Wednesday, July 6th, 2022 - The Getaway That was Too Successful! - Bang Kachao

View of Bang Kachao from Maha Nakhon Cube

 In the middle of Bangkok there is a large, relatively undeveloped man-made island, called Bang Kachao. It was created in the 17th Century when the King at the time (Rama1?) saw that an 18 mile meander in the river could be circumvented by cutting a canal across the isthmus. The resulting island has the informal name of  'Green Lungs of Bangkok'.

88 Homestay, Bang Kachao

Enticed by the availability of a very nice looking homestay on booking.com for $30 per night, we made our reservation to spend a night there. As we made our plans, Chuck asked 'Where will we get food?'. (Make note of this as a foreshadowing of things to come.) There were a number of restaurants listed on Google maps, so I was confident that we would find something.

Elevated path for walking and cycling on Bang Kachao

We also understood there were lots of walking and cycling paths. We were pleased to see that our homestay would provide bicycles. The final enticement was the promise of fireflies at night!

Wat Klong Toei Nok Pier

So off we set. A brief taxi ride of 15 minutes had us to the pier for a boat across the river.

Our ferry boat to cross the Chao Praya River

The river is about 300 yards across and has a great deal of traffic, from relatively small motor boats to huge barges. For a mere 30 cents, we were able to cross the river in this little boat. It was a little unnerving climbing in and definitely required a hand to get out.

Sarah and I in the middle of the Chao Praya River

It was very fun - felt daring...........

Alwynne's first ride on a moto-taxi!

.............., but not so daring as the next phase in the journey! It was time for moto-taxi - climbing onto the back of a motorcycle driven by a complete stranger who was half my size! The road was very winding - lots of turns, so I hung on grimly to the bar behind my seat, prayed a lot and tried to convince myself to relax and 'go with the flow'! It did help that there was very little traffic. It all worked OK, as we got to our homestay before long.

88 Homestay, Bang Kachao

The accommodation was as lovely as promised - clean, cool and wonderful wrap around windows revealing a beautiful, well tended garden. It was built on stilts with a pleasing teak platform connecting all the rooms. Happily the water beneath was not smelly and we did not encounter insects - which I thought was pretty remarkable. So, here we were, less than an hour away from home in an entirely different world! So far so good.

House on Bang Kachao

Now, to orient ourselves we set out on foot on those elevated paths to check out the neighborhood, and look for one of the restaurants shown on Google maps.

Water Management Canals, Bang Kachao

It was a low lying area, but not wild. Many 'irrigation' canals had been dug - I guess to manage the water and create dry land for farming. There were farmhouses and residences along the paths and motorcycle traffic was frequent. I wondered how many accidents happen when the rider has had a few too many drinks at the bar!

Stilt house, Bang Kachao

There was quite a lot of housing around, and we found a convenience store....

Laundromat next to 888 Convenience Store, Bang Kachao

........with a laundromat.

Street lighting Decoration, Bang Kachao

They had a few very nice light poles........

Multi-headed Naga decoration, Bang Kachao

...........and little statues of the Naga in the vegetation along the side of the road, but no restaurants as promised by Google. If they had not ceased to exist (Covid?) they were closed and our stomachs were starting to growl. In addition, my camera zoom started malfunctioning. I had knocked it against a rock in the Azores last year and since then the zoom sometimes stuck and wooldn't open or close. So we weren't the happiest of campers at this point.

ครัวป้าอี๊ด Thai (Auntie Eet's Kitchen)

Before desperation set in, we stopped back at the homestay where we had seen a menu and discovered this little restaurant very close by, which thankfully was open. It was run by a little old man and his wife (one presumes - probably Auntie Eet!). The food was very delicious - standard Thai meals. We had laab, pad krapow and glass noodle salad. Auntie Eet was a very good cook and we all enjoyed our food - even though some of the spice levels were substantial. We were also pleased when he said they were open 'til 11 pm. This was pretty good living!

Bike Rack for 88 Homestay

Buoyed by our final success in the eating department, Sarah and I set about to fulfill the promise of bike rides through this bucolic area. And here is where the dream began to dissolve at the edges. None of the seats were adjustable. It took three or four tries before I found one that was remotely usable for my long legs, without my knees being up around my ears. Sarah had difficulty finding one who's brakes did not wail loudly at every use. But determined, we set out for that relaxed taste of nature!

The last image from my Nikkor 18-300mm lens!

We tried, I promise.... but here's where things sort of devolved. As you see, I was now without a functioning camera, but even with our cell phones, we really didn't capture anything worth sharing. This photo of the trash was the most colorful thing around! Well, to be honest, if I'd really tried, I could have found things to share with my phone, but I was disheartened.

Restaurant sign, Bang Kachao

After about 30 minutes, Sarah and I abandoned our cycling plans and decided on another walk to check out a different direction for dinner options. We were pretty excited to see that this place was open and even delivered. However, in general, we ran into the same problem as at lunch. Finally, we headed back to Chuck - by then it was dark and we were very grateful for the pretty good street lighting along the paths. We called the Shabu delivery place- but we did not have the needed cooking supplies. Finally, we decided to call the same place as lunch - Aunti Eel. Guess what! They had closed! A quick trip to the nearby convenience store also revealed IT was closed, too. Our food inventory was one bag of chips and one packet of nuts! So here we were, one hour away from home, unable to find food! Chuck had been correct to wonder how that would work! Clearly, we were not in the big city any more!

Not to be completely defeated, Chuck spoke with the caretaker of our homestay. She contacted a small stall nearby which was about to close, but the owner agreed to stay open a few more minutes for us. As a result, our meal choices expanded to more chips, peanuts and bugles! Starvation was abated!

The next morning, Auntie Eel was open again an after a lovely omelet and ice we went home!

Indeed, it really was a getaway - it got us a long way from city living! What a contrast!