I’ve mentioned the river in a couple of other posts, but this one will major on it and provide some images.
Running broadly north to south, there are many historic or religious sites on the river, or very near to it. ItĀ seems to be the main highway for the older part of the city, and in addition to the river itself, there are a number of canals leading off it that connect into the deeper parts of the city. I gather that formerly there were more canals, and travel by boat along the river and/or the canals was the main way of getting around. In recent decades, and especially during the building frenzy of the 80s and 90s, a number of the canals were filled in and either built over or converted to roads – my previous post shows some of the results of that!
Nonetheless, the river itself is still a transport artery with boats of various types running up and down it. These seems to fall into several different categories. There are some basic passenger boats, often only running in the early morning and again during the late afternoon/early evening which serve the needs of local people getting to and from work. Then there are some older, smaller boats that operate as water-borne delivery trucks. As expected, there are large, more comfortable (and more expensive) tourist boats, collecting passengers from the main access points and connecting them to the tourist sites all along the river; there are some very large boats dedicated to evening dinner cruises; and finally, a more recent development has been the appearance of smaller boats operating as shuttles for the luxury hotels and other developments along theĀ river-side. The architecture varies as well, from beautiful and well-maintained historic or traditional sites, to run-down older spots, to modern high-rise developments; and often these are are in startlingly-close juxtaposition.
I went up and down the river on all three full days I was in Bangkok, and I enjoyed it. Lots of variety, some breeze, and constant change of scenery – wonderful. Here are some images:
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