Cycling through Bangkok’s green Phrapradaeng Peninsular
Summary
When I first visited Bangkok I remember reading in the guide book, “fasten your seat belts, this is South East Asia’s centre of backpacker energy with all manner of ways to get into trouble”, which I think was fairly accurate and it’s always worth a trip to the Koh San road to get a feel for this energy if it’s your first time in Bangkok. But it’s not all cheap beer mayhem and ping pong shows – you can also have a surprisingly rural experience right in the centre of Bangkok in its Phrapradaeng Peninsular, aka Bangkok’s Green Lung
Best way to do it is a rent a bike (heaps of places to do so and your hotel / hostel can easily help) and head to the Khlong Toei Pier to take the regular boats over the river to the peninsular. From there, just head off through the canals, orchards, jungle and have a wander through the Bang Nam Pheung Market at the weekends. Can easily take a day passing through there and can still give yourself all the time to get loose in the evening in Bangkok’s mayhem
highlights
#1 Cycling through this mini jungle, with occasional glimpses of the skyscrapers in the distance
#2 Taking the boat over and that quick transition from bull-blown city to jungle
#3 Checking out the paddy fields and rural feel all throughout the peninsular
Experiences nearby
The below map shows experiences nearby with a colour that reflect the Overall Score of those experiences
Other Natural Experiences in Cities
Score Detail
Background - how many times have you asked someone what a travel experience was like and the response was "amazing" or "awesome"? That response is nice to know, but it makes it hard to differentiate that experience compared to others. That is exactly what these scores are trying to do - differentiate the experience by giving a score out of 10 based on 6 categories and then giving an overall experience score
This overall experience score is calculated by: take the highest of the "Culture" or "Nature" score (1-10) + "Fun factor" (1-10) + "Avoiding the crowds" (1-10) + highest of the "Unique" or "World Famous score" (1-10). Then convert into a score out of 100
Extra detail - the logic being that I find all of the 6 individual scores important, but I don't want to mark an experience down just because it doesn't cover both "Culture" and "Nature", or because it isn't both "World Famous" and "Unique". Take the examples of Safari in The Serengeti and walking through Rome - they both appeal at opposite ends of the nature / culture spectrum, and you can have a fantastic time without needing to appeal to both sides. So, their overall scores aren't penalized for their lack of one or the other, and I've done the same for "World Famous" vs "Unique". But . . . I do think that the "Fun factor" of an experience is important, irrelevant of other factors, and so is "Avoiding the Crowds" (or where there are crowds that add to the experience). So, both of these scores are standalone