25 December 2018
We had a super early 6 am breakfast at the hotel and went to the pier Phra Arthit to catch our orange express boat to pier Si Pha Ya.
The ticket booth was not open this early so we bought our tickets from the conductor on-board.
By our happy faces, it was a fun ride.
After a short briefing at the Co Van Kessels bike tour, we were off thru the narrow lanes of Bangkok back-streets.
Schools.
Chinatown traffic.
We met up with WT after the bike tour and took a taxi to Paragon Mall. This is a huge mall and made bigger by connecting bridges to two other malls in the area. It was hungry work cycling, so we lunched at Ootoya Japanese restaurant.
After wandering around the Paragon and Central malls for a few hours, we took a taxi home to contemplate dinner in our hotel room.
26 December 2018
The plan for today was to visit Wat Arun on foot. WT was peeping into a Wat, when a kind Thai passer-by offered help with directions etc. After a brief chat, he suggested we do a canal tour from Rachini pier instead of walking all the way to Wat Arun in the heat.
So we hailed a passing tuk-tuk for the 800m ride to the pier. It was 10B each, 30B all up. Unfortunately Marcus sat on the driver's curry, which messed up his pants and the driver's lunch.
The sales guy at the pier told us the canal tour will be 800B each and takes an hour. He said 800B was the special price for ASEAN people. Europeans have to pay 1,200B wink wink.
WT and Marcus making sure the boat is sea worthy. These boats are called long tail boats because of the long shaft driving the props.
The shaft is attached to a whole engine, with radiator and everything. So the driver steers the whole engine to steer the boat.
The tour took us around a canal off the river. This canal is lower than the river so we had to go thru a lock to lower our boat to canal water level.
As we waited in the lock for the water level to equalise, I noticed that all the Europeans in the other boats had life jackets, and we had a used tyre to share between the three of us. That explains the 400B discount.
After the lock, the driver pulled us up to an old lady selling stuff in a row boat. She convinced WT to buy a teak tuk-tuk toy, and me, a beer and one for the driver too. It was of course a scam because we were charged 500B. However, I was glad this was the morning trip and it was the driver's first or second beer. I'd hate to imagine his condition on the last trip of the evening.
There are houses all along the river and we did a 10 min stop to inspect a temple.
It was a fun ride but I am not too sure if it was value for money. We did have the boat to ourselves though.
After the tour, the driver dropped us off at a pier near the Grand Palace. The day was hot and the Palace packed with bus loads of mainly Chinese tourists.
We decided not to go in. Our dress code observance for naught.
We instead popped into an archive museum place for toilet, to cool off and for Marcus to strike a pose.
We did try to take the tuk-tuk but they wanted 100B and google told us we were only 200m from the hotel.
On the way thru Khao San, we saw the remains of the crocodile from the night before.
After a short rest in the hotel, it was time for lunch. We decided to try the Poutine at a French Canadian cafe nearby. This is Canadian comfort food comprising fries with cheese.
We decided to take a walk to the Golden Mount temple later in the afternoon. This temple in on top of a spiral walkway with views over the very flat Bangkok city.
On the way back, we were told to check out Bangkok's most famous pad thai, raved by Bourdain and other chefs. But the queue was long and we were hungry.
By this time, it was getting dark and the lights on the various temples on the way home created some fine shots.
We settled for burgers at the hotel cafe.
I'd booked a Bangkok bike tour for today at 8 am. WT wasn't game to cycle the narrow lanes and heavy Bangkok traffic. The easiest way to the tour shop was by boat.
After a short briefing at the Co Van Kessels bike tour, we were off thru the narrow lanes of Bangkok back-streets.
Schools.
Chinatown traffic. 
And hidden from mainstream tourists, temples, which we were allowed to enter.
We met up with WT after the bike tour and took a taxi to Paragon Mall. This is a huge mall and made bigger by connecting bridges to two other malls in the area. It was hungry work cycling, so we lunched at Ootoya Japanese restaurant.
After wandering around the Paragon and Central malls for a few hours, we took a taxi home to contemplate dinner in our hotel room.
26 December 2018
The plan for today was to visit Wat Arun on foot. WT was peeping into a Wat, when a kind Thai passer-by offered help with directions etc. After a brief chat, he suggested we do a canal tour from Rachini pier instead of walking all the way to Wat Arun in the heat.
The sales guy at the pier told us the canal tour will be 800B each and takes an hour. He said 800B was the special price for ASEAN people. Europeans have to pay 1,200B wink wink.
As we waited in the lock for the water level to equalise, I noticed that all the Europeans in the other boats had life jackets, and we had a used tyre to share between the three of us. That explains the 400B discount.
After the tour, the driver dropped us off at a pier near the Grand Palace. The day was hot and the Palace packed with bus loads of mainly Chinese tourists.
We decided not to go in. Our dress code observance for naught.We instead popped into an archive museum place for toilet, to cool off and for Marcus to strike a pose.
We did try to take the tuk-tuk but they wanted 100B and google told us we were only 200m from the hotel.
We settled for burgers at the hotel cafe.
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