Bike Tour

This was one of my favorite things we've done in BKK. Bangkok is often a difficult city to navigate and see a lot of for several reasons: traffic is often terrible, sidewalks are in bad shape in many places, and overcrowding can make moving from one spot to another on foot a challenge. On this tour, though we were able to see a lot of Bangkok quickly moving from the center of city out to the suburbs and then on to an island that is not even part of BKK.
As mentioned, we began near the center of BKK and headed through one of several chinatowns. These "chinatowns" are so named because they're populated largely by Chinese immigrants and their descendants. These "towns" are densely populated with houses made out of lots of improvised materials (see the pictures). At many places during our ride the sun was almost completely blocked out--like riding through a cave or a dense forest. Bangkok is a city of stark contrasts: We went from riding through an area with gigantic skyscrapers and extravagant condo buildings to neighborhoods with shacks built on top of shacks built on top of more shacks in a matter of minutes. The differences are certainly more than aesthetic; the physical proximity of these distinct neighborhoods underlines the wealth gap in this still-developing country. (Our guide said that almost everyone that lived in this area had an air-conditioner and cable tv; but I'm not so sure).
After our trip through Chinatown we headed across the Chao Praya river to a small island opposite BKK. This "island" is called Prapadaeng and is created by a large bend in the Chao Praya river that almost completely circles the area. The area is a government-protected, partially-developed swamp. In many places the only way to get around is on bike or motorbike since the "roads" are 4-5 foot brides suspended over the swamp water. At times this can be a little harrowing and our guide said that she has about one person fall every trip. Unluckily for me, I helped meet that prediction; coming around a corner a little too quickly my bike headed off the bridge while I headed onto the ground, face first. I was fine, just a little cut on my hands. Luckily for me, I have no shame, so I was completely unembarrassed.