Last updated Sunday October 21, 2007
All the guide books say you have to take a canal trip in Bangkok, so I walked down to the dock.
There were signs all over for boat trips, so I went up to one with a smiling face behind it. The trip cost about US $10, and this being the first day I didn't think anything of it. I saw lots of people lined up on the dock, so I figured I had just bought a ticket to get in line. What I soon realized was that for ten bucks I had rented the whole long tailed boat like this one. It could hold easily 20 people, but I had it all to myself. The boat captain spoke very little English so I had to figure out the sights for myself.
These long tailed boats are made of wood and are painted very colorfully. The reason they are called long tailed is because they mount an old truck engine on a swivel with a long shaft sticking out the back with the propeller on the end. They steer by swiveling the whole engine by hand and sweeping the propeller from side to side.
First we went down the Mae Nam Chao Phraya, which is the main river in Bangkok. The Sunrise Temple is on the west bank, across the river from Bangkok itself.
Soon we entered a canal that was very narrow in places and always surrounded by buildings.
Mostly it was small houses on each side of the canal. The people were always friendly and waved to me. The dogs, and there were lots of them, were too lazy to wave.
The kids were having a ball swimming in the canal. They all waved too.
There were a lot of people doing business from their boats along the canal. Some were cooking and selling their food door-to-door. You didn't have to go to the store, it came to you.
There were temples all along the canal route. All were brightly decorated and most had lush grounds around them.
At this particular temple you could buy a loaf of bread the feed the catfish you see in the water.
The captain was always getting phone calls on his cellular phone. He had to slow down so he could hear, since he was sitting right next to an engine with no covering on it. After the calls he would speed off to make up time. That truck engine could make the long skinny boat really go!
Later on the houses got more modern and even high-rise buildings were right next to the canal.
There were house boats along the wider part of the canal. I missed a real National Geographic shot when we passed this group of boats with a little girl waving to me.
As we got to the larger canals there were lots more temples.
This temple had a huge sitting Buddha.
The Royal Barge Museum displays the boats used by the King and Queen on special occasions. Unlike royal artifacts in other countries I have visited, these are still in use. I have to visit the museum next time I
We are back on the main river, passing another ferry boat and headed back to the dock. It was a wonderful hour spent sometimes fast and sometimes slow and quiet.
