PLANNING AND A DAY ON THE RIVER HOT!!

 BANGKOK PLANNING DAY: 4/17/24

After breakfast we started to do some planning for our next few days. Will see how our plans stand up against the heat and humidity. These will be reported here as they happen. 



Our Lunch today was at the Magic Food Point food court in the airport. I really like that place. We talked about the Magic Food Point food court a while back in this blog entry. 

 
http://soggymoosetravel.blogspot.com/2024/04/the-worlds-largest-market.html

Here is how the Magic Food Point Works. As you enter you get a card on which you place an amount of BHAT. The go to the vendor you want to get food from. Place your order and present your pre loaded card. The card is scanned and your purchase in deducted form the card. Then you go and enjoy your choice. Most meals are about 80-90 BHAT. A bit over $2 USD. The food is fresh and really good. 

The roasted duck is AMAZING!!!!

Inside the Magic Point Food Court. We travel with sporks and used them. There is a utensil station with a boiling water bath to clean the utensils offered.

 The card you receive for cast. Only Cash is accepted. Should one not use all their card value, just turn it in and get the outstanding balance. Must be done on same day.

 

Here we had roasted duck and rice. IT WAS GREAT!! We also picked up several sodas and sandwiches and pastries to take back to the room for later should we decide not to go out. The sodas are a Fanta Orange, Fanta Strawberry, and a Fanta Fruit Punch. A nice variety for sure.

We actually spent some time at the pool. This is not like us but it was very relaxing. We talked about our plan for tomorrow, when to get up have breakfast and get going.

Let’s see how the planning went.
TEMP 100F. HOT!


4/18/24

 
After our breakfast we took the Airport Rail Link to Phaya Thai station and transferred to the BTS line taking it to the Saphan Taksin BTS Station (S6). This is the BTS skytrain station on the Silom Line which connected to Sathorn Pier.

 Rush hour, while the cars are packed the A/C works very well.

 To get to the pier, take exit 2 and go down the stairs. Walk through the pathway, turn left and take some steps. You will see the blue ticket booth in front of you taking it to Sathorn. For a 150 BHAT you get an all day ticket allowing you to hop on and off as much as you like. 



 

Enjoy watching the sky scrapers as you sail by.

Lots of Long Tail Boats buzzing about.

 

 

Our boat left at 0930 and we rode all the way to the end of the line at Phra Arthit. We had learned of a park near the pier so we walked a couple blocks to this waterfront park. This is a nice place to just sit and try to cool off and hydrate. It is 100F! 

 

 

To get back on the boat to go to our next destination one must navigate an alleyway of vendors. We did get taken in and purchased couple shirts and more water. Did I mention it was 100F, oh and HUMID!. 



The shirts we got at a discounted price after a bit of haggling for $4.30 each. I hope they last at least one washing.  

 

 



Back on the river our next stop was Wat Arun. Known as the "Temple of Dawn”, it is a Buddhist temple in Bangkok Yai district of Bangkok, on the Thonburi west bank of the Chao Phraya River. The temple derives its name from the Hindu god Aruna, often personified as the radiations of the rising sun. Wat Arun is among the best known of Thailand's landmarks. The first light of the morning reflects off the surface of the temple with pearly iridescence. Although the temple had existed since at least the seventeenth century, its distinctive prang (spires) were built in the early nineteenth century during the reign of King Rama II.

Entrance fee is 200 BHAT, which includes small bottle of water. 

There seemed to be many locals having photo shoots of themselves dressed in traditional Thai clothing. To enter the temple one must dress with long sleeves and long pats, hats and shoes removed when entering buildings. It was still 100+ F HOT!!!



We made a clockwise trip around the temple taking many photos. It is truly an amazing temple. 

Back on the boat to retrace our route back to the airport. 

We really liked the Magic Food Point food court so much we returned and had another plate of Roast Duck and rice for a couple dollars. Food here is inexpensive and really good. 



We then bought some additional items for the room. This included water as it was HOT today. I think I told you 100F (feels like 115F according to our weather app). 

 A bit more info on the boat. 1. some have enclosed areas which have AC. There is usually a nice breeze on the ones which are not enclosed. When they make a stop be ready to get off as the stops are rather quick. It is a fun and great way to see the river. Most stops had convenient  food offerings.