I wish I can explain what it's like to bike in Bangkok traffic. It's exhilarating. I went to the market today to grab my dad's favorite dessert, also as part of my new exercise routine.
Avoiding cars is one thing, add motorcycles, a lot of people, kids and grandmas, other bikes, and piles of dog poop is tricky.
Real tricky.
In Thailand there are a lot of stray dogs (It's a problem but we'd rather not kill them, let's not call it euthanize okay?). Stray dogs are part of our culture. Yeah they are annoying, but there are organizations out here to help them and a lot of people feed them out of charity. Sometimes these dogs poop in the street. You just have to get used to it and be aware when weaving your bike through traffic. I had a close one today.
Riding through traffic is also fun. Looking for spaces between cars and their side mirrors is a skill. I'm a little smaller than most motorbikes so it's easier for me. When it's impossible, I have to weave, and then I have to be careful another motorcycle won't be coming through the lane.
When I finally got to the market, bought myself a 75 cent bottle of fresh squeezed orange juice. Nothing tasted better in the world at that point. Trust me.
I hope I can convince some of my friends to come biking with me one day. Preferably with insurance.
I spent the rest of my morning learning a few Iron and Wine songs on the ukulele and singing. The only time I ever sing is while I play the uke.
This coupled with the fact that this blog reached a milestone of 2000 hits made my day. Most of it came from the past two months (about 1500). I'm proud and happy there are people reading this. It's my creative and emotional outlet. Only a handful of people comment so I don't know who's all reading this. But thank you. Thank you.
Pete
Once in Japan, I rode in the car with my American friends. A cab cut in front of us and we almost hit his rear. My friends were ....ing how bad Japaneses people drive. I kept quiet but thought " you ain't seen nothin' yet". I didn't want to rub it in their faces. My family is usually concerned about me driving in Thailand 'cuz they think the left and right steering could cause me problem. That's partly true for the first two days. I learned if I want to survive driving in Thailand I have to be able to read the other drivers mind. Would he let me go, or would he bang my car 'cuz his is bigger! I know for fact that we need to be skilled to drive there (let along riding bike, scary!). I once was riding bike around neighborhood and got chased by stray dogs. That was it, no more bike riding for me.
ReplyDeleteI have been chased by stray dogs before. That was also part of the fun.
ReplyDeleteBut I wouldn't bike in the streets everyday— just like I wouldn't skydive everyday. I'd still do it to get my adrenaline though. Maybe once a week?