I read a book recently that advocated for the social and emotional benefits of long walks. Actually, I didn’t need to read a book to know that going for a good long walk can help clear your mind. I’ve often reaped the benefits of this and I generally quite enjoy walking.
Just like the author of this book, I leant quite heavily on this strategy when Covid 19 brought on isolation. Being in Hong Kong when my wife was practically trapped in Australia and I was only able to see her for a few weeks over the course of 2 years, saw me take several long walks along the beautiful Sai Kung foreshore. It was my saviour and I kind of missed this after I moved to Bangkok.
The book that I’m referring to though is called ‘The 12-hour walk’ by Colin O’Brady. O’Brady is an adventurer who has taken on incredible physical feats of endurance. His book is high-intensity stuff as he takes the reader along for the ride. These adventures seemed highly unlikely when a terrible accident put in doubt whether he would walk again. His book doesn’t ask the average person to be quite so adventurous. But he has started a movement of sorts as he has encouraged thousands of people around the world to commit to walking for 12 hours – alone, without devices in search of clarity, a new mindset and many steps towards living one’s best life. I thought I would give it a go.
A disclaimer: I live in Bangkok. I was considering doing this here and then I started to rethink. I love this city and its streets are fascinating, but it’s bloody hot. 12 hours might just stretch my friendship with this place a little too far. So I decided to break my 12-hour walk into two parts. Six hours here in March and a repeat 6 hours in Chiang Mai when I visit there in a few weeks time for Songkran. Double the value, as I get to blog about walking the streets of two completely different Thailand cities. I will also give myself the luxury of being able to take photos with my phone (but it must be on ‘flight mode’ throughout.) So here goes. The first step begins …….. NOW!
Out the door
Sunday, March 5, 2023, 6.00 am and I’m off on a 6-hour walk through the streets of Bangkok. Six hours in the heat and the hustle and bustle of a crazy, congested, noisy, dirty city, you might be thinking. Well, you may be surprised. Bangkok has much more to offer. In a way, my search for tranquillity amongst the chaos will be easier than you may think. I want to see how this idea of a really long walk adds to mindfulness and all the other benefits described above. But I also just want to discover more about this great city that I’ve been living in for the past 8 months.
I start by walking out of my condo building in Asoke, which is quite close to the well-known Sukhumvit area that tourists often frequent when visiting Bangkok. I deliberately avoid the bar areas where early-morning risers meet still-awake partygoers.
It’s pleasantly cool and I head off on a familiar path towards Lumphini Park. I run here often but it’s quite different walking in peace and not having Rocky theme music blaring in my ears. Lumphini Park is one of many beautiful green parks that provide a respite for the walkers, joggers, yoga enthusiasts and nature lovers of the city. I once had an unexpected run-in with an enormous monitor lizard here so I’m often quite focused when running around the park which includes a lake. Today I’m a little more chill.
Lumpini is connected to another great park, Benchakitti (also spelt Benjakitti), via what’s called the Green Mile, which is an overhead straight walking path that passes through or over a residential area. That’s where I head next. Once at Benchakitti, it’s a choice of walking on the sky trail or around the lake. As I’ve been to these first few spots before and I’m not bothered by time or the pace that I’m setting, I’m finding this walk to be very relaxing indeed. My mind wanders to other things and I’m happy to not be using my phone. When I get to Benchakitti I am in awe of the amount of luscious greenery and the sound of birds that I’ve never really noticed before.
Bang Kachao
After walking for quite a while to get through the winding paths in Benchakitti it’s back on the street to search for the small pier which is where I’ll take a boat across the river to another oasis in the city. I’m heading to what is known as the ‘Green Lung’ of Bangkok, Bang Kachao. This is an area where you really do feel that you have gone to a completely different part of Thailand. The world seems to just slow down here. I get temporarily lost meandering through backstreets before finally seeing a familiar temple which guides me to the very small pier with a boat just waiting to take me across the Chao Phraya river. After stepping off the tiny boat that took me from one side of the Chao Phraya to the other, I noticed several bicycle hire stores. This is a very popular place to cycle and I see a few cyclists exiting other small boats with their own cycles. I head down the road, still on foot having resisted the temptation to change strategy and hop on a bike instead, and suddenly I feel as if I’m in the countryside. Now I’m starting to get some of this mindfulness stuff as I continue walking past open green spaces and lush vegetation. I succumb to the allure of a quaint coffee shop and my first rest break after just over 2 hours of walking.
I watch numerous groups of cyclists pass by as I enjoy my break. I then visit an education center which has various outdoor challenge-type, small lake activities and an area full of farm animals. There is even a rather out-of-place-looking ostrich. There is another coffee shop and small store here as well. The whole vibe of the place is as if I was in the countryside, hours from the city. Yet my boat ride was less than 10 minutes. This whole area appears to be located within a huge meander of the Chao Phraya River. But in fact it’s an island, meaning I will have to cross a bridge when I reach its southern end. This largely agricultural area comprises 16 sq km of mangrove forests, small homesteads, and elevated pathways precariously perched above the canals. You’ll find a floating market, 250-year-old Buddhist temples and an eco-resort where you sleep in a tree house.
I continue my walk knowing that I will be in this cut-off part of Bangkok for the next 2 hours.
A child rides past me on a bicycle and calls out ‘Good morning’. I see quite a few cyclists and the further I walk the more motorcycles and cars I start to see. Interestingly, I haven’t really seen anyone else walking. There aren’t really any footpaths along the roads so walking is slightly awkward as the traffic begins to increase the further I walk. It is at this point that my recently tranquil mind starts to concentrate on where I am walking and on the traffic around me. I also start wondering how long before the rising sun starts to get warm, as well as how I will cross the river to get back home. I’m realising that being in the state of bliss or flow or mindfulness has left me for the practicalities of getting from A to B and worldly worries such as will my phone run out of battery and will I find another coffee shop. Maybe 6 hours of walking around Lumphini and Benchakitti parks would have provided more ‘bliss’.
It all comes undone
My watch ticks over to 4 hours as I reach the bridge. This is the bit that I didn’t really plan well. As I look ahead I suddenly realise that crossing the river again after I get off the island might be a problem. The sky is full of criss-crossing overpasses that definitely are not meant for walkers and I can’t see anything that looks remotely like a pier. I’m stuck. After some careful thinking, I decide that the best option is to taint this experience somewhat with a taxi ride across the river. I’m pretty disappointed that I have to resort to this but I just didn’t think this part through as much as I should have.
After hopping out of the taxi and getting my bearings, I know that I’m in quite familiar surroundings, close to where I met a friend for drinks recently and close to the BTS (sky train) if I needed it. But I’m sure I won’t.
One thing that did kind of work out was that I was pretty much on course to walk back into my condo, grab a third coffee and laze around the pool by just after 12pm having pretty much walked for 6 hours. So that’s exactly what I did.
Final thoughts
Well, it all started off ok. This wasn’t meant to be a travel blog post. It was about the idea of walking for a really long time and finding something in it. I walked 31 kms, stopped a couple of times for coffee and cheated by getting a taxi. I walked for almost 6 hours, had some minor adventures, saw some sights, got some exercise and even fresh air and was back home before lunch. That wasn’t a bad Sunday morning. But was it blissful? Did I find my ‘flow’? Maybe for a while. Maybe this should have been a walk that takes away all of the need to think. O’Brady did his 12-hour walk mostly on the beach. I’m now thinking that the mountains around Chiang Mai in a few weeks time might just be my chance to get this right. I’ve never been before but I’ve heard it is beautiful. My trip, which is towards the end of a two-week break from work coincides with the famous Songkran festival. It should be fun. See you then.