Cycling through Bangkok’s green Phrapradaeng Peninsular

Nature
The wow factor for nature - does it show nature at its best? Doesn't need to be the wilder-beast migration or diving with hundreds of hammerheads. Rather make you pause as you realise just how awesome the natural world can be
6
Culture
How much does this experience showcase some of the better and finer things that us humans can offer? Sure, it can be ancient ruins and renaissance churches, but it can also be festivals or soaking up some of the great modern cities of the world
5
Fun factor/activity
Very simple - was it fun? This is usually linked in with doing some kind of activity - i mean, walking along some cliffs is nice, but paragliding from them, now that is fun. Its a vastly underrated factor in a truly great experience
7
Avoid the crowds
Big tour groups and being surrounded by loud fellow tourists can sap the life out of even the greatest of travel experiences. This score is to reflect just how much you can avoid this. But. . . The score also takes into account if the crowds actually add to the experience, such as with a party town or a bustling food market
6
World famous
How world famous is the experience?
1
unique
How hard is it to have a similar experience in other places round the world?
6
Overall Score
The highest score of nature or culture, + fun factor, + avoid the crowds, + the highest score of world famous or unique. Then turned into a score out of 100. More details at the bottom of the page
62 *What the scores mean and where do they come from
continent
Asia
country
Thailand
Length of time
1 day or less1-2 days
Rough cost
Obviously people have different tastes, so this will depend on those tastes, but this is a rough idea of price of the whole experience based on 2 people able to split the accommodation costs and excluding travel there and back
$ 30
Time of year visited
March
Primary Tags
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All Tags
RANKING
How this travel experience ranks compared to all the other experiences on this site
199th/372 This travel experience's ranking compared to all the other experiences on this site
Top 60% SUMMARY RATING: Great experience

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

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