How to get out of Bangkok on a bike
After cycling the rural lanes of Pathum Thani province for 20 odd years I have sourced a hassle-free route that leaves congested Bangkok far behind.
Shopping in our neighbourhood, a corner of Rangsit on the edge of Bangkok’s northern boundary line, last week, I almost bumped into a tourist, who was definitely touring the hard way.
http://www.ttrweekly.com/site/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/cycling.jpgHe was on a cycle piled high with everything except the kitchen sink, toiling along busy highway 1, oblivious of cars and buses that were intent on sending him to an early grave. I nearly obliged as I a signalled a sharp left into the super market forecourt. He was definitely an intrepid Japanese tourist on an around-the-world tour and he was heading to Chiang Mai at a snail’s pace. He has probably just arrived in the northern town as I write this blog.
The sheer weight of his burden and the fact he was heading towards the Rangsit spaghetti junction, notorious for its heavy vehicles, almost prompted me to lower my car window and yell ”are you crazy”, but we don’t do that in Thailand do we?
I am always being asked by travel industry folk why I cycle for fun. “Do you have a death wish,” they query as they puff on a cig.
Or they get more personal: “You must have a very tough rear end, like an elephant’s hide.”
I am not sure how I am supposed to respond to that query. A couple of days ago, a Bangkok-based hotelier was chatting on the telephone and warned me; “if ever I decide to do something daft like cycling in Thailand I will call you for tips on buying a bike.”
I told him there are hundreds of travel people in Thailand cycling for fitness and health, but very few of us potter around on our push bikes in downtown Bangkok. Where’s the space? Where’s the air to breathe? Oh I forgot the city fathers painted cycle lanes on Sukhumvit through a mass of stalls selling fake watches and porn to tourists.
They painted another channel from the Hyatt hotel all the way to Lumpini Park. I have never seen anyone bothering to cycle on any of those delightful paths. If we have any sense at all we head as far out of town as possible to where Bangkok merges into rural Thailand to unwrap our brand new cycles.
http://www.ttrweekly.com/site/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/Cycle-touring-1.jpgMeanwhile, the Japanese tourist was slogging through traffic jams. He was probably having fun in a grim sort of way. Cycling from Bangkok to Chiang Mai takes around seven to 10 days and hundreds of tourists do it every year, so it is not exactly hard-core adventure. Some will book a tour operator to follow in a mini-van. A guide will shout directions out of the van’s window and occasionally fling a bottle of cold water in the direction of the cyclists.
It is just as easy not to bother at all with back-up. A jaded business executive crumbling under stress might discover cycling 50 to 80 km a day at a snail’s pace is therapeutic — just the ticket to keep out of a hospital’s heart repair centre. Not guaranteed, of course, but at least your ticker will survive when all the other parts fail.
The only serious downside was unfolding for the Japanese tourist. Getting out of the city to enjoy the rural road network all the way to Chiang Mai is a nightmare for the first 40 km. That’s a long way on a cycle; about half of a day’s sojourn.
So if you do decide Thailand is the country to cycle solo and without travel agency support the only obstacle is: How the heck do I get out of the city without risking life and limb on Highway 1?
You sneak through the city northern back door to reach the first night’s stopover in Ayutthaya just 70 km away without having to endure a single major highway.
Forget starting the tour in downtown Bangkok or heading north on the main highway under the shade of Bangkok’s tollway. The best option is to start at Don Muang Airport, which is still in Bangkok and there is no better spot to start than in the parking lot of the Amari Don Muang Airport Hotel, 24 km north of central Bangkok. You could stay at the hotel, fine tune your cycle and bags and get off to an early start after a good night’s sleep.
Here are the directions
Turn left out of the hotel’s parking area and follow the local road north with the railway line on your right. You will pass a PTT gas station and the Airports of Thailand head office on your left and after 1 km, there is a set of traffic lights with two northbound road options. Turn right and then take an immediate left so you are travelling north on the road that runs right next to the railway line.
http://www.ttrweekly.com/site/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/Cycle-touring2.jpg(On this route north to Ayuthaya you will never cross the railway line, which will always be your right and the Chao Phraya River, which you will see from time- to-time, will always be on your left.)
You continue north on what we call the “local road” (officially Kamphaeng Phet 6). After 6 km, the local road comes to an abrupt end right under the flyover of the Rangsit-Pathum Thani highway 346 and about 200 metres short of Rangsit train station. A sign post points left to Pathum Thani.
You slip to the left along the side of the flyover and when it merges with 346 you cross a small canal bridge.
This is the tricky part if your bags on the bike rack are higher than 2.1 metres. The underpass you are about to go through doesn’t have much headroom. You take a sharp left after the bridge and do an almost immediate U-turn so you are going under the bridge on a narrow concrete causeway used by motor cyclists.
It takes you safely under the 346 highway coming out on a small rural road 5042. The walkway exits steeply up the canal bank to the road and you will need a turn of speed to crest it. You might like to walk that short part, just in case a motor cycle barrels down the slope.
This brings you out on the country lane 5042 (identified by milestones but not maps), but it follows Klong Prem for 25 km. You have successfully avoided the nasty Rangsit spaghetti junction and you are on one of the most popular cycling routes to Bang Pa-in and Ayutthaya used by hundreds of Thai and expatriate cyclists, every weekend.
You cannot get lost. The trick is to keep the canal on your immediate right and continue straight until the road ends at a T-junction where you turn right (sign says Bang Pa-in) and after 3 km you reach a cross roads with traffic lights and Bang Pa-in village is a 1 km diversion to your left.
If you go through the village the road will take you past the palace and back to a T-junction at the local road 3477 where you turn left and pass the Bang Pa-in railway station. Continue north for another 8 km until you see the Bang Chak gasoline station on your right. Wheel in here and park your cycle at one of Thailand’s most cycle friendly coffee houses. This is the unofficial club house for various cycle teams that train on these roads at the weekends. They serve a great coffee and complimentary bananas (only for cyclists) and if you are here on a Saturday, or Sunday morning, you will meet cyclists from several teams and clubs.
Ayutthaya is just 10 km north from here and by staying on 3477 you will eventually pass the Japanese Settlement Village and a famed temple on your left as the road bends to the right on the outskirts of this world heritage town. Take the next left turn, just before the railway line crossing and continue for another 2 km to the overpass that connects to the town’s river bridge. You will pass the Ayothaya Hotel on your left just before the river bridge and another hotel as you U-turn under the overpass, about 300 metres before the town’s railway station. The 55-km trip from the Amari Don Muang Airport Hotel to the river bridge was accomplished entirely on tarmac back roads.
You would probably stay two nights in this interesting town to explore the palace and temple ruins and visit the museums. There is a fine riverside restaurant on the opposite bank on your left as you cross the bridge. It’s been around for about 40 years. I first dined there in 1973 and when the family asks me where I want to go for birthday celebrations, this is my only choice.
Founder of East West Tours, Peter Larsen, introduced me to this restaurant when he was surveying spots he wanted to offer as a lunch venue for his day trips to Ayutthaya. That was back in 1973 and there have only been minor changes to the building and menu.
From Ayutthaya, the next major town is Nakhon Sawan, but there are rural roads (mostly four digit numbers) that follow the river and canals to smaller provincial towns such as Anthong, Sing Buri, Chai Nat and Uthai Thani. It could take two to three days depending on distances covered to reach Nakhon Sawan. North of Ayutthaya the quieter roads can easily be identified on popular maps. Most roads are surfaced in Thailand including roads connecting tiny villages, but after the rainy season expect to encounter pot holes and road sections under repair.
http://www.ttrweekly.com/site/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/Cycle-touring-3.jpgThink Net sells fine Northern Thailand and Northeast Thailand maps that come with CDs allowing you to zoom in on details. If you have issues with spicy food or are not comfortable with road side stall dining, check the PTT gasoline station network. They usually have convenience stores and coffee kiosks to refuel on snacks at every gas station on routes North.
Unfortunately, the Bangkok and neighbouring province map fails to identify the tiny escape route 5042 so it is not surprising that would-be biking adventurers assume the only way out of Bangkok is on Highway 1.
Another good map is the Michelin Thailand map in a manual rather than fold-out map format at a scale of 1 cm equals 10 km. However, most serious explorers invest in cycle specific GPS units such as Garmin that can use reasonably accurate Thailand maps offered with mobile phones.
Some travellers make it even easier by skipping the first 70 km by taking one of the frequent train services from Bangkok to Ayutthaya. They place their cycles in the good vans. It costs around Bt100 for that service and Ayutthaya is a fine starting point for any cycle tour to North Thailand.
Those who insist on technicalities such as the start must be in Bangkok can opt for Don Meuang district, the last northern suburb before rural Thailand kicks in. The back roads route to Ayutthaya is one of the classic day rides that cyclists dream about, especially if they reside in downtown Bangkok
Bron:TTRweekly
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