Bangkok, - Venice of the East

Riding the Klongs: sightseeing along the Chao Phraya River, Bangkok

Dec 7, 2006

Leave the smog and the traffic to others, sightsee in comfort along the canals of Bangkok by following the advice in this article.

To see Bangkok in comfort, take to the klongs (canals) that criss-cross the city. Enjoy a cooler method of travel for only a fraction of the time, money and nervous exhaustion normally expended.

On the river, heavily laden old teak rice barges float low down in the water, long tail taxi boats churn up the murky waters, and the Express Boat rushes by. The latter offers about the best bargain in Bangkok- the freedom of the klongs for just

Grand Palace, Temple of Emerald Buddha, Wat Arun, Wat Poh, and Chinatown

15 Baht. Mainly used by commuters, The Express Boat is an ideal method of visitng the sights which lie along the route - the Grand Palace, the Temple of the Emerald Buddha, the Temple of Dawn and the National Museum, Chinatown, and the snake farm where you can watch the venom being extracted. You can go right to the end of the 18 Kl. route to the town of Nonthonburi where tourists are a novelty.

There are no fewer than four hundred Buddhist temples in Bangkok and if there is time for only one, make that the temple of the Emerald Buddha. The jade (not emerald) Buddha is not a particularly imposing work (the 160 foot reclining Buddha at Wat Poh is much more so) but the temple buildings, every inch of the surface of which has been ornamented with gold leaf, mosaics, coloured glass and ceramics, is well worth a visit.

Down River to Rural Bangkok

The outskirts of Bangkok are still very rural and a two or three hour boat ride through the klongs on a long tail boat, Bangkok's river taxi, will transport you into the heartland of a farming community where guava, coconut and pomelo trees vie for your attention with the wild purple orchids that hang from their branches.

People will wave to you from the rickety porches of their stilted houses by the water's edge, bare-skinned boys dive from pontoons, men and women stand waist deep in the river pouring basinfuls of the milk-chocolate coloured water over their sarong clad bodies, and yelow-clad monks file along the river bank.

Singha or Chang Beer

A young woman with steaming vats of colour in her boat punting from house to house is the cloth dyer, vendors in sampans loaded with produce are floating restaurants and the bottles of ice-cold Singha or Chang beer nestling in the bottom of a boat can serve as a bar.

On the return lap of your journey you will see buildings you missed on the way out, European trading houses and Portuguese churches, pagodas and palaces from another era and people making offerings at the little spirit houses along the river, as the late afternoon sun bathes the Grand Palace in a golden glow.

If you want to see what Bangkok was like just a couple of decades ago when it really was “The City of Angels”, then take to a boat and discover the klongs. If you're 'templed-out' there's no better way to recover your calm.

The copyright of the article Bangkok, - Venice of the East in Thailand Travel is owned by Mari Nicholson. Permission to republish Bangkok, - Venice of the East in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.