Playing Tourists in Bangkok - Saturday Feb.16, 2013

TOURIST DAY IN BANGKOK

Ready by 7am today - off in 2 air-conditioned vans for the 2 hour ride to Bangkok to do some sight-seeing.

We spent the morning at the Jukuchak Market, one of the largest outdoor markets in the world. It is a massive maze of stalls, selling everything from soup to nuts.  Literally.  We found clothes and souvenirs, all for bargain prices.  Many of us tried some bartering; it's amazing how satisfying it can feel to save an extra 50 cents on a $6 item!

Bartering for scarves and cloth: Louise is one savvy shopper! (who is that dapper guy in the back with the scarf?)

The girls checking out bags

The ubiquitous altars: even in the market

Yvonne & Carol checking out bags

This was ingenious: the tub was full of ice, in which were placed metal tubes filled
with pop and a stick: voila - popsicles!

Reverence for the king was in evidence in all kinds of places.

These two were performing at the entrace to the mall

Hans & Paul quickly discovered that the air-conditioned mall next door offered back massages: $7 for an hour. However, Louise did make sure that they bought gifts for their wives first.
Our plan was to meet back at a coffee shop for lunch. I ended up on the far side of the market (a very long way from the coffee shop!) and therefore had to take a motorcycle taxi back - woo hoo!

Huge gilded photos of the beloved royal family were common everywhere.

Typical of the traffic we saw... and the versatility of the scooters!

Some things were very familiar!

One of the two buses we traveled in (you can see Jonas in the window)

I have no idea what these are, but they were very interesting looking.

The market where we took the longtail boat tour

The TREK team had joined us for the market, but after lunch they and Louise had to head back, while we carried on with Sandy to do a longtail boat tour on the Chao Phraya River,near the Grand Palace. We took two boats and set off.

Waiting for our turns on the longtail boats

We went in two longtail boats: boat #1...

...and boat #2

Our fearless captain (?) :)

The open part of the river where we started offered sites of wats (temples), homes, government buildings, highrises, and the Grand Palace.  Only the exotic Siamese rooftops could be seen of the walled palace, but they were gorgeous.

This was all we saw of the Royal Palace from the river

Wat Arun: the temple of  Dawn

Wat Rakhang

We turned down into a narrower canal where we spent the majority of the tour observing a diverse array of residences.  Once again we were struck with how opulence and squalor live side-by-side here.  Dilapidated shacks hanging over the water next to beautiful new homes; modern townhomes alongside ramshackle apartments; raw sewage being dumped directly into the water, where some fish somehow thrive, while others float belly-up, and children swim in the water.

(**Warning: I have included WAY too many pictures of the homes along the small canal - but I was so fascinated by the mix of old/new, nice/shabby.... so you'll just have to scroll a bit faster if you're less fascinated!)

One of the new and beautiful homes along the route

a real houseboat

There were several spots along the way where it is considered good luck
to feed the fish - and we were given bread for this purpose...

...it was quite a frenzy as the fish fought over the food!

Plants thrive here, tropical trees and flowers brilliant with colour.
At times it was so lush and jungle-looking that it was hard to believe we were so near the big city.

Gorgeous flora

Despite the poverty, there were a surprising number of satellites

To our surprise, this guy wasn't the only one hanging out in the water

Young boys going fishing 

A side channel off the main route

After the tour, we decided to eat back in Chachoengsao.  It was now about 5pm, and as we headed out in the vans, it was quickly evident that Bangkok is a city of about 10 million people: think Vancouver rush hour times about 5!  It turned out to be about a 3 hour ride back.  

chicken feet?

Typical family on scooter - apparently the helmet law is enforced more in Bangkok

We ended up having dinner about 9pm at an outdoor restaurant down the road from our hotel.  A full and fascinating day - and we'd hardly scratched the surface of Bangkok.