Day 13 – Sea and Country Biking Tour and Khao San Road

I think it is ironic that we spent the first hour of our journey through Southeast Asia afraid to cross the road, and our last few hours on the continent merged with the chaos – biking through the busy streets of Bangkok!

We spent the day on Grasshopper Adventure’s “Sea and Country” mountain bike tour.  Their website has a very accurate description of what we did.  We traveled by bike, boat and train to a quiet part of Thailand populated by the local fisherman and salt farmers.  The ride painfully reminded me that I have never been fond of mountain biking, and the scenery was not intoxicating.  Faced with a mile of large muddy puddles (even though it’s the dry season), I was as good as done; I wasn’t prepared to be covered in staining red clay, and needed my shoes to be clean and dry for the flight home.  The mud lasted briefly, so I refocused on enjoying the adventure.

Sea and Country bike tour with Grasshopper Adventures

Biking quickly through the streets of Bangkok, Greg commented that you'd be left in the dust if you weren't a capable biker!

Wat Arun, the iconic travel photo, is sadly covered in scaffolding 

The monks are out in full force at 7am

Our train arriving into the station, about to take us an hour to the shore

Dragging 7 bikes onto and off of the train, with crowds of people coming from every direction, is a frantic experience

The train is squished between homes and bushes.  Shreds of leaves fly in through open windows when the train speeds down the tracks.

We got off at the end of the line, Mahachai Station, which holds a morning fish market

The crematorium at the temple in the port of Tha Chin

All around this area there are fish laying out to dry 

A peculiar mudskipper fish hops into and out of the water

A lot of the bike ride is on a dirty dusty path - which soon turns to mud

Harvesting salt is a big industry here

We stopped for a seafood lunch along the drab Gulf of Thailand, and then headed back to the city.  After riding for 25 miles, the end of the tour was my favorite part: my adrenaline was pumping as we rode on the streets of Bangkok weaving in and out of the scooters, cars and buses.  We detoured through narrow alleyways with repeated tight turns, and oddly rode through the bustling flower market.  It was pretty crazy!  Then, within 500 meters of the finish line, I biffed it big time. Although I have never in my life jumped a curb, our guide Andy made it look easy.  Duped with unfounded confidence, I pretended I knew what I was doing – and promptly crashed right into the curb.  I fell in slow motion, laughing at my stupidity – smack in the middle of Ratchadamnoen Klang Road, the biggest and busiest road in Bangkok.  I was immediately surrounded by helpful people – all except Greg who was nowhere in sight.  Later he lovingly informed me I should have had no problem jumping up the curb.  No matter, the bruises and gash were my proud souvenirs to our wild adventure!

For dinner we chose a Bangkok institution called Thip Samai.  It is famous for pad thai, and we followed the crowds.  What the pictures don’t convey is the crazy volume, speed, and commotion of the busy restaurant.

Thip Samai wraps the pad thai up like a gift in a very thin layer of egg 

Their specialty Pad Thai Haw Kai Goong Sot with prawns for 90 baht ($3.50 usd)

We celebrated our journey through Southeast Asia on Khao San Road.  After sitting at a bar lining the street, people watching while drinking our commemorative local Chang beer, I then sought out a massage, pedicure, manicure, and facial.  Adamant he would not participate, Greg was convinced by a nearby man from Colorado – and enjoyed the whole experience right next to me … all that for the whopping price of $60 for the both of us!  Being pampered was the perfect way to end a physical day and a fantastic journey!

There are plenty of things (both legal and illegal) to keep you busy on Khao San Road

Drinking Chang beer on Khao San Road

After two weeks, our adventure through Southeast Asia has come to an end, and we board the plane for home in the morning.  One of our tour guides in Vietnam asked, surprised, “You think it is different here?  How?!”  Nothing is the same.  As you turn every corner, you are guaranteed one thing: you will see something you have never seen before.   Though I’ve never been so ready to leave, the trip was the best of our long list of travels.  I thought I’d be checking it off my bucket list, but to my dismay, it left me already planning our return!