Apart from the Chao Phraya River, there are hundreds of narrow canals servicing many neighborhoods in Bangkok. One can book a tour on a large boat for 4USD but that one won’t take you through the crooked places. So we paid 25USD (together) for a 1hr ride with speed boat (by Thai standards)
The other day I decided to email an acquaintance I haven’t spoken to in more than 6 months, merely to say “Hello”. He replies back “I’m in Bangkok, having such a great time”. Not only that, but it was also he’s birthday and he had a room only 5 minutes away from my hotel. So we met and had a few drinks.
Happy birthday, Popica!
The Royal palace complex is a popular tourist attraction. Still used today for official business, but most of it can be visited.
After that we went to the Royal barges museum. Most ancient barges from the Sukhothai and Ayutthaya empires were destroyed during the Burmese invasion. However during modern Siam/Thailand, various kings commissioned new barges, to be used during royal and religious festivities. Some were lost or partially destroyed during WW2 and subsequently repaired. Of special interest are the figureheads, being inspired from Indian and Thai mythology.
Getting there by land is a bit complicated (especially if you are on a big motorbike), so many tourists arrive by watercraft.
There are so many faces of Bangkok. For us, the first one we saw, it was the busy, crowded, crazy one. I was literally going insane because of the traffic. It took us up to one week to get along with it and understand how it works.
But the transit infrastructure is unbelievable. Maybe Los Angeles has the widest freeways. Maybe Berlin has the most efficient rail system. And maybe Amsterdam has the best canal system in the world. But none of them combines them together like Bangkok does it.
First picture: mototaxi; second and third: auto rickshaw (note clutch is left peddal and gear shifter is in between the driver’s legs). Third and fourth: the canals.
Note in the sixth picture how people are lined up for boarding. There are marks on the ground showing directions, so that people disembarking won’t bump into people waiting to get in.
[Subway pictures yet to come]
