Adventures in the Streets

For anyone who has never been to Thailand, the complete lack of any sort of driving laws often come as quite a surprise. For example, I always look both ways before crossing or pulling out in my car. Why? Because it is just as likely that someone will be driving down the wrong way on a street as the right way. Looking has saved me from more than one accident. The only rule of the road here is to always expect the unexpected. And maybe if there was a second it would be that might makes right.

Driving mayhem taken into consideration, and the fact that I've seen some pretty nasty accidents in the two years I've been here, I had a pretty fun two-wheeled adventure about town. My car was being fixed and I had some errands that had to be run, so my bike it was. I decided what the heck, it would be good exercise and one helluva ride. And that it was.

Mostly biking around town is fine, but there are certain places where it's a bit hairy. Riding down Suthep to the moat was one of those places. I even avoid it in my car if I can as it's total chaos and an accident waiting to happen. Which unfortunately, because I'm the foreigner here, is always my fault, irrespective of who's fault it really is. I had a couple near misses, but managed to survive. Then came the hairiest bit of all... merging into the moat road in time to get over to the U-turn. I've never pedelled so quickly across four lanes of traffic in my life. Come to think of it, I don't think I've ever pedelled across four lanes of traffic. Getting out of the moat was equally daunting, but in the end I managed to squeak by. The idea of wearing my bike helmet, no matter how much of a nerd I look like, was without a doubt reinforced. I'd much rather look like a dork on a bike than a smashed watermelon on the pavement. Grim, but true. (NB. My roommate just came home and told me about a particularly grizzly accident she'd seen between a motorcyclist and a car. Ain't no joke. )

The highlight of the day was biking through the old city. Especially on a beautiful winter day like today. (I still love that this is once again my idea of winter... woohoo!) Blue skies, green mountains, a warm breeze and the sunshine on my face. The old city is a warren of shops, cafes, wats, schools, restaurants, guest houses and everything else in between. There really is something for everyone and so much to discover. Also, being red-hot high season there were a ton of travellers out and about, a lot more than any other time of the year. People exploring, walking, taking tuk-tuks, shopping, eating, looking at wats. It really reminded me why I moved here in the first place and what I don't do enough of. It's so easy to get caught up in the everyday of life... errands, working, cooking, hanging out at home... It was defintiely good motivation for me to get out and be more of a "tourist" here. It also reminded me that there is a never-ending flow of things for me to explore here and that my next adventure is always just around the corner.