It was the 2nd day of the Thai new year a.k.a. Songkran festival and I was excited to get my bike from the shop. Songkran is the day when Thai celebrate the days with splashing water as a sign of washing off the sins and bad luck in the previous year and start off the new year clean and... er... wet?
Well if you are coming in for Songkran and would like to consider doing the loop you may want to know this, temperature could be as high as 40 degrees and the mountains are literally on fire. When I said literally is because there were many spots on the road which has forest fire.
Source: wikipedia
Mr Mechanic bike rental
Location of the shop is at Mun Mueang Road, just 270 meters north of the Tha Phae gate, or crossed with the Mun Mueang Lane 5.
Location of the shop is at Mun Mueang Road, just 270 meters north of the Tha Phae gate, or crossed with the Mun Mueang Lane 5.
The morning I arrived at Mr Mechanic's shop. It was a quiet morning, considering.
Looks like someone had some hard night partying last night.
I waited until about 8.05 am, still no sign of any activity for the shop. I continued to wait until finally someone came in Mr Mechanic's uniform. I made some eye contact with a smile, and he told me to wait for him to open his shop.
One of the Mr Mechanic staffs rode in this beautiful Honda CRF and then after I told him, I want this one.
Later on, I tested the bike and everything seems OK. Remember always to check for brakes, tire threads, and tire pressure before the journey. It is also better to take some pictures of the bike, especially any damages and scratches on the bike to avoid any dispute later on. The shop does let you take the bike together with a helmet but I brought mine so I didn't bother to check them out. Note that it is common practise for them to keep your passport when you rent the bike since they will not charge you for any deposit. Remember to make copies of your passport so that you would have some identification with you when you travel.
You would also need to fill up a very simple form which states your personal details and the time when you pick up the bike. Hence this is where the 24 hours rule comes in, as you must return the bike as and when you collect it (after x days of using it), if not then you would need to pay for penalty of 100 baht per hour (30 baht per hour for scooters). Note that delay return of more than 4 hours will be charged whole day rental.
I got the bike at 800 baht per day, without insurance. You would need to pay another 100 baht per day for insurance.
You would also need to fill up a very simple form which states your personal details and the time when you pick up the bike. Hence this is where the 24 hours rule comes in, as you must return the bike as and when you collect it (after x days of using it), if not then you would need to pay for penalty of 100 baht per hour (30 baht per hour for scooters). Note that delay return of more than 4 hours will be charged whole day rental.
I got the bike at 800 baht per day, without insurance. You would need to pay another 100 baht per day for insurance.
Minutes after, I was happy with the bike and off I went. Another thing to remember is always to fuel up as we should presume that the previous renter would not be leaving lots of gas for you. The nearest gas station is few minutes away, just make a U turn in front of the shop to the other side of the canal, follow the road, after passing Pop Rider (big bike rental shop) on your left, few more blocks down the road then you're there.
That's me after collected my bike, without my gear on.
