bangkok. Yesterday morning we arrived to the city.
November 03/11
First I had to get a visa upon arrival, which in total cost us 1300 baht (local currency). Once I passed through immigration I was able to collect our bags and bicycle boxes. Meanwhile Pedro was waiting in a huge line to get through the immigration. Finally we met and went through the last customs bit and we begun assembling our bikes. Pedro was doing most of the job, and I helped with what I could. As we were doing this many people were looking at us and showed a lot of interest as to who we are and where we are going. People were generally very friendly. Then we changed and were ready to roll. When we asked at the information what would be the best way to cycle to the city, they were unsure. So we went in the general direction, it was about 30km to the city. We wondered about, asked some people along the way for directions. We met a Scottish cycler, who told us the best route to take. And so we were on the right track. Traffic in the city and close to the city flows quite busy, but the drivers are mostly respectful to cyclists and people on scooters. We stopped close to the centre in a park where we rested in the grass. Later we arrived to the train station Hua Lamphong where we managed to buy tickets for later day to get to Surin, a city to the East of Bangkok, still in Thailand, just above Cambodia. After that we cycled around, as we were to meet our host Chana only after 9p.m. By half passed eight we were at the spot ready to meet her, and after nine she came to pick us up. Chana is an architect from northern part of the country, but has been living in Bangkok for five years now. She has travelled a lot, had and is participating in multinational events and projects. Next year she will be in Milan for World Expo. We had a lovely chat with her, and finally we went to sleep. We were very tired because of jet lag, the time difference, almost no sleep at night as we were flying at that time, and of course we had been cycling. The day was long and exciting!
tbc.
November 04/11
The next morning we woke up late, and went to Seven 11 to buy something for breakfast. And so we had the worst sandwiches ever. :D But we also tried cold drinks and those were veeery nice.
We took the BTS (Bangkok train) to the city. Soon after that we got picked up by a tuktuk driver. He offered us a price of 20 baht for an hour, an offer we could not resist. As we were riding he offered to bring us to his shop, Pedro said that we travel by bicycle so we don't want to buy anything. He then stopped and said no shop, then no ride (something along those lines), we were extremely dissatisfied with this, but what can we do? We got out and headed for the river, there we took the boat to the Laying Buddha. We managed to see a lot even though Pedro was feeling quite sick. Because of this we stopped for nap time in a near by park. Then some girls wanted to interview us for their class project, but it started to rain and they apologized and run off. We were up too to get walking. It started raining cats and dogs, and we were lucky to be inside the navy building when this happened. :D So we stayed there for some minutes while it almost stopped pouring. We then ate some street food (I did, mainly, because Pedro was still not feeling well). We took the boat thinking to go to a restaurant that our host suggested, but it turned around right after we got on it. So we thought, what ever, we will go somewhere else. At one of the piers it stopped and said that we have to get off. Then we got on board of another boat which took us to Asiatique. There we walked about the different food stands. We stopped to watch some performance, but Pedro used to time to nap again. We later had some yummy street food and headed back to our host's place by boat and by BTS. There we tried Pad Tai, more chatting with our host Chana.. And then it was sleep time!
We took the BTS (Bangkok train) to the city. Soon after that we got picked up by a tuktuk driver. He offered us a price of 20 baht for an hour, an offer we could not resist. As we were riding he offered to bring us to his shop, Pedro said that we travel by bicycle so we don't want to buy anything. He then stopped and said no shop, then no ride (something along those lines), we were extremely dissatisfied with this, but what can we do? We got out and headed for the river, there we took the boat to the Laying Buddha. We managed to see a lot even though Pedro was feeling quite sick. Because of this we stopped for nap time in a near by park. Then some girls wanted to interview us for their class project, but it started to rain and they apologized and run off. We were up too to get walking. It started raining cats and dogs, and we were lucky to be inside the navy building when this happened. :D So we stayed there for some minutes while it almost stopped pouring. We then ate some street food (I did, mainly, because Pedro was still not feeling well). We took the boat thinking to go to a restaurant that our host suggested, but it turned around right after we got on it. So we thought, what ever, we will go somewhere else. At one of the piers it stopped and said that we have to get off. Then we got on board of another boat which took us to Asiatique. There we walked about the different food stands. We stopped to watch some performance, but Pedro used to time to nap again. We later had some yummy street food and headed back to our host's place by boat and by BTS. There we tried Pad Tai, more chatting with our host Chana.. And then it was sleep time!
Now it is Wednesday morning and we are slowly waking up. Today we will have another glimpse of the city, and later we'll head to Surin. ;)
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