From Bangkok with love

I have visited Bangkok quite a few times over the last 30 years and I have always loved it. In fact, it is one of the few cities I really like. I also like Melbourne and Mainz, but it is questionable if the latter one is actually a city. As a young person I enjoyed the sleaziness of Khao San road, back than a hub for backpackers and the complete craziness of China town. This has long gone and Khao San road is nowadays nothing more than travesty of the “olden” days and China town feels orderly. But I am also not a teen anymore and are not looking for a hippie-vibe. I am now a respected public servant and serious family father…. But Bangkok still impresses. There is so much to see, from bombastic temples and skyscrapers to little surprises like a shrine full of barby dolls, from a great art-centre to some crazy secondhand markets. For us, it did not come easy, because it is also not a very bike friendly city. And we had to get around a bit in Bangkok, as we had some stuff to sort out. We also visited the legendary Bok-Bok bikeshop for some Rohloff-hub oil change, a place that has served thousands of bike tourers and is the size of a matchbox. But they have everything, know everybody and can fix whatever is needed. It is also a good place to meet fellow bike riders. Our last bike ride brought us to a hostel that had promised to store our bicycles for free for the next two weeks….. and they did, in the middle of the restaurant. Seriously, if you are in Bangkok in the next to weeks, you can have dinner at “Bangkok Bed and Bike” and dine right next to our bikes. Very nice people there.

And now, for the next two weeks no riding. We were so happy to pick the Rorschheim family from the airport up. A moment Max had anticipated for so long. It is great to have them around and we stayed in a great AirBnb “on the other side of the river” in a fantastic three storey house. We had the whole place for ourselves and it was in a buzzling but relaxing neighbourhood with a great local nightmarket. Three days city have been enough and know we have arrived in Khao Sok National park and everything is green and there is a river to swim and life is great.