Oh ya! I just wanted to tell you that it is possible to get into Bangkok and around in Bangkok on a bicycle. Riding a bicycle in Bangkok is really not as bad as it sounds. Sure, traffic is ridiculous to a degree that it should be illegal, but that just means I could keep up with the speed of the cars. They even have a bicycle lane! Not that it was worth much, drivers had of course made it an opportunity to park their car. Getting into Bangkok it is probably more pleasant to take in on one of the trains, which can be done without any troubles. I will revisit Bangkok before I return. More about it then.

Bicycle lane in Bangkok, Thailand.

Guess that headline got the attention of my limited but devoted reader base (consisting almost exclusively of family members and friends from back home, I suspect)? So how did I end up hugging with a Thai transvestite. First we must go back to Hua Hin. As explained in a previous post I ended up staying a couple of days longer in Hua Hin than intended. After writing that post I ran into Nicolas, who I had talked to a couple of days earlier, and we decided to meet for a beer or two in a bar later that evening, as it was his last day in Thailand. When I show up he is already having company of a Thai girl and within 30 seconds of sitting down I have another one sitting on my lap. I explain to her that our relationship is perhaps mowing forward a bit too quickly … or something like that. In any case, she gets the point and the rest of the evening procedes in good order. I have pictures from the evening but since this could be considered “classified material” in case Nicolas have a girlfriend back home, I will save that for private viewings. So that was my introduction to the girlie bars.

Flash forward to Kanchanaburi. A rather nice town situated on the famous Kwai river. Getting there on the bicycle was boring – it has been pretty drab cycling in this part of Thailand.

The bridge itself is rather underwhelming, but the countryside further ahead is beautiful and nice to explore on a motorbike or bicycle (involves some climbing up some decent hills). Very few tourists in town so I can pick freely between the guesthouses and pick one on a raft on the river. I guess I’m the only guest, because in the evening it get invited to join the family who owns the place for dinner. That was nice: 100% authentic Thai food in good company.

The night life in Kanchanaburi is quiet as well! With my new found fondness of girlie bars (and plain boredom, walking around the quiet town with nothing better to do), I get lured in by the siren call of a pretty bar girl. So I ended playing pool and other games with a couple of girls and a lady boy. Lost some, won some … let’s just say I had to pay for a couple of rounds, but apart from the pressure to spend money it was good fun. It was a very quiet day at the bar with me soon being the only customer, so eventually they decided to shut the place for the evening and go to the disco instead. I was invited to come along. So off we go in one of those scooters with a side car: 3 seductive Thai girls, 2 lady boys and me, a farang (foreigner). Quite a menagerie! There’s a band playing and the bass player get the full attention of “our” lady boy. Definitely a fun experience for me, but after an hour or two I decide to go home. I get a huge hug from my new lady boy friend. A fun experience.

I learn that Ayutthaya is further than I thought. With only few days left on my Thai visa I change plan and decide to go to Bangkok anyway, stay there for one night and then take the night train to Nong Khai at the border to Laos.

Back on my bicycle and back on the uninspiring Highway 4, destination Samut Songkhran. I have sketched a plan that involves going to Kanchanaburi and from there to Ayutthaya, thus bypassing Bangkok. I arrives pretty late and check in at the only hotel I manage to find. Searching the Internet I learn that there would have been a alternative route along the ocean. Oh bugger, that comes from not buying a decent map.

Leaving Samut Songkhran I am, however, distracted by the touristy but photogenic floating markets some 20 km ahead, just outside the small town of Damnoen Saduak. The markets and the surrounding area, where the locals grow various crops to sell on the market, seem quite nice. So although I don’t really feel I have time for it (visa running out) I end up staying one day, as this will make it possible to get back there before tourists arrives from Bangkok.  Next day I get there early and take a boat around before the other tourists arrives. It is just as touristy as expected, but as usual I go my own way and soon find myself in quiet areas. I learn there actually is a homestay there, and if I have had the time I would have loved to stay there, rather than in the uninspiring hotel in town. Ask around if you are considering staying.

I don’t know what invisible border I crossed, but something changed when reaching Hua Hin. Two women (perfectly decent ones I should ad!) where flirting shamelessly with me and seemed prepared to leave for Denmark any moment. And now, in Damnoen Saduak I have my first (and probably last) Beckham-moment when a passing truckload of girls start screaming (or yelling) when they see me on the bicycle. That was weird. But it saved my day

I also have my first (and hopefully last) crash! Riding carefully around a sharp bend with a pool of water, the bike slides away under me and down I go. No blood or gore, or anything.

Typical scene from the floating markets of Damnoen Saduak, Thailand. Photo: Joel Schumann, 2010

An embarrassingly short ride take me some 50 km north to Hua Hin – mostly along the Highway.  I end up adding some more ks  though as the highway passes right through and I can’t see where suburb begins and city ends. So in the end I end up in a new hotel a few ks out of town. The low price and rather higher standard than I’m used to (feature list: Air con, TV, DVD, fridge, Wi-Fi) makes up for the inconvenience of being out of town. Next day, I relocate to the center, though.

Hua Hin is a proper resort town popular with both Thai tourists and westerners because of the long, white sanded beach. The town got plenty of  restaurants catering for Europeans (pizza, pasta, wiener schnitzel etc. even Scandinavian restaurants. Various water sports on the beach is possible. And then there’s plenty of girlie bars complete with thai transvestites, katoey. Anyone too shy to enter can always amuse himself with playing “spot the lady boy” from save distance on the street!

I’m mostly just hanging out and looking into where to go next, talking to a few of the other tourists. One guy I talk to speaks warmly of Burma and show me lovely pictures from when he was there. I have to say I’m getting more and more tempted to visit and when I get back I think I’ll have to look into the possibilities. Another reason for staying is the situation in Thailand and in particular in Bangkok. When i wake up in the morning thai military have just taken control with the areas in Bangkok that have been occupied by Red Shirts for months now. It’s with relief to most people here, as most Thais are really fed up with the situation now. Currently buildings are set on fire. It’s the consensus here that tourists should never be part of the conflict and I don’t worry for my safety.

Meanwhile more important things are going on elsewhere:

Danish newspaper in Hua Hin, Thailand

Little Italy, Little India, Little China ... and now Little Norway in Hua Hin.

And for my mother:

Horse riding on the beach of Hua Hin, Thailand.

It’s an short ride from Prachuap Khiri Khan to the national park of no more than 60 km. The NP is named after the limestone mountains that arises from the marsh land – “The Mountain with 300 Peaks.” It is a coastal NP that in the wet season attracts a large number of migrating birds. Unfortunately, I was there at the wrong time of year.

As I enter I’m advised where I can stay in the park. The first place is uninspiring and void of people and the idea of spending a day alone there doesn’t appeal so I move on. Second option turns out two involve either a long walk up a hill with all my stuff or a wade out to a boat (and a further expense). There are no roads to the HQ and I’m getting the feeling there might not be any tents there after all (later to be confirmed!) Fortunately I meet a local girl who tells me about a homestay just outside the park. I go … and am soon to be chased by yet another dog. To be honest, I’m pretty grumpy by now, so fed up with inadequate NP information and aggressive dogs that I decide to reverse the situation and thus brakes … and start chasing the dog. It immediately gets the point I’m trying to make and start running back to where it came from and I don’t hear more to it.

At Numpu’s homestay I’m the only guest so talk a lot with the friendly owner, Prasong. The place is constructed around a dam and with it clay-style huts looks like something that I would rather expect to find in Africa. Prasong explain he makes things with inspiration from his and his artist brother’s travels to countries such as India, Laos and Australia.

The place would get my recommendation, especially if you are a group of people going by (would be excellent value). But I might not be unbiased as Prasong offered me to buy a 50% share in the place Had to let that offer pass. Otherwise there are plenty of resort style accomodation close by at Dolphin Bay – mostly pricier but some good value in between.

Here’s a pic of the homestay:

And the parks single most famous tourist attraction:

The royal pavilion that is build in the Tham Phraya Nakhon cave.

In the morning it rained lightly and I spend the time shooting a lot of macro flowers but will save those for a later post. Think I got some keepers there;)