(PICTURE: Team Red sans our helmets...which we wore when we rode, Mom!)My friend Mark -- who you may remember from the World Championships of Table Tennis -- is a Thailand expert. He's spent considerable time all over southeast Asia so when he gives me a piece of advice I listen. One tip he recently gave me was to do a bike ride with Grasshopper Tours in Bangkok. I checked out the company's website and the ride through Bangkok looked fantastic. There was even a night bike ride which really peaked my interested because a) I sweat less at night b) there would be less traffic c) it would be cool to see temples at night when nobody is there.
Huyen and I attempted to find the company the first night we were in Bangkok but ended up walking miles in the wrong direction (I should have listened to my only advice from a year ago when I said to not trust directions people give in Asia). While we were walking around we found another bike shop which also offered a night bike tour. In fact, they offered the same exact tour. Literally the same exact tour. I mean they 100% stole the pictures and descriptions from Grasshopper's website and posted it as their own on their shop door. The only difference between the two tours was that this rip-off one was $5 more. Clearly Huyen and I would be going with the original company...except it turns out they were fully booked for the next night. Alas we had to go with the rip-off company and pay an extra $10. Dammit!!!
The cool thing about going with a copy-cat company is that everyone goes with the original. That meant that the whole group consisted of the tour guide, Huyen, myself and some random American girl who lives in Korea. The tour was absolutely fantastic and took us through 20 kilometers of backroads and alleys in Bangkok. We definitely saw parts of the city we would never have seen if it wasn't for this tour. It was worth every penny...even the extra 1,000 we had to pay.
(PICTURE: Jump if you like riding at night!!!)
(PICTURE: Believe it or not this was my least sweaty picture all night.)
Here's some video from the ride:
