The Girl in the Big Mango

Last Saturday, I decided to do some touristy stuff.

I took a boat trip on Chao Phraya River.

I searched for information and went down to the Pier to go on the journey on my own.

I took the BTS (Skytrain) to Taksin Bridge station, and got down to Satorn Pier. There, you can see the Chao Phraya Express Boat booth. If you plan to hop on and off the boat a lot, instead of paying for the fare everytime, you can buy a one day pass for 100 THB. With this one day pass, you will get a guidebook full of useful information about the Piers the tourist boat stops at, time table, etc. And it is also good on other boats of the same company.

Guidebook

On the tourist boat, there was one guide onboard explaining things, telling what were on both sides on the way. There are quite a few beautiful buildings by the river.

Holy Rosary Church

Chinese Pagoda

Santa Cruz Church

Royal Seminary

My first stop was Wat Arun (Temple of Dawn).

My next stop was Wat Pho.

And Wat Prakaew (Temple of Emerald Buddha).

And the Grand Palace.

My last stop was the Royal Barge Museum.

To get here, there used to be (sort of) shuttle boat from Pra Arthit Pier directly to the museum. But no more. So, nowadays, as advised in the Guidebook, you need to hop off the boat at Wang Lang Pier, and either take a tuk tuk (about 50 THB ride), or walk (directions stated in the Guidebook).

I don’t remember admission fee. It’s definitely 10 THB for a Thai national. Different price for a foreigner. But same fee if you want to take a camera to take photos inside, which is 100 THB. I think it’s 200 THB for video camera. Once you pay the camera fee, you will get a tag saying that you are allowed to take photos inside.
Suphannahong

Narai Song Suban Rama IX

There a few more photos already uploaded to the Gallery.

All of the places I mentioned above (except the Royal Barge Museum, of course) can be accessed easily by boat. There are a few more temples along the river, but I was totally exhausted from the heat so I called the day after the museum.

I had a great time.

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