Ride Report - Pakxe to Bangkok


We left Pakxe mid-morning with high spirits in anticipation of the border-crossing into Thailand. We arrived at the Lao border checkpoint at around noon. It turned out that when we crossed into Laos from China, they had forgotten to issue a temporary vehicle import form for our motorcycles, and this caused a slight delay while we tried to explain that to the officers. Otherwise, however, the entire process took only about an hour. We paid 100 baht (about US$3) for each bike and the visas into Thailand were free.




Departing the border-crossing shooting for Buri Rum meant we would have about 350-400km on the day. With the energy level still high from the excitement of crossing into Thailand, it took us a full minute or two to realize that we were driving on the wrong side of the road. We had lapsed on the fact that Thailand is left, and the oncoming traffic made sure that we never forget it!


Buri Rum seemed to be a relatively quiet town with a large night-market. We drove through almost the entire city and spent about an hour looking for a guesthouse before settling down for the night, anticipating to get to Bangkok the next day. During breakfast the next morning, though, Peter recommended that due to his previous experiences in Bangkok, it would be wiser to spend a night near the city and then drive in outside of peak hours. Thus we settled on Ayutthaya, the ancient capital of the Thai kingdom.


We ended up getting lost on the way over due to our inability to read maps and signs on the road, and wound up pulling in at 8pm or so. We had taken the wrong highway out of Buri Rum and wound up 30km or so north of the actual city. The Thais that we asked for directions kept directing us to the nearest town in the Ayutthaya province, instead of Ayutthaya the city. Finally, after a 20 minute negotiation with a convenience store owner, she ran off and grabbed presumably the only English speaker in the town. He was then kind enough to draw us a map and 40 minutes later we were there!




Ayutthaya is a city with a very rich history; located at the convergence of three rivers, the island served as the capital from 1350 to 1767 before being sacked by the Burmese. The cultural and historical relics scattered throughout the island, some looted, some destroyed, were all quite amazing to see and we ended up spending two days there to fully take in everything.




This was a probably 12 foot tall Buddha statue at Wat Mahathat, and the pigeon crapped on his golden scarf a second after this photo was taken.




The iconic Buddha head at Wat Mahathat. The tree has been growing around it for decades.




The entryway into Wat Ratburana, seen through the ruins of the old prayer hall. They used to store gold relics under this towering structure in a swampy, narrow basement until it was looted in 1967 or so.


The next stop was Bangkok, and the trip was supposed to only take an hour or so. Ayutthaya sits but 70km to the direct north of Bangkok, so we planned to arrive into the city between 1pm and 2pm in order to avoid the rush-hour traffic. And it seems that whenever you have a decidedly easy day ahead of you, everything goes wrong.


Twenty kilometers outside of Bangkok, Pete flatted his rear tire. Thankfully, due to congestion, it was at low-speed (about 40km/h) on the highway. We spent about thirty minutes on the side of the road inspecting his tube to make sure everything was alright, thinking that it would just be a minor puncture that we could seal. However, we couldn't find the source of the leak. Then our hand-pump broke in half and cut Pete's hand. Finally, Pete pushed the bike to the nearest car tire shop. All this under the 43 degree sun.




By this point, since we had been unable to inflate the inner-tube, it was now completely shredded. Using one of the spare tubes, we were able to get back on the road.




The whole ordeal only delayed us 2 hours or so...just in time for Bangkok rush hour.


Bangkok was one of the places I was most looking forward to on this trip, having heard of all the amazing sights and other tourist attractions. We stayed near Rambuttri and Khao San roads in a very backpacker friendly area of town and proceeded to get scammed for the next 3 nights. What a horrible city. Maybe we are just too naïve, but now I know never to trust anyone with anything in that city.


Despite having to pay ridiculous prices for food and entertainment, I guess it was still a good time. We got the chance to see some Muay Thai boxing at the famous Lumpini stadium...



...which was fun despite the inordinate amount we had to pay for tickets. In other news we also got our bikes serviced and they were in the shop for 3 days. We purchased new Michelin Sirac dual-sport tires...




...along with getting a (supposed, but more on that later) full inspection, oil change, and my rotten front suspension replaced.




Needless to say, we were incredibly excited to get out of that place. After managing to get threatened by a tuk-tuk driver with a knife over 10 baht, pushed around by a TV executive at a nightclub for talking to one of his girls (which was actually one of the friends in our group from Singapore...), and then hit with a 2400 baht bill for a bowl of Tom Yum Gong at a scammy restaurant, I had had enough. Next stop, Prachuap Khiri Kahn...anywhere but Bangkok...




I never recommend night riding except when you're trying to get the hell out of Bangkok.




More coming soon! Please click forward to www.greatrideforward.com to read the blog entires, view pics, and watch some video. The up-to-date route can be seen on Google Maps here.