Bangkok's concrete jungle can be a pretty intense place. The hustle and bustle is part of it's charm, but the constant background roar of millions of people going about their lives can get a bit tiring. So how to escape it for a while? One way is to get out of town, obviously, but sometimes you just have an hour or two to spare. Time, then, to seek out an urban oasis of calm within the city.
One such place is Benjakiti park. One of Bangkok's newest green spaces, it features pleasant gardens surrounding a large lake. It's main selling point, though, is that it is quiet. Despite it's position just a short distance from the bustling Sukhumvit/Asoke intersection, this well-kept pocket of greenery seems to have been overlooked by most of the city's inhabitants, which means you can have it more or less to yourself.
40 baht buys you an hour on your choice from a variety of bikes - we chose a couple of rather aged Raleigh machines, built more for comfort than speed, but ideal for a gentle trundle around the park.
And trundle we did. The route is fairly short - we comfortably managed three laps within 45 minutes or so, with plenty of time to stop and explore. This is no place to recreate the Tour de France, but it's a thoroughly relaxing way to spend an hour or so, cruising breezily alongside the lake, taking in the views, and exploring the statues and gardens.
Even on a weekend afternoon we only had to share this urban paradise with a handful of others. There seemed to be more people working in the park than visitors - this is a very well-kept space, and the gardeners are a friendly bunch, looking up from their work to smile happily at us as we passed.
And round and round we went. Had we not made other plans, I would have happily circled the park all day. The calm surroundings, effortless progress, gentle self-created breeze and lovely views left us feeling relaxed and recharged, ready to dive back into the city once more.
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