Selling my bicycle - part 2 February 28
I’ve had a blast the past couple of days trying to sell my bicycle. The majority of offers I’ve had have been from tuk-tuk drivers and street vendors, for ridiculously low sums of money. Most of them are simply joking around. One guy persistently offered me 500 baht (a little over $10). Another guy even offered to swap me the stack of block prints he was hawking for the bike. They were nice, but I don’t fancy being a Khao San street vendor for the rest of my life.
My basic tactic was to find a piece of cardboard and make a sign that said:
|
Want Adventure?
Buy this bicycle! Stories - free Bicycle and gear - $90usd or 4000 baht |
I then stood out on Khao San Rd. with my sign and my bike and a loud voice, calling out to likely looking buyers(the one’s that looked physically capable of pedalling a bicycle), “Hey man, buy a bicycle. It’s a good deal.” I got mostly smiles and shaken heads. Some people even simply ignored me, even when they walked right by me, and we were the only two people around. It gave me a taste for what the thai vendors must put up with.
But some people stopped to chat as well. I even got a few, “Ok, let’s have a story then. It says stories free.” I had the most fun with people who stopped to chat. I met the coolest travellers I wouldn’t have had the chance to meet otherwise.
I met a 65+ year-old man who drove a custom VW van from England to Singapore 15 years ago. I met a couple who just cycled around india for 2 month on local one-speeds with panniers made from rice sacks. I met an Indian guy who spent 5 years travelling around India and Nepal on a bike. I met a guy who was living in Bangkok, living off the income from the house he was renting out in San Francisco. I met a Frenchman, who spoke no english, who lives in the Pyrenees with a heard of 50 cows, who I spoke French with for at least an hour and a half, who ended up inviting me to come stay with him if I ever go to France.
Most intriguingly, perhaps, I met a guy who is also named Scot, who owns a salmon fishing boat in Alaska. He sort of offhandedly offered me a deckhand position this season (starts in june, lasts about 6 weeks), if I’m interested. I have to say, I’m definitely interested. The pay sounds good, and the whole experience sounds incredibly interesting. Plus I’d get to go to Alaska again, which sounds great.