I love bridges, although perhaps not as much as Leofinance users, but I love them because they connect the previously unconnectable, they are often majestic, beautiful and strong but equally, they can be old, rickety and dilapidated.
What they all have in common though are stories, and the most important connection they make are not those between two banks but between people and communities. More than any other piece of civil engineering, they are things that touch so many people's lives in so many ways.
Another thing I love to do as a guest in a foreign land is to find out the places that locals like to hang out and as the wife likes rivers, we often try and seek out parks or places by the river to chill out on one of our regular forays downtown on the bike. On this trip, a few weeks ago we found ourselves at Rama VIII Park, on the banks of the mighty Chao Praya river, and under the cooling shadow of the magnificent Rama VIII bridge.
The Rama VIII Bridge is a cable-stayed bridge crossing the Chao Phraya River in Bangkok, Thailand. It was built to alleviate traffic congestion on the nearby Phra Pinklao Bridge. Construction of the bridge took place from 1999 to 2002. The bridge was opened on 7 May 2002 and inaugurated on 20 September, the birth anniversary of the late King Ananda Mahidol (Rama VIII), after whom it is named. The bridge has an asymmetrical design, with a single pylon in an inverted Y shape on the west bank of the river. Its eighty-four cables are arranged in pairs on the side of the main span and in a single row on the other. The bridge has a main span of 300 metres (980 ft), and was one of the world's largest asymmetrical cable-stayed bridges at the time of its completion.
Rama VIII - notice the staircase because there is a pedestrian walkway across it if you feel like a walk. The main park, with grass, was behind that wall you see to the right of the photo but unfortunately, it was closed!
Firstly, a note of caution. Like many of the bridges here, you can't go over them on a motorcycle, although many often do without getting caught! On this bridge however they have permanently manned police checkpoints to catch any unsuspecting chancers, or more likely, people who didn't manage to get off the main road and onto the frontage road early enough as I almost didn't. In this next picture, you can just see the police, giving a fine to a couple who attempted the crossing on their scooter!
As I mentioned, the main park was closed but no matter because the most fun took place under and around the bridge!
It looked as though when they built it, they had created a U-turn road but then decided to fence off the road and turn it over to become a wonderful public space.
Plenty of parking for cars and bikes and gates led through to a huge, motor-free space which is a very rare thing in Bangkok!
There were volleyball nets set up. Many skateboarders using the ramps and steps and grindy-bar thingys to practise on and falling off.
There were people on cycles, people just milling around and relaxing....
Now I know that it's still a rather unattractive concrete jungle, despite the addition of a little greenery but that's not the point. Its a community space in a big city for anyone to use and all credit to the Bangkok Metropolitan council for providing these respites from the hustle and bustle and awful, never-ending traffic.
Yes. there was a bit of street food and drinks to buy! Where in Bangkok isn't there? and it was flat and had ramps as well as steps so for a change, people stuck in chairs could come down and gaze out across the river.
One of the most important items that anyone owns in Thailand is a reed mat! and they come in very useful when the whole family, dressed in their Chinese (lunar) New year best set themselves up with a picnic!
I love this photo as it sums up in many ways, the thing I love the most about Thailand. Bring some food, some beer, a mat and some mates and family and plonk your arses on the floor and party!
The boundary of old and new...
As the sun goes down, the light makes almost anything look beautiful and so it was that the grey concrete on the underside of the bridge took on an almost wooden plank effect as a beautiful, classic, gentleman's mahogany motor launch passed underneath...
AS we walked back to the bike as the last of the light was dropping away for another day, the kids were still playing football and I got a reminder that although I was thousands of miles from my place of birth, the kids were doing exactly as I did at their age and just like those days in the UK as a child, many, many years ago......
