My friend showed me a distinctively green part of Bangkok that stands out from the concrete jungle on Google satellite view, and suggested I should go sometime. So this weekend, I decided to take an adventure out to Bang Krachao, a not very well-known green getaway from Bangkok. It was surprisingly accessible being only four subways stops, one crazy motorbike taxi and a two minute boat ride away from my apartment in the centre of the city.
At one point, I was certain I wasn’t going to make it there alive. So motorbike taxies are a hazardous but unfortunately necessary part of life in Bangkok, since the city is more often in rush hour than not. If you’re running late, or living on a budget, motorbike taxis are an excellent way of cutting through the cars by an alarmingly narrow margin, and getting to places public transport can’t take you at an impressively cheap rate. (Cost me 20BHT, less than 80c NZ for a 10 minute ride!) I’ve always been skeptical since they don’t offer you a helmet, but meh, literally every citizen of Bangkok has been on one – can’t be bad right?
So my driver was on Facebook waiting for the lights to turn green, which I was okay with. But all of a sudden, he starts going 80kph whilst having an argument to who I presumed was his wife on the phone, and went through a red light – intentionally or without realising, I had no clue. I thought I was going to die but I was okay, and made it to the Khlong Toei Pier in one piece. Next up was a shaky and creaky boat ride across the river: here again, given the wobbly and reckless driving of an angry old Thai man, I thought the boat was going to capsize. But I was okay. Just being a drama queen yet again.
Once I arrived on the island, I rented out a bike for 80 BHT (3NZD) for the whole day. They were offering maps of the island but I adventurously (and very foolishly, as I will explain later) refused to take one. How lost can you get on a small island? Pretty lost, it turns out. I wanted to be surprised by what I saw, and have a plan-less day free of obligations and commitments. I hadn’t Googled anything at all about this island except for directions, and solely relied on my friend’s word. I got a shitty rusty bike and rode away into the glaring morning sun, and I swear it looked like a scene from a movie.
My first stop was Sri Nakhon Khuan Khan Park – an untouched natural park with loads of trees and off-beaten tracks. I just rode around the park, went around in circles a few times and felt completely at home. But I’ve never been there, so why? And I soon realised this park resembled my usual running route in Wellington in the Botanical Gardens, and kind of similar greenery you see in any New Zealand bush or park. That’s when I realised, despite all this half-joking (but totally serious) yarn I spin about never wanting to come home or leave Bangkok, I missed the beauty of Aotearoa. I totally took for granted how much wildlife and untouched beauty there is in New Zealand, and it kind of made me miss it all. I’d never gave much thought to how blessed I was to be able to wake up in fresh air, run down to Oriental Bay within 10 minutes, dive off the wharf, go up to the Botans and run through the bushes, and get my caffein fix from world class baristas in any corner of CBD Wellington! Despite all the complaining about it being the windiest city in the world, and that it’s too small and uni is getting boring, I was made to realise I do live a pretty good lifestyle in Wellington. Sometimes, we don’t know how good we have it until we travel to other places.
(A few snaps on my run down to Oriental Bay)
Bangkok with all it’s big-city excitement had temporarily made me numb to how much I yearned for nature. It just goes to show that I can be homesick for literally every place I’ve lived, and more and more places I live, it makes it harder and harder to decide where I ultimately want to end up because I’m always missing somewhere. I miss Japanese food, shrines, the countryside and my family. I miss New Zealand greenery and spaciousness. When I go back to New Zealand, I’ll miss Bangkok street-food, the nightlife, the friends I’ve made, the climate and amazing Thai massages… But I realised I don’t have to know where I’m going to end up just yet: biking through the peaceful park had reminded me to just enjoy the moment and see where you end up.
After being on the road for 20 minutes in the blazing sun, and having had a late one the previous night, my next stop was for a much necessary coffee. As mentioned in my first post upon arrival, ‘espresso’ in Bangkok comes with enough sugar, syrup and condensed milk to start an obesity epidemic (I seriously don’t know how the Thais stay so skinny, given the sheer amount of sugar they put in everything from coffee, tea to pad thai!) If you don’t tell them “no sugar,” every beverage comes with one or two teaspoons of it. I ordered a black coffee and told them “no sugar, no sugar” in my broken Thai. They looked at me impressively like “woah, you can drink coffee without sugar?” Mate, you’re impressive for being able to handle cream, syrup, condensed milk and sugar in one bloody beverage!
After getting my caffein fix, I aimlessly wandered through the island and ended up at one end. I noticed that life was slower in Bang Krachao, and all the locals I saw were either taking naps or eating (how do I get residency here!?) I ordered lunch in a remote family restaurant, yet again broken Thai. I somehow ended up with lunch for two – luckily, a very healthy som tom salad! I was craving spicy food despite being in 35 degrees heat. Guess I’m turning Thai, huh?
I thought about which direction to bike to next, and realised it didn’t really matter. That’s the joys of travelling solo – I don’t have to consult anyone about my next move, and I don’t have to worry if someone else is getting bored or tired. I sound selfish saying this, but living in a crowded city with many others, every action you take affects someone. So if you’re a nice enough person, you’re always considering the interest of others – whether it be of your family, friends or strangers. We always have someone else’s interest in mind when we act. So being in the middle of nowhere and giving zero f*cks about what happened next was a big relief, and a nice mental break from constantly planning my day out and being considerate.
I decided to take a left – which took me to some floating markets.
At the markets I realised I was super dehydrated and was on the verge of a sun-stroke. After having a quick hyper-rehydration with fresh young coconut (so good for you!), I knew it was time to head home. But I didn’t know which way was home, since I thought it was super cool being carefree. Google maps only showed me that I was in the middle of the island, but the port which I boarded the ferry and left my ID card at wasn’t marked on the maps. Classic Tomo.
Long story short, I rode around the island for two hours. I was in no rush, but was getting pretty fatigued. Just when I thought I couldn’t possibly get more lost, I found a hidden temple in the bushes. I can’t explain in words how beautiful and surreal the place was, nor is this photo going to do justice: I’m pretty sure time didn’t pass, and all I could hear was the bells on the roof of the temple gently ringing in the wind. It was super peaceful, that I was (almost) glad I didn’t take the map option. I also followed around a geese who wouldn’t leave this poor dog alone, and played around with them for a solid 30 minutes.
And who said Asians don’t burn? (Me, that’s what I claimed before this day. Must be the white blood in me.) Fast forward a few more hours, and I found myself facedown on my bed in pure agony. I’d been non-stop biking in the glaring sun for 6 hours, without sunscreen, and I’d sweated and roasted like a fat pig but only drank a minimal amount of water throughout the day. My legs burned from all that biking (plus the 60km I’d run this week) and I thought my back was on fire. Moral of the story is that be carefree and live in the moment – but don’t be like Tomo, plan at least a wee bit ahead. There’s a fine line between being carefree and a clueless idiot!
Anyway. This week is my last week of work before I head off to Chiang Mai and dedicate all my time to Muay Thai instead of law! The past two months working in an international law firm has been a massive challenge for me. And the next two weeks are going to be equally, if not more challenging, but in a completely different way. Switching from using all my brain power to pushing my body to the absolute physical limits is going to be a difficult adjustment, but I’m super excited to get training without worrying whether I’ll be too tired that I’ll fall asleep at work! Balancing these two things have been one of the hardest things I’ve done, and some people told me that I should focus on just work and save Muay Thai for another time. But YOLO you’re only in Thailand once! (Nah, I’ll be back but hey.) Bring on Chiang Mai!
xxxx
Lost in Gustation 
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