We left home to join a two week Intrepid Travel trip going overland from Bangkok to Singapore. As we didn't want to arrive in Bangkok totally jet lagged we had a stopover in Singapore. When we checked into our hotel about 12 hours after leaving home and were very happy we weren't still in the air. We had been well fed on the flight so we just went for a short walk, in a balmy 29C temperature, to get a little exercise before bedtime.
Saturday 30 June
Up bright and early in the morning to take the shuttle back to the airport for our flight to Bangkok. After a three hour flight we were amongst the hustle and bustle that is Bangkok. We took a taxi to the hotel and this almost an hour trip only cost about NZ$15. It seems that fares are based on distance rather than the time taken.
After checking into our hotel we went out to find a late lunch. That wasn’t hard as we only had to cross the road to find suitable place.
After checking into our hotel we went out to find a late lunch. That wasn’t hard as we only had to cross the road to find suitable place.
Our hotel was near Kao San Road, which is well known for its street stalls and tourists. There is stall after stall selling cheap clothing, handbags, trinkets etc. With so much stuff being offered for sale and so many stalls selling the same things you wonder if anyone makes a living.
 |
| Lunch spot - our hotel is the white building across the road. |
 |
| Typical street filled with stalls |
Sunday 1 July
Today we went on a half day trip to the Damnoen Saduak floating markets (cost NZ15 each!). These markets are about 1 ½ hours mini bus ride from Bangkok. They are situated on canals (khlongs) that were dug in the 1790’s to provide convenient transport to/from Bangkok.
Once at the markets we boarded a narrow boat that was paddled from the rear. We were taken down a narrow canal lined with market stalls and filled with a mix of tourists in paddled boats, tourists in long tail boats and vendors in boats selling their wares. Some boats had charcoal grills where food was cooked; others were selling fruit, vegetables, seafood, trinkets, souvenirs etc. It was totally chaotic, a traffic jam at times with boats bumping their way through. Some vendors based on the bank had long poles with hooks that they used to snare the tourist boats and drag them in for closer viewing of their wares.
 |
| charcoal cooker on the boat |
 |
| floating market |
We went on a long tail boat ride along some of the residential canals. A long tail is a narrow wooden boat that is powered by what often seems to be an over large (usually inboard) motor with a long drive shaft extending to the propeller which enters the waters a couple of metres behind the boat.
Today many of the canals have been filled in and converted into roads. The floating markets are a tourist attraction but they give an insight to what life used to be like on the canals. The houses that line the canals are lived in and people use a mix of boats and vehicles for transport. The post obviously comes by boat as we saw mail boxes, house numbers and street names as we cruised by.
 |
| women preparing food |
Some of the houses lining the canals had boats dry docked or moored alongside.
I suspect that the polluted canal water was used for food preparation and dish washing as we saw people doing these chores beside the water as we went by.
 |
| houses by the canals |
 |
| houses by the canals |
Monday 2 July
Up early again and we went down the street to get breakfast. Not far from our hotel we found a restaurant that was open and were shown to a table. After waiting for 10 minutes no one had come to take our order. We could see some of the staff near where the food was cooked were asleep so we left and found place nearby that was more open.
Our first excursion for the day was a long tail boat ride through some of the khlongs of Thonburi. These are on the western side of the Chao Phraya river and Thonburi was an independent province until it was merged into Bangkok in 1972.
The houses along the khlongs were a mix of modern houses, old wooden houses, stilted shacks and dilapidated lean-tos and an occasional temple as well. The tide line from the floods late in 2011 was evident on many houses, some of them would have escaped inundation but sadly many didn't. Some of these would have been homes of squatters who having so little in the first place would have found the months of flood very difficult
 |
| Houses on the khlongs - note the flood line on the house on the left |
 |
| Reclining Buddha foot inlay |
 |
| Reclining Buddha |
 |
| Reclining Buddha |
 |
| Reclining Buddha feet |
some more photos from Wat Po
After looking around the temple grounds the group split up and four of us took a taxi to Chinatown. We had spent time here before and were keen to go back as it is less touristy than the area around the temples. We wandered amongst the mass of humanity for about an hour. There was an amazing selection of food or sale with options of raw, hot or dried. Many things seemed strange to us including pigs ears being chopped into pieces for sale.
We wandered into a large market area with stalls side by side and narrow walkways between. Everything was on sale here – electronics, smart phones, porn dvds, shoes, gas cooking equipment, junk, clothing etc etc. We came to an area where they were assembling switchboards. I didn’t think it was an environment for producing reliable products.
We went back to our hotel area and found a place for lunch then went back to the hotel to freshen up before going to the railway station to catch the night train to Surat Thani. We arrived at the station in plenty of time but then had to wait for a while as the train was late. We were told this wasn’t unusual for Thai trains.
The train was very comfortable & down each side of the corridor were single roomy seats facing each other. Our luggage was on a rack beside our seat. For sleeping a pair of seats formed a bed and another dropped down from above. When it was time for bed staff came to set up the beds, complete with sheets and privacy curtains. After a busy day getting to sleep wasn’t a problem and before we knew we were being told to get up because we were approaching our destination. 
No comments:
Post a Comment