Thailand as it does in real life, if only I could remember that mantra. However, just because it wasn’t as I expected, it also did not disappoint. First snacks and drinks were purchased which put a smile on the little people’s faces. Then we found the ‘gallery’. Now I have made this mistake in Thailand before. Looking for a gallery to buy some art with some friends earlier in the year we had chanced upon a gallery café. The café was great but the gallery was actually a rather weird toy collection, no art to be seen. This too was the same … a collection of small jars with a Siamese fighting fish in each. Some looking, it has to be said spritelier than others. There is no denying that they are beautiful fish and of course they could not be all displayed together in a beautiful tank because, as the name suggests, if they were they would kill each other.
The surroundings with a teak Thai building, gardens and views of some of the Bangkok skyline, were also lovely. But a morning’s entertainment it does not in itself make. So we headed off to the grandly named Sri Nakhon Khuen Khan Park. Here we saw the elaborate curtain figs, suicide trees, coconut island and if you are so inclined you can go birdwatching in the tower but with my 6 year old, whose volume control is suspect, along for the ride that was not a pursuit worth embarking upon, doomed from the start as it would be. Again, absolutely lovely and the shade was desperately appreciated but not much more than half an hour’s cycling in total. Longer if you took a picnic, we hadn’t.
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So the next stop was lunch. We had seen random signs tacked to trees advertising Appletree Café. Hopeful of some A/C and ideally no chicken feet we set off to find it. By now the heat was intense, the blood sugar levels falling dramatically and the whining on the rise. Vain attempts to change the mood with ‘let’s have a quiet few minutes and just listen to what we can hear, shall we’ failing as passing mopeds and the occasional car drowned out all the sounds of nature. Thankfully it was not a long cycle until we happened upon this café and oh hurray and hurrah and a million more: it was air conditioned. Once bellies were full, spirits rose again and we decided to head to the floating market. My son and I took the lead and we rather kamikaze style headed back to the main road, which was suddenly a lot busier than it had been an hour earlier. We missed the turning for the floating markets and when we realised our mistake retraced our steps and tried to find Mr P and Indie. We failed but found the market, parked up our bikes and called them. They were apparently at the other end of the market. Mr P was reluctant for us to leave Akiro’s rather nice mountain bike unattended and unsecured and even more reluctant to take on the crowds and try and find us so we agreed to meet back at the pier. We would return and next time bring locks for the bikes and hit the market first thing. We were given directions on how to find the pier but mummy being mummy thought it would be more fun to go via the elevated walkways. We came across another Wat and a serene monk nodded and said ‘yes that way to the pier’
EXPAT LIFE in Thailand
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