Bangkok!  Wow!  I’ve been here for 6 days now and I’m just starting to get into the groove of things.  Arrived on Tuesday and made my way down to my Mom’s hotel.  It was great to see her and catch up (and steal some of her travel gear!), even if it was only for a few hours.  The next few days I met up with Nick and Dan and did some of the touristy things… visiting temples, drinking, and seeing the darker parts of Bangkok.  It was good to catch up with those two but I wasn’t fully into the party scene here.  Partially because of jet lag and partially because I’ve been itching to get out on my bike.

Nick and Dan took off to some island and I spent the last couple of days trying to get my bike ready.  To be honest, I’ve been a little apprehensive about actually taking off.  It’s kinda like cliff jumping when you’re trying to psych yourself up and jump, but at the last second you chicken out.  I don’t know… all these things run through my mind.  “Where direction should I bike?”, “How bad is the traffic out of the city?”, “How many spare tubes should I bring”, “I swear there is a rattling in my rear derailleur… probably should stay another day and fix it”, “Ooo front panniers, do I need them?”.  All these things kept swirling in my head and I felt a bit paralyzed!  So much for the brave, “Whatever, I’ll just figure it out when I get there” attitude I had when I left.

Anyway I decided to confront this fear by hoping on my bike and heading right into the chaos of Bangkok traffic.  I’d talked to a couple of cyclists who said not to worry about the traffic here, and that drivers always gave you lots of space… I was still dubious.  Riding in taxis and tuk-tuks made it seem miraculous that I hadn’t witnessed and accidents on the road.  So I inched my bike out of the tourist area and WHOOSH, I was swallowed into the stream of cars, scooters and motorbikes.  Everyone was right - Bangkok is a joy to bike through!  The cars are used to all the bikes and always shoulder check.  The only thing you really need to pay attention to is the scooters that weave between parked cars.

Tomorrow I’m heading towards Pattaya and the south-eastern coast of Thailand and then heading into Cambodia.  Good beaches, nice roads, and courteous drivers.  I’m hoping to be back in Bangkok in two weeks so I can check out the full-moon party at the end of the month.