We have just finished a great cycle ride with “On” our guide for the day. It all started this morning getting a cab to a different hotel to meet up. We thought it was odd that one taxi driver refused to take us but thought it was the time of day, or not far enough. We then took a trip round a wet market at Makkasan station. Most of the sellers were from the same village where we were on our way to and they , true to form, all fell in love with Susie. We saw loads of fruit, the insides of chickens with the eggs still growing inside. Did you know that they start off as yolks before the shell is made? It might settle the age old argument about which came first!
We then waited nearly an hour for a train and the train ride itself took nearly another 30 minutes.
By the time we got there everyone was very hot and so we were quite worried that tears would flow if the bikes were not right. We had given the tour company a list of heights for the children in advance but you never know. It was only the second time they had catered for young children.
We got the bikes adjusted and set off and I have to say I was very proud of our three for getting on with it.
We cycled through rice fields and learned about how it grows, is planted and harvested and examined some that was nearly ready to be picked.
We also got a close up of the banana plant to see what else is used in cooking other than the banana fruit itself. Quite a bit more than I thought.
We also passed many shrimp and catfish farms. The shrimp farms are distinguished by the paddle wheels across them used to aereate the water as the shrimp need a lot of Oxygen.
We eventually came to the village and we had lunch in a lovely cabin built over the shrimp farms with giant doors and a cooking class layout inside. The food was delicious and all local from the greens beans to the chicken, rice and bamboo. We washed it down with coca cola and water. It was important to eat everything because the ingredients take a long time to grow!
The return journey was great with our kids teaching On the and games that have become quite common on our trip – “a sailor went to sea, sea, sea” etc.
We passed another train that had caught fire and paused for a look. Nothing different to the UK there then.
I took some pictures of the level crossing just before our station where in an ordinary world the traffic waits for the train. Here of course possession is nine tenths of the law so you park across the level crossing and stay firm in your traffic jam until you can move again. The train shoudl stop. We waited for 10 mins on the train!
Overall we had a really good time and the kids did us proud in the main.
Getting back to our hotel was more tricky. Remember I said a taxi driver turned us down on the outbound route? Well this time there was definitely something wrong with our destination as no fewer than 6 taxis said thanks but no thanks! It seems they don’t like traffic jams. Bummer if you are a taxi driver in Bangkok then because that is pretty much all there is!
I did a time lapse of Bangkok at night from our hotel the other night through to sunrise. I have put two pictures to give you a feel for it at the bottom of the photo stream. It could be quote cool as there are 3800 pictures to make it but I need a computer at home to combine them.
