My First Moto-Taxi Ride

This was a VERY unique experience. I was trying to get from Kao San Road to Sukhimvit where Richy lives. This is usually a 20-30 minute taxi ride with no traffic. But since there is usually plenty of traffic, the ride can take up to an hour. Knowing this ahead of time, I decided now would be a good time to try out the Motorbike Taxi's, AKA "Bangkok Helicopter." They are the cities fastest form of transportation because the pretty much ride wherever there is space.

My ride begins with getting picked up by a fat guy riding a motorbike that seemed just a little too small for him, yet alone two people. He gave me the best price which was 100 baht (about $3) so I was blinded to the hilarity of what I was about to endure. First of all, picture this: two big guys on a small bike = a circus act. I had almost nothing to hold onto because I am sitting on the handle bar, thus there is absolutely not enough room for the both of us to be comfortable. We take off riding the yellow line so we are passing cars in our lane and the just scraping by the cars in the oncoming lane. In fear of getting my knees taken off, I was forced to clench them tightly around my driver which was extremely uncomfortable for both of us. Now there happened to be even more traffic than usual because the cops had shut down some of the roads so the Royalty can drive through on open roads. My driver along with the dozens and dozens of other motorbiker's funneled and shifted through the gaps to make their way to the front. Once in front of everyone and the peleton has formed, tension rises with the suspense of the green light. Now funny enough, I have pin-pointed the best analogy to describe what happens when that light turns. Its like sperm chasing an egg. Almost a hundred people on their motorbokes jump out of idle and weave in and out of each other to get to the front. We were one of the weaker one's seeing that this small bike was carrying probably close to 400lbs, and would get stuck in the back immediately. But despite the weight and lack of suspension, we still made it in less than a half an hour.

Aside from the thrill of this new experience, the next best thing was seeing everyone's reactions to the sight of us and then finally driving my very reflective wall and see for myself. It was a sight for sore eyes.