Too the Sky Train to the Choa Phraya river once again to visit places we didn't have time for yesterday. We used the same hop on, hop off tourist boat - there are cheaper alternatives but this is the most practical - and hopped off at pier 5 where we hired a longtail boat for an hour. The long tail boat - see photo - is like a taxi, called 'longtail' because it's a car engine with a prop shaft that sticks in the water and, on the end, instead of a diff there's a propeller! Noisy but fast. It was a bit difficult boarding (disembarking) at the pier but we managed. The 'driver' took us up river and entered a canal on the opposite bank of the river - there are lots of canals in BKK which are used as part of the travel infrastructure and are a great way of getting about - faster and cooler than by road. The canal we visited has a floating market but it's busiest at the weekend when we will not be here but we still wanted to see the environment. Lots of houses, etc. on the banks, many on stilts, many rather ramshackle but some very modern buildings too. It was interesting to see how the local people lived on the canal...and we saw some wildlife, lots of fish and some rather large reptiles
-
monitor lizards apparently.
After
an hour we arrived back at pier 5 and did a tour of Chinatown. This was huge,
colourful and extremely busy with lots more street food - it's everywhere!
Back to the hotel after buying a new hair drier, the other one is the wrong voltage, and new tongs, for a meal and a much-improved glass of wine!
No comments:
Post a Comment