Discover Bangkok Through River Cruise & Walking Tours

03.11.2014 - 06.11.2014 30 °C

Bangkok is a city that never sleeps and is an amazing city with loads of activities that suit each and everyone who travels to this "unseen" city for any sorts of purposes. Almost all the backpackers and other tourists and travellers alike would have stop over in Bangkok, arriving from several other points of travel destinations before they hop again to another city of their choice. So, yes, Bangkok never stop receiving people from around the world every day, week, month and year because not only it is a strategic city within South East Asia but also due to its unique cultures, its distinctive food, its beautiful wats (temples), its rich history, marvellous islands and beaches and loads of shopping choices. Bangkok indeed deserve much more attention than just a short trip or short transit destinations. There are many things to do in Bangkok and it possibly may take up to several days for one to fully discover what Bangkok has in store and how interesting this city could be. I have previously blog about Bangkok but this one covers about my recent travel to this amazing capital of Thailand covering some visits to places that I had visited before as well as some new discovery through combination of cruise on the Chao Phraya river as well as through walking on foot over the Old Bangkok area. Of course Bangkok is a well known megalopolis for its wide shopping varieties and its historic buildings and temples as well as its good choice of tasty food. Over the recent travel to Bangkok, I visited some of the tourist spots which include the shrine and wats (temples), landmark buildings and structures, sample some delicious Thai food, visiting markets including the railway and floating market in Samut Songkhram province. I started off with the Erawan Shrine over at the Ratchaprasong District. This shrine is where the Four Face Golden Brahman statue is located within the open space area sandwiched between the Erawan Boutique Mall and the Grand Hyatt Erawan Hotel. According to history, the shrine existed after which incidents of multiple deaths that happened during the construction of Erawan Hotel (now known as Grand Hyatt Erawan) led to the exodus of construction workers from the construction site of the hotel. The owner of the hotel then placed the Four Face Buddha at the location where the current Erawan Shrine is located to quashed the incidents of deaths at the construction site as it was believed that the hotel construction works had caused disturbances to the spirits that lived within the area where the hotel building was being built. It was not known why the shrine was named as Erawan as Erawan is the Hindu god with Three Elephant Head. Visitors to Erawan Shrine would usually offer prayers to the Four Face Golden Brahman statue by praying over the 4 sides of the statue offering joss sticks and flower garlands on each of the 4 sides. There is also a traditional Thai dancers performing within the shrine boundary on certain schedules. Even if one is not a Hindu, this temple still worth a visit to check out the beautiful Brahman statue which had over-gone some reconstruction over the years, the most remembered one was when it was damaged by a mentally unsound man years ago. The Ratchaphrasong District is one of the famous tourists hotspots which covers the few well-known shopping malls including the Central Chidlom, Central Embassy, the latest upmarket mall in Bangkok which connects to Central Chidlom within the mall, the Mercury Ville mall, Gaysorn, Amarin Plaza and Central World shopping mall and some 5 star hotels including Grand Hyatt Erawan Hotel, Four Seasons Hotel and Peninsula Plaza. Further up from here would be the Siam Paragon, Siam Square and Siam Centre, which all can be reached through the overhead pedestrian walking bridge.

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The Erawan Shrine

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The Thai traditional dancers at the Erawan Shrine

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The Erawan Shrine from the BTS Central World Skywalk or the Ratchaprasong Skywalk

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The signboard at the overhead of BTS Central World Skywalk

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A map of the Ratchaprasong District at BTS Central World Skywalk

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The view at the BTS Central World Skywalk

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The Central World Shopping Mall from the BTS Central World Skywalk

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Gaysorn Shopping Mall opposite Erawan Shrine @ Ratchaprasong District

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The Erawan Boutique Mall just next to Erawan Shrine @ Ratchaprasong District

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The signboard at the front of the Grand Hyatt Erawan Hotel @ Ratchaprasong District

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The Peninsula Plaza @ Ratchaprasong District

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Central Chidlom @ Ratchaprasong District

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Central Embassy Mall which connected to Central Chidlom @ Ratchaprasong District

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The walkway from Central Embassy to Central Chidlom @ Ratchaprasong District

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The Amarin Plaza @ Ratchaprasong District

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The Mercury Ville opposite Central Chidlom

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The Siam Paragon Shopping Mall & Siam Centre

Cruising through the Chao Phraya river was another interesting activity that can be done in Bangkok and it gets even more excitement combinining the cruise by getting down to explore some of the Bangkok tourist spots, temples, buildings and landmarks. The point to start the Chao Phraya river cruise is by the BTS Skytrain, getting down at the Saphan Taksin station. At this station, you would require to walk few metres away from the station towards the Sathorn pier to board the boat from the pier to the destinations in which the boat would stops. The best way to explore is through the orange flag boat that charges THB15 flat fare. There is also a tourist boat which has blue flag which offer unlimited rides. I board the orange flag boat and paid THB15 while cruising the Chao Phraya river and get down at the Tha Tian pier.Some of the interesting buildings on the banks of Chao Phraya river include the Peninsula Hotel, Millennium Hilton Hotel, Baan Chao Phraya Hotel, the Memorial Bridge, the latest edition of Bangkok's tourist spot, The Yodpiman River Walk, which is the latest tourist hang-out in its notable yellow colour building and King Rama VIII Bridge. From Tha Tien pier, I walked over to the Wat Pho, one of the many awesome and nice temples in Bangkok and Thailand. Wat Pho is famous for its massage school where you can learn the traditional thai massage and also get some affordable massage. The temple is also well known for the massive size of the Sleeping Golden Buddha statue. The temple has several chedis which are distinctive in its design and architecture and beautiful Golden Buddha statue placed in the viharn (sermon hall). This is one of the most amazing temple in Bangkok which should never be missed if you are in Thailand. From the Tha Tian pier, I get over to another interesting Thai temple, the Wat Arun or Temple of the Dawn through short cruise over to the opposite of Tha Tian pier with a THB3 fare. The boat only ply the route from Tha Tian to Wat Arun also known as Wat Pho-Wat Arun boat service. This is really one of the amazing temple in Bangkok and Thailand and the name of the temple itself really did matched its reputation. The temple's chedi was what made Wat Arun being so special as it overlook the Chao Phraya river in such marvellous position and this is where one you witness the rising of the sun as well as when the sun sets down. There are 2 levels which visitors can reached at the chedi and the stairs to get to each level are very steep at approximately over 80 degrees. It can be very scary when I watched up the staircase to climb up the steps. Eventually, I brave myself and managed to reached the second level of the chedi and that was rewarding as the view from here was just stunning.

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The Sathorn Pier

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Boat schedule at Sathorn Pier

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On board the Chao Phraya Boat

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The boat cruising out from Sathorn Pier

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The Peninsula Hotel

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A wooden boat of the Mandarin Oriental Bangkok cruising the Chao Phraya river

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The Millennium Hilton Hotel @ Chao Phraya river

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Baan Chao Phraya Hotel

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The Yodpiman River Walk

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The Memorial Bridge @ Chao Phraya river

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The Tha Tian Pier

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Shops at the exit & entrance of Tha Tian Pier

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A map of the Wat Pho for the River Festival or Loy Krathong 2014

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The entrance ticket to Wat Pho

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One of the entrance gate to Wat Pho

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One of the ubosot at Wat Pho

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A rakhang or bell at Wat Pho

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The temple building where the Reclining Buddha is located

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The signboard @ Wat Pho to indicate on the location of Rclining Buddha statue

THE IMAGES OF RECLINING BUDDHA @ WAT PHO

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THE INTERIOR OF WAT PHO & SURROUNDINGS

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The sala (pavilion) overlooking the chedis @ Wat Pho

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One of the chedi @ Wat Pho

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Another chedi @ Wat Pho

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A replica of Wat Pho

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One of the ubosot @ Wat Pho

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The Buddha statue inside one of the ubosot @ Wat Pho

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The viharn @ Wat Pho

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The Golden Buddha in the viharn @ Wat Pho

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The multiple Buddha statues @ Wat Pho

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The surroundings of Wat Pho

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The Wat Pho-Wat Arun boat

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The interior of the Wat Pho-Wat Arun boat

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The Tha Tian pier for short boat ride to Wat Arun

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A view of Wat Arun from the boat

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Wat Arun from Tha Tian pier

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Arriving at Wat Arun pier from Tha Tian pier

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The main gate to Wat Arun

IMAGES OF THE SEVERAL CHEDI @ WAT ARUN

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CLOSE VIEW ON ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN OF WAT PHO

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PANAROMIC VIEWS FROM THE TOP OF CHEDI @ WAT ARUN

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Descending from the chedi @ Wat Arun

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Ascending the chedi @ Wat Arun

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The Buddha statue at the base of the chedi of Wat Arun

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The ubosot and sala at Wat Arun

Continuing the Chao Phraya river cruise, I stopped over at the Phra Athit pier to cover the walking tours within the Old Bangkok area. This tour started from the Phra Sumen Fort, which is just a short walk towards the left after exiting from Phra Athit pier.There are rows of old shops dotted the road along the Phra Athit road just opposite the Phra Sumen Fort and its interesting to see such shops still being preserved after so many years. The fort is located within the frontage of Chao Phra river with a sala or small pavilion on its left. Within the fort, there is a square between the fort and Chao Phraya river.Many activities including the Loy Krathong being stage at the Phra Sumen Fort. As Thailand was celebrating the Loy Krathong festival, now renamed the River Festival, a celebration advocated to the Spirit or God of The River, there were sightings of some beautifully decorated boats docked along the river which also oversees the King Rama VIII Bridge. From Phra Sumen Fort, I walked to the most beloved street of Bangkok dedicated to the backpackers, the Khao San Road where most of backpackers descended to before disembarking to other destinations within Thailand or elsewhere neighbouring the country. Khao San Road comes lively when the sun sets down with travellers and tourists filled up the many choice of restaurants, pubs and bars while street and food vendors plying their trade and shop owners start to gear up their sales. Its interesting to stroll along the street to see how Bangkok can be so bizarrely attractive that such a massive volume of travellers would have glued to this Thai capital. And this is only Khao San Road in Bangkok. The neighbouring street of Khao San Road, the Soi Rambuttri enjoys similar attention as its compatriot and has many choice of restaurants, pubs and bars and travel agents dotted the street. From Khao San Road and Soi Rambuttri, I walked on to the Wat Bowonniwetwiharn located on the Phra Sumen Road. The temple's chedi is what supposedly made this temple special and is similar to the Wat Chedi Pathom in Nakon Pathom, which I had written about it in the Kanchanaburi blog. The design of the chedi and its surrounding architecture are very close to that of Wat Chedi Pathom. The chedi of Wat Bowonniwetwiharn has a upper base level surrounded by sections of small Buddha statues placed in the glass panel.

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The King Rama VIII Bridge @ Chao Phraya river

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Exiting the Phra Athit pier

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The Phra Sumen Fort

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Side view of Phra Sumen Fort

OLD SHOPS ALONG PHRA ATHIT ROAD OPPOSITE THE PHRA SUMEN FORT

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Nicely decorated boat docked at Chao Phraya river in front of Phra Sumen Fort

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Rama VIII Bridge from Phra Sumen Fort

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A pavilion at the Phra Sumen Fort Square

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The Soi Rambuttri just next to Khao San Road

OVERVIEW OF SOI RAMBUTTRI AT DAYTIME
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OVERVIEW OF KHAO SAN ROAD AT DAY TIME
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From Wat Bowonniwetwiharn, my walking tour continued from Phra Sumen Road to Dinso Road, in which old shops can also be seen located along this road. One of the thing to note over here at Dinso Road is that, I could see there are several shops that deal with the Thai national and the Royal flags, so I presumed that this is the street with vendors of Thai and Thai Royal flags. Dinso Road is also where the Democracy Monument is located. As I walked and crossed the road within the huge roundabout of the Democracy Monument, I found out that this place is also known as the Zero Kilometre Marker, which means this is the area which marks the start of the road distance from Bangkok to the Northernmost of Thailand in Mae Sai District in Chiang Rai Province and Southern Thailand in Sadao District in Songkhla Province. Around the Democracy Monument also known as the Ratchadamnoen Avenue some nice restaurant joints here deserved to have some time spent just to enjoy the trafic flow and people that walk along the area. Another landmark at Dinso Road is the Bangkok Metropolitan City Hall, a rectangular shaped building in light grey colour. Walking further up from the City Hall is where Wat Suthat and the Giant Swing are located. Wat Suthat gained its popularity possibly due to the massive swing located just in front of the temple entrance. Inside the boundary of the temple, it is surrounded by multiple small Buddha statues placed within the roofed squared sections that covered each sides of the temple boundary wall. The main Buddha statue is a huge golden sculpture placed within the viharn (sermon hall).

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The Golden Buddha at the viharn of Wat Bowonniwetwiharn

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The ubosot at Wat Bowonniwetwiharn

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The interior of Wat Bowonniwetwiharn

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The exterior of Wat Bowonniwetwiharn

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The chedi @ Wat Bowonniwetwiharn

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The base at the chedi of Wat Bowonniwetwiharn

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Another view of the base of the chedi @ Wat Bowonniwetwiharn

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Old shops along Dinso Road, Old Bangkok

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Dinso Road signboard

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Shops selling Thai and Royal flags @ Dinso Road, Old Bangkok

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The Democracy Monument @ Old Bangkok

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Bangkok City Hall @ Dinso Road, Old Bangkok

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OLD SHOPS ALONG DINSO ROAD @ OLD BANGKOK

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The Giant Swing at Wat Suthat

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Front view of Wat Suthat

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The Golden Buddha inside the viharn of Wat Suthat

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Side view of Wat Suthat

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General view of Wat Suthat

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Returning to Democracy Monument from Wat Suthat

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Bangkok City Hall

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Baan Dinso Hostel @ Dinso Road, old Bangkok

From Wat Suthat and the Giant Swing, I turned back and walk towards the City Hall again walking through Dinso Road once more to get to Wat Saket at the Golden Mount. While walking along the Democracy Monument to gain access to Wat Saket, I came across Baan Dinso, a nice boutique hostel at the corner of Dinso Road between the Democracy Monument and City Hall. From here, I walked further up and came across the Rachadamnoen Klang Avenue, where there is a small park known as King Rama III Park fronting the Wat Ratchanadda and the Loha Prasat, another marvellous temple and landmark in Bangkok. The King Rama III park has a main pavilion and several other smaller pavilions within the park area and also housed the King Rama III statue. Just beside the park is another fort similar to the Phra Sumen Fort but this one is slightly lower and possibly smaller known as the Mahakan Fort. Wat Ratchanadda and the Loha Prasat (also known as the metal castle) are visibly clear within the Ratchadamnoen Klang Avenue and both the temple and the prasat standing proud and awesome from the sights at the avenue. The Loha Prasat is located within the Wat Ratchanadda and is distinctive due to its black coloured roof carved in the Thai traditional temple design with corridors on each of the 5 levels of the structure. Within each level, there are narrow walkways within the squared area of each level linking to the corridors which the outside view can be seen from these corridors. Within the narrow walkways on each level there are walls in between in which several other wall opening that allow access to each section of the prasat within the same level. At the lower levels, Buddha sculpture also being placed at designated sections of the corridors. The view from the upper levels of the prasat was beautiful overlooking some breathtaking view. The structure of the Loha Prasat being built with each level larger than the other beginning from the ground level with largest size.

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The Rachadamneon Klang Avenue @ King Rama III Park

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The King Rama III statue at the Rachadamnoen Klang Avenue

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The King Rama III Park that overlook the Loha Prasat

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The Loha Prasat @ Wat Ratchanadda

THE INTERIOR OF LOHA PRASAT

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Outside view from corridors of Loha Prasat

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Close view of Loha Prasat

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Walking to Wat Saket @ Golden Mount from Loha Prasat

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Some of the old shop along the road leading to Wat Saket

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This way up to Wat Saket @ Golden Mount

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The staircase leading up to Wat Saket @ Golden Mount

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The bells and gong at Wat Saket, Golden Mount

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Another set of staircase leading up to Wat Saket

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Bird eye's view from Wat Saket @ Golden Mount

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Interior of Wat Saket

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The interior of Wat Saket

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The chedi of Wat Saket

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A view of Wat Saket from the base

Moving from Wat Ratchanadda and Loha Prasat, crossing the road to the opposite of these 2 structures and then a turn to the left after about 500 metres of walk crossing the bridge and then another left turn is where the Golden Mount is located. Over at this Golden Mount, another special Bangkok must see, the Wat Saket is located. There are over 300 steps on the staircase leading up to the Wat Saket at Golden Mount which considered as slightly tiny in size, so its easy to bypass some of the while hiking up. On the base of the Wat Saket are several black coloured bells hung on the sides of the base and a giant size "gong". The entrance to the temple is located on a higher level than its base and while walking up to the entrance the breathtaking view can be enjoyed all the way up to the entrance. Within Wat Saket itself, there are 2 levels, ground and 1st with the temple's chedi located on the 1st level. On the ground level, on the centre of the temple, a chedi like golden sculpture with Buddha statue are being placed. The main entrance of the ground level are where the golden and emerald Buddha structures being located. There is also a small Reclining Buddha structure on the ground level. Over at the 1st level is where the chedi is located and the view from here is simply stunning. Walking back to the Phra Athit pier, I came across the King Phrajadhipok Museum, which is light green coloured building and stand within the corner of the Democracy Monument near the Phan Fa Leelard Pier. Though I did not step into the museum I thought it is worth a visit and spend some time to check out the history of King Phrajadhipok during his reign as Thai King. Probably, I will find some time to be back again for a visit next time and hopefully that can be concluded. From Phra Athit pier, I board the orange flag boat back to Sathorn pier to get to the Asiatique The Rivefront, where a free boat ride from Sathorn pier and The Asiatique can be boarded. It takes less than 10 minutes to reach Asiatique from Sathorn pier. Asiatique Riverfront is said to be a replacement to the now closed Suan Lum Night Bazaar over at the Lumpini Park. The design of shops and food outets as well as retaurant and bars are very similar to that of those in Suan Lum night bazaar. The differences between Asiatique and Suan Lum night bazaar are visibly clear with the fact that the former has the privilege of access to the Chao Phraya river view while the latter was without and of course due to its recent establishment, the market on its whole looks very contemporary and clean while it also offer al-fresco and fine dining style of restaurants, bistro and pubs. Yet, it also blends the middle market dining style of food joints suitable for those who are in the backpacking mode of travel. The retails shops offer variety of items from souvenirs, clothings, men and women accessories, including bags, shoes handbags, watches, electronic and electric gadgets, telecommunication items and other lifestyle goods. So, yes, Asiatique offers many interesting stuffs for everyone including the children with the gigantic Ferris wheel where family or couple could take a ride for a view of the Chao Phraya river. If you really spend some time to walk on the road of Bangkok in particular the Ratanakosin area known as Old Bangkok, this can be very rewarding while the cruise on Chao Phraya river is awesome to start off with to gain access to the Old Bangkok walking tour.

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