Bangkok By Train 2013 - KL SENTRAL - BUTTERWORTH - BANGKOK

Day 6, April 30, 2013, Monday - Grand Sport outlet and Grand Palace

My family, especially my wife, had been walking a lot the day before so I decided to let them rest a bit more before we do Bangkok again. However, after breakfast the boys and I decided to go back to the Grand Sport outlet to buy our team's jersey. We took the Skytrain at Si Lom station and got down at National Stadium. Along the way we stopped at the stadium which was opened to take few photos. 

Of course we ended up buying a lot more other stuff he he. One of them is a big Grand Sport traveling bag. 

On the way back to the National Stadium station we saw a halal cafe just after the stadium. I straight away send a message to my wife asking for their orders. Thus lunch being taken care off for the day. 

With lunch and prayers done we went out for the last time to explore Bangkok. Our target for the day was the area of the old city surrounding the Grand Palace area

We took the MRT down to Hua Lamphong before proceeding by Tut Tut to the Grand Palace area. That was our first tut-tut ride in Bangkok. Actually we did not straightaway took the tut-tut we explored Hua Lamphong again for few minutes.

These guys are really speed demon moving effortlessly around busy Bangkok’s streets and alleys. So in no time we reached in front of the Grand Palace. Initially I thought of taking my family into the Palace as I have been there when I was a secondary school students but I was stopped at the counter when I saw the price of around RM50 perhead. We turned around and started to walked along the street in front of the Palace entrance. We noticed there was some sort of carnival going on on a big field in front of the place but my family saw anything that was even more interesting to/for them. It was a NaRaYa outlet and the girls almost running towards it. There were a lot of tourist around that area and it was worse inside NaRaYa. Baqir and I walked out bought ourselves cold drinks and wait outside. While waiting I took out the map and started to plan our walk. Studying the maps that I have I got really confused as to where we were exactly. Their tourist map was really confusing. Even with the big Grand Palace in front of me.

After the girls finished with their shopping I decided to walk towards where we could see a lot of sellers selling their wares along the street. We walked further up to the pier and only then Baqir got it figured up. Only later I realised that the concept of map and mapping is not a Thai culture. As we reached the pier my children got excited as the place was basically a location where the Korean shot the Thai episode of the Running Man.

From my research earlier I know we were at Thai’s Amulet Market area and true to the name along the street sellers were selling amulets in all sort of forms and sizes. We walked on knowing on the other side of the building was Chao Phraya River. As far as the amulets concern, nothing interest us. Only the old buildings on both sides of the street intrigued me. Since historically Thailand was not colonised by any western country the buildings are really culturally nice. I took few shots of them as we strolled along. One of them was two old buildings with covered walkway creating a warm atmosphere for visitors at 57 Soi Phra Chan

Khwaeng Phra Borom Maha Ratch Rd.

As we came out from the Amulet Market in front of us was Thammasat University and we turned right at the corner to walk along Phra Chan Alley until the main road where across the Sanam Luang (The Royal Field). I look to my left and I saw the National Museum. We crossed the road to the field. There a lot of people gathered in various spots of the field and on the field there was some sort of traditional games competition going on. One of them is sepak raga played in a different way. The objective of this sepak raga is to either kick, head or shoulder the ball into the hoop hanged high above the ground. I was intrigued. At the same time a martial art competition was in progress nearby. So I sat there with my camera watching while my family, resting their feet, parked themselves at the park bench. Something I realised was the field and park was a place for joggers and local leisure riders with their bicycles.

I was enjoying myself watching the game going on when I was absorbed into a feeling that I could not explained. I was so relax and happy. 

After awhile we started to walk again just following our instinct knowing that we were walking in circle around a big circle around the old city. We continued our walk along the perimeter of the field until we reached the edge in front of the National Museum. The Museum was closed so we crossed Na Phra That Alley to Rachini Alley where I stopped to decide on our option.  I saw a road bridge crossing the Chao Phraya and another Rachini Alley going down to the river edge. I decided to take Rachini Alley with the intention of walking along Chao Phraya. That was what we did.

Again as we walked we came to lovely old buildings along the street making our walk bearable. It soothed our tired legs a bit. Then at a corner we saw an old fort like structure next to the river edge. Anticipating an interesting find we walked excitedly. It was Phra Sumen Fort and it was written on the signage,

‘Built in 1783 to defend against potential naval invasions and named for the mythical Mt Meru (Phra Sumen in Thai) of Hindu-Buddhist cosmology, the octagonal brick-and-stucco bunker was one of 14 city watchtowers that punctuated the old city wall alongside Khlong Rop Krung. Apart from Mahakan Fort, this is the only one still standing. Alongside the fort and fronting the river is a small, grassy park with an open-air pavilion, river views, cool breezes.’

After a bit of exploring and photo taking we moved on. A few blocks behind us we passed a mamak/indian restaurant and I sense we were actually close to a muslim community. As we walked a bit my intuition became a reality when we found a Halal stall stall along the street selling halal Thai’s food. We stopped immediately for drinks and the children could not resist having a go at their soups. They were nice. 

As the evening was coming to a close I asked my family to finish their food quickly to continue our walk. My sense was even vindicated when we heard azan mgrahib coming from nearby indicating a mosque. But we could not stop to explore further and we have to get back to new city. Consciously we began to look for tut-tut and we needed two. 

Naturally the best option is to walk to the main road and away from the river. As we were walking a tut-tut driver saw us from across the road and immediately maneuvered his tut-tut towards us. We had to get a Tut Tut back to Hua Lamphong. As I was negotiating for the price when he hurried us to board. All, the six of us in one tut tut. Apparent he could not stop there and a policeman was urging him to move on already. We boarded and cramped the tut tut in one adrenaline rush ride to Hua Lamphong for only 150 baht.

Once at Hua Lamphong we relaxed a bit. We went down to catch our MRT to Si Lom. Once there, knowing it was our last night in Bangkok, we delayed our walk back to the hotel.

My FB friends can view photos for Day 6 here

Bangkok By Train 2013 - KL SENTRAL - BUTTERWORTH - BANGKOK

Day 5, April 29, 2013, Sunday - Damnoensaduak Floating Market and Grand Sport

We started our fifth day in Bangkok by visiting the famous Damnoensaduak Floating Market. It is about 100km south of Bangkok. The market is being commercialise as tourist attraction now. It bound to be a lot of hypes and not worth the trip. Nevertheless, I decided to go to learn about their history, life and culture. It was a very good experience for us. 

Initially I was thinking to go there the backpackers way but considering the time we had I decided to book a van. I had booked a van the day before and it cost me around 2,000 Baht. I did this with the help of the front desk staff and we decided the pick up time at our hotel at around 8.30am. 

The van was on time and we departed immediately. We manoeuvred out of early Sunday morning Bangkok traffic. As we drove out I was not surprise to see worker cycling in the city street to work. The drive was quite pleasant going through Thai’s country side. As we approach the hour mark of the journey to Damnoensaduak I saw a lot of white watery farm as big as any paddy fields.  I asked our driver and he told us it was salt farms. Only then, after checking my map, I knew that we were actually driving by the sea. The ingenuity and entrepreneurship of the Thais amazed me.

Damnoensaduak Floating Market

The driver took us to one of the many boat operators that will take tourists around the canal and to end at the market. If you have time, on the budget and adventurous the better option is to take a bus to the floating market directly as you can experience the boat ride there cheaper. Understanding their operation and the choice of the operator by our driver I knew they were going for my wallet. So I played dumb and uninterested. I started the negotiation and in the end we settled for a price that I could not remember now ha ha ha.

The first part of the boat ride was going through somebody's backyard along the man made canals. As part of the tourist attractions they built a lot of stalls along the canal. If you found something that you really want, bargain hard as most of the items are available through out Bangkok as well. The boat driver took us through the maze and the sight was either more stalls or someone's kitchen and backyard. The boat driver would slow down at every stalls at the bank just in case we were interested to look and buy things. He actually stopped at one that was slightly bigger than the rest. It was a shop cum tourist area where they showed how a few local pastries were made. We were not looking for anything and they was nothing interest us to buy as souvenir. Eventually we got on the boat and moved on. The only place that we stopped that really had my attention was an art shop/gallery run by the artist himself. He was assisted by his beautiful sister. The artist was Supachai and after a few rounds the place I decided on a piece. The average price of his painting is 2,500 TB. I was very glad to find out I could pay using my plastic.

The driver continued to take us toward the main market area and by this time the canal was already quite busy with other boats coming and going. We eventually turned into the main entrance of the Damnoensaduak Floating Market. As we moved along we could see a lot of activities but since it was almost mid-day not as busy as in the early morning. Really live business activities were conducted around us on boats. The boys and Sam decided to buy fruits. Frankly there was nothing much when we were there. It is becoming to be more hypes than anything else. Well I could be wrong as maybe we were there at the wrong time. The boat turned a corner at the end of the market and we sped back to where we started. I am glad we got that one in the bag. Nothing really amazing about the place that I want to go back again. It is a place once you have had the experience and that’s it. No deep beautiful feeling that attaches me to the place.

The journey back to Bangkok was fast and quiet ha ha ha. 

Due to quite and early morning departure most were really tired by the time we were on the van going back to the hotel. So silence mode was on.

Once we arrived back at the hotel we decided just to buy something to eat and had our lunch in the room. In fact I was not that hungry I let my family rest a bit before deciding on another assault on Bangkok.

Thus, after lunch we went for another walk-about around Bangkok and this time we went to the National Stadium area with the intention of exploring the sport tourist area. We took the BTS to National Stadium station and started to walk towards the stadium area. Our expectation was not that high so we just kept on walking. To our great surprise, we found the elusive Grand Sport store next to the stadium area. In fact the whole two-row building there was actually housed sport stores of local brands. The biggest were FBT and Grand Sport. Grand Sport is the brand that was famous among us in the 70’s and anytime we were in Thailand it was a must buy. Being a nostalgic fool like me it was one of the reasons why I want to be in Bangkok again. There were couple of things on sale and we bought a few. We explored FBT and other stores as well. After a while and since the day is getting dark we walked back towards the MBK. Since we had explored MBK before we just walked outside and took the BTS to Siam Centre. There were two new shopping malls we just walked to passed the time to see something different if any. 

We finished the day with a sumptuous and the most delicious Tom Yum dinner at Farida Fartornee Restaurant. I knew of the place before hand and apart from being recommended by a friend I did some research on it. I decided it is worth the hassle. After the floating market and the long walk I thought I want to have it easy for my family and have a simple dinner. But then we would have a chance anymore as we were leaving soon so I made a brave effort to identify the best route to go there. From Siam Centre we took the BTS to Ratchathewi station and from there, with the help the map I downloaded, we walked to the restaurant. We ordered what’s recommended and we had the best tom yum that we had ever had. 

Famished and elated we walked out of the restaurant towards the BTS station. Disembarking at Si Lom station we walked the night market along the street before we headed to our hotel. 

To my FB friends click here to view photos for Day 5

Bangkok By Train 2013 - KL SENTRAL - BUTTERWORTH - BANGKOK

Day 4, April 28, 2013, Saturday - Chatuchak Weekend Market and Bangkok city night

The plan was to have our breakfast delivered to our room a bit early and walk to the MRT to board the earliest train to Chatuchak. Our breakfast, western, was served in our room every morning. You can have a choice of two sets of western breakfast and serve at your preferred time. 

We want to be at the weekend market as early as possible to beat the weekend crowd. Indeed later we found out it was the smart decision.  After our breakfast we walked towards Si Lom MRT station. Not many people waiting and on the train. We were really early and beating the crowd.

When we arrived we knew straight away the famous Chatuchak Weekend Market is really huge. Vendors already were there along the street leading to the market selling their wares. When we walked along and knowing us as foreigners they started with their look, look, see, see and cheap cheap ha ha ha. As we walked towards the market we can feel a huge stream of people joining us. Thousands of visitors/shoppers that comprise of locals and foreigners.  

To visit Chatuchak market you certainly need a strategy. My strategy was simple enough. Beginning with the outer ring walk around to check every outlets until we reach the middle. Ha ha ha ha that is why you need a whole day there. That was what we did and it happen that the outer ring where we entered was where the jeans, denims and dungarees outlets were. The main reason of my strategy was that I wanted to really explore the place and soak everything in. The other strategy was if you like what you see and want it, bargain like hell and pay. Do not wait or think you can come back later. You will never ha ha ha. I did not have anything in particular to buy just to explore and have good experience there. 

When we reached one of the entrances we started to do as planned. We walked exploring the first outer ring walking inside. It was indeed a huge ring ha ha ha. Beginning with the denims and jeans area to t-shirts, leathers, shoes and shirts. I could not remember exactly but I think we managed to walked about three rings and decided to have a rest. It was at about lunch time we were a bit tired already and in need of food. Based on my research of the market there would be a couple of halal stalls and surau to pray. Indeed we found the stalls as we walked out to the middle of the rings. We settled for one a bit inside and we knew we had made the right choice when we tasted the food.  

After we finished our food we sat a bit to rest our tired feet. We talked about coming back to Bangkok in the future and continue of train journey to Chiang Mai.  Chatuchak market would be a definite must visit again and we know how to tackle it the next time.  We also discussed our next plan of action. Since it was already passed zuhor we decided to say our Jamak prayers first before we continue our exploration.

As explained by the guide that I had and explained to us by the food stall owner we walked to find the surau. Indeed it was not that difficult to locate. The surau is behind a blue colored Bank.  Take the alley and the surau will be on your left. 

After we said our prayers we continued walking inside the maze until we decided there were nothing interesting more to explore. As a finale we decided to walk the ringed parameter in the middle and observed from outside. By now there were already a lot of visitors at the market and getting difficult to move around. We decided to call Chatuchak a day and explore another part of Bangkok.

The best way to go to Chatuchak is either by taking the MRT to Chatuchak Park or BTS to Mo Chit stations. Going back to downtown we decided to take the BTS at Mo Chit which was easy enough to find.

We planned to disembark at Siam Centre station and once we were there we embarked on another walking excursion around Bangkok. Being weekend this time around the shopping areas were packed with people. We checked out Siam Centre and Siam Paragon anyway knowing that we did not have anything to buy there. We checked out the latest and biggest shopping mall there and Sam found the best Pulut Mangga and until today she is urging me to go back there for it ha ha ha. The main reason I am going through the shopping complexes there was to find Grand Sport outlets. Nostalgic fool that I am I needed to find this Thailand brand sport shop to buy something as souvenir. Back during our school days Grand Sport was top and most sought after brand among us. Primarily because it was of good quality with good price and secondly due to our association with King’s College of Bangkok. Unfortunately there was not one in the many complexes. 

Below the BTS train track was a skybridge/walkways that run and connecting all the major shopping malls and building around the area. This makes pedestrian life easier to move from one building to another. We leveraged and made full use of the facilities. After the exploration of all the new shopping malls, using the walkway, we walked towards MBK, a shopping mall that used to be the landmark for many tourists from Malaysia. Nothing in particular that we want to buy there just walking around to window shop and observe the malls culture in Bangkok. Apart from that we were going there to have dinner as based on my research there would be halal restaurant and surau there.

Once a while when we were tired we just sat down for a short breather. We did not care if we had to sit on the floor.

MBK was not to our liking as shopping wise you can get whatever there cheaper somewhere else. Thus, our main objective was dinner at Yanna Restaurant. From the directory the food court and where we can find Yanna Restaurant was at the top floor of the mall. Once we were there we straight away got our table and started to explore the menu. It was quite a familiar list that we did not have problem ordering. Not a bad selection. The price range is acceptable. All of us ordered two dishes each thinking it would be in small portion. What came were American size dishes that piled up our table. No worries though. There were too delicious and we were very hungry not to clean them up ha ha ha. Somehow I felt we rushed our dinner ha ha ha.

As we could not locate the surau after few attempts we walked out the mall. Using the elevated walkway we proceeded towards Siam BTS station. As we walked we could see down below a pasar malam like atmosphere and realised, since it was Sunday night, there was Malaysian uptown like sales going on. It was every where along the corridor and five foot pathway. We perked up and excited as that would be the best opportunity to find something unique and special. We walked down and explored.

Indeed you can really find what you want and also what you think you want ha ha ha. I successfully resisted. But it was enjoyable walking along admiring at how innovative, entrepreneurial and determine they were. After a few blocks we had seen enough and walked unto the nearest BTS station and took a train back to Saladaeng station. Of course when we arrived at Saladaeng a full blown uptown was in progress. Again we decided to explore. Knowing  that Patphong Road was nearby I directed my family to the opposite side of the road. Even that I could not avoid the outlets selling things that not supposed to be seen by my family. Mar did ask me about something she saw but I ignored her ha ha ha. Susah nak explain oooooo.

After a while we had enough and walked back to our hotel. Along the way we bought a lot of fruits.

My FB friends can view photos of Day 4 here

Bangkok By Train 2013 - KL SENTRAL - BUTTERWORTH - BANGKOK

Day 3, April 27, 2013, Saturday - On the train to Bangkok and city of Bangkok

I set my alarm at 5am and duly awake when it went off. Since I had decided the night before to take my normal early morning bath I prepared myself. Taking a bath on the train is easy and fun. The good thing about this express is that one of the toilet has shower bidet. So it was even easier for me. The trick is to have flip-flop, or selipar jepun to us Malaysian, small towel and loose attire. Knowing I had to be quick I still took my time with my bath. There was a small opening above the closed window and I could see still dark morning outside. 

After I said my suboh I changed my cloth and as ready as I was on any normal morning. The only exception today I was sitting in bed watching Thai’s morning passing by and breaking in front of me. I did not know really where we were then but the yellow streaking sunlight breaking over the horizon indicating to me we were close to the sea and it was beautiful morning. A bit further along the journey a picturesque morning was breaking at the horizon courtesy of Allah All mighty and I sat looking out enjoying it. I took few photos and the outcome did not do justice to the actual scene.

My breakfast on the train was a simple bread and coffee. Another art of traveling light. A lot of people asked me this. So travel really light and to me that means packing what really necessary only. For this trip I packed inside my work backpack  a traveling pant, apart from what I was wearing 4 extra dry fit T’s, small towel, kain pelikat, short and enough underwears. Of course traveling accessories and toiletries. I suggest to wear a suitable sandal for this kind of trip unless you are expecting a winter ‘sonata’ he he he.

By now I was really enjoying the journey. After miles of natural landscape slowly the scenery changed to paddy fields, farmland and villages. Although the climate and contour of the earth is similar with Malaysia I found out the landscape is different. I wondered while looking out why is this so. I was looking at the same paddy fields and the same types of shrubs and trees found in Malaysia. But definitely different scenery. It took me awhile and suddenly it struck me that the people and the culture actually shaped the environment and the landscape, even the landscape.  We may have the same type of earth, rivers, contour and crops but the way we treat the land make the difference. 

We arrived at Hua Hin at 6.30am Thai time. Hua Hin is another town along the route that is close by the sea.

My fellow travellers on the train started to wake up one after the other and made a bee line for the washroom and water basin to clean up. To avoid this it is encouraged to do it early like I did. Breakfast was sold on board but it is not advisable for muslim to take. I continued my leisure admiring the scenery outside. Town after town we passed and a change in scenery. The towns started to grow bigger and bigger indicating we are moving closer into Bangkok. By now the attendant started to make up the bed and we were back to the sitting arrangement. However my dear wife persisted a bid longer to enjoy the bed.

We reached Nakorn Patorn station at around 9.25am. Nakorn Patorn is a town I know and visited once before, alas years ago as a 19 year old rugby player. It indicated that we were not that far away from Bangkok. I calculated that we would be in Bangkok about two hours earlier of  the schedule. I checked with the attendant and he confirmed we will be in Bangkok at around 10.30am. 

Then came the first of the several long waits at certain stations. I just do not understand until I saw the many crossings that we had to pass through to Bangkok.

Going into Bangkok on the train slowly means passing some of the backyards of somebody’s home or the slump area of the city. No different from any other cities in Asia. You will see the other part of Bangkok or the other life of Bangkok.

Finally, we arrived safely at Hua Lamphong Station at around 11.20am Bangkok time. It was sort of unexpected to me. Yes the attendant did announce the arrival that the train crawled into the station without much funfare. We excitedly disembarked as finally we were in Bangkok after years of postponement.

We were not tired but vibrant and could not wait to explore Bangkok. Knowing that there was still plenty of time we took our own sweet time at the station acting like tourists taking photos and all. Also, knowing that there were halal food there we decided to have our lunch before we proceeded to our hotel to check in.

Halal stall at the food court would be on your left as you exited into the main waiting and ticketing hall of the station. You have to purchase coupons first to buy the food. Do not worry if you could not used the total amount of the coupons as you can return them for refund. So we ate our first Thai food, especially Pad Thai for the girls, in Thailand. They were different but nice. An indication to us that the food in Thailand are fabulous. 

After our lunch we did not go straight for the MRT station to our hotel but lingered a bit at the station to do a bit of exploration. As I was at their information counter I saw a Bangkok city map on sale and I thought it would be useful addition the the ones that I had already. It was a mistake as I found out in the room later. The map was at best just indication where things are and not at all helpful for travellers like us. So, my advise is do not waste your Baht to buy them. You are much more adequate with whatever you have already. This actually the first sign to me to indicate the other culture of Thailand. In summary train is still one of the major transportation for the Thais. We observed a lot of them buying tickets and waiting to board their trains. The main atrium of the station was full of passengers sitting on the floor waiting. Just like a pasar minggu without the goods in session. We noticed also about three quarters of them are muslims. 

The Hua Lamphon MRT Station is on your left as you exited the station. You are not going to miss it. Our first MRT in Thailand and we were heading for Si Lom station. We bought our tickets from the counter as we were not sure of the fare and how to use the ticket machine. The MRT token to Si Lom was B12 per person  The underground train was as good as what we have in KL. We enjoyed our first ride and definitely excited to be in Bangkok after so many years of planning. Though excited I knew that everyone was still tired either due lack of sleep or because of the long train ride. Being Saturday not many people on the MRT and the ride was smooth. In no time we were at Si Lom station already.

According to the map that I studied our hotel would be about 400 hundred metres  after we turned left at the first junction and I am pretty sure of it. Nevertheless a very helpful tourist guide or police at the exit asked us where we were going. I told him and he duly said just take the left corner at the junction 20 metres from where we stood and the hotel would be a short walk from there. 

Saladaeng (pronounce Saladeng) Colonnade was a hotel apartment that I had booked. The two bed rooms apartment could accommodate all the six of us comfortably. However when we checked in I made a mistake of letting everyone into the small lobby and submitting all the passports. The lady clerk straight away notice the number of us and being a bit of a high end apartment did not allow all of us to check in one apartment. I did not know they were that strict or maybe because of their small lobby and no other entrance making it easy for them to spot us. I asked her what’s our option and of course she said to take another room. Upon checking initially she said unfortunately there was no room available for the next 3 days. So she suggested and asked her bell boy to walk us to the nearest hotels around the area to enquire. I followed with the boys and to cut the story short after three hotels we still could not get a room for the boys. I did not realise it was peak season. When we were back at the Saladaeng the lady clerk rechecked her booking and managed to find a room for us. Alhamdulillah, we got to stay in the same place. So, we took one 2 bedroom apartment that I had paid as well as a deluxe room for the boys. When we entered our apartment I was right in my earlier assessment that the 2 bedroom apartment can comfortably accommodate us. Even the boys’ deluxe room was big enough for all of us. nevertheless, the place was one of the best that I have stayed. The rooms came together with either American or European breakfast that going t0 be served in our rooms. We chose American and when the breakfast was served the next day it could last us until evening. Our two rooms apartment was 307 while the boys at 208. 

While Sam and the girls were taking a bit of rest I started to plan our day. Without thinking I knew I wanted to walk Bangkok straight away and I pour out all the street maps that I have and charted our assault for the day. The plan was to take a BTS to one of the pier at Chao Phraya River and walk the historic sites along the river. My main reference was the Walking Tour of Bangkok guides that I sourced from/through the Net. You can find a lot of these guides online as most backpackers or travellers like me would write and chart the experiences to share. 

Once I was done I waited for awhile to give everyone a bit more rest.

Refreshed we started to walk out of the hotel towards Si Lom BTS station. Si Lom Shopping Complex was just beside the BTS station and in trying to get the feel of how branded things are priced in Thailand we walked into the shopping complex to check out.  We found out the price for branded items were the same if not slightly higher compared to Malaysia. Also we found out there was a supermarket on the ground floor that stocked with our food supply.

We took the BTS train to Saphan Taksin station to get down at the pier of Chao Phraya River to start our walk along the river. When I boarded I immediately saw a group of European with their bicycles. I remarked to one of them 'Can you do this here in Bangkok?' They said yes and they have been doing it since 9 am this morning. I was astonished and said, 'We can never do this in KL.'. Not unless it is a folded folding bikes. So take note to all cyclists, you can take your bike on the BTS Skytrain in Bangkok. They seemed to having fun and seriously not a bad idea touring Bangkok on a bike especially after I knew how was it like walking Bangkok. 

Once at Saphan Taksin we walked down towards the pier and when we arrived there only I realised it was not possible to walk along the river all the way as there was no walkway. We stood at the pier for awhile absorbing the activities around us. 

We turned back and walk through Bangrak Market. Bangrak Market is a mix of everything market. We just passed through without shopping anything in particular. Guided by three maps I led everyone to walk as close as possible along the Chao Phraya.

We walked and walked. The tourist map was quite confusing so I abandoned it for the map I bought in KL. You can misjudged the size of the block on the map here as some of them could be a big block in reality. The main road we were on was Charoenkrung Road and once in while we walked in towards the river and two of such places were Royal Orchid Sheraton and River City. I thought we could take a boat cruise at one of the jetties and I was wrong. There was only a crossing service to the other side. So with that we continued to walk and from the map we were walking towards the Hua Lamphong Train Station where we can get on the MRT back to our hotel.  

It was indeed a long walk especially for my wife and luckily the boys were around to help their mum. Mostly there were nothing much to see as most shops were close. Only a surprise or two along the way. One of them was a very old rundown wood building by the river.

When we arrived at Hua Lamphong we stopped at the food court to buy take aways for dinner. I did not but anything as I planned to buy bread and canned tuna or sardines at either Silom Shopping Complex or the 7-Eleven on our walk back to the hotel apartment. 

When we disembarked from the MRT at Silom we found out a flea market cum pasar malam was every where. We traversed the street looking for good bargains and only later went into Silom Shopping Complex to by our food supplies.

As we were walking along down the street I noticed ‘strange’ objects on sale openly and I tried to shield them from Mar but I was too late. In fact later on, right in front of us a road sign says Patpong Road ha ha ha ha.   

Nevertheless, we went round zigzagging trying to find something nice and interesting to buy. In the end nothing materialised. We walked backed towards our apartments where along the way we bought a lot of fruits. 

Really tired all of us slept early and soundly. Another big exclusion the next day.

My FB friends could view photos of Day 3 here