On Sunday, Kinney took off for the airport early and I had a couple hours before I had to head out. I decided to hire a boat to take me through the canals of the city. Some website made the all-too-familiar, all-too-ridiculous
us comparison: "(blank) is the Venice of the (blank). Bangkok is not the Venice of anything; though, I have heard that lately the smell of the canals in Venice is so bad during the summer, they say Venice is the Bangkok of the West. No, Bangkok is the Amsterdam of South East Asia, featuring a wealth of morally questionable practices in a city with some fascinating history and architecture. Oh yeah, and they both have canals (I also took a canal tour in Amsterdam years ago, so it seemed only fitting to do the same in her sister city).The boat ride was more expensive than I would have liked but I used the same justification that has opened my wallet for the last 2 months - When am I going to be in (insert location here) again? You can't take a canal tour of Bangkok in Milford, CT, and so I went.
The canal tour wound through the canals that were once one of the primary modes of transportation for some of the residents of the city. There were great views of some of the temples and an interesting window into the lives of some of the residents. People travel by way of the canal, they fish in it, they swim in it and they defecate in it. Below is a synopsis of the boat tour in pictures:
These ladies have boats full of trinkets and other junk. They row up to you and try to sell you stuff
It becomes a Floating Market
2 comments:
I found Venice to be much more morally questionable than Amsterdam. After all, marijuana is legal for those people... but robbery and assault seem to be a global no-no.
I do enjoy just about any city that is surrounded by watery canals. I'm sure Bangkok had it's beauty!
Did you see my post about Marc Broussard... curious what you think? I'm a big fan.
Great pictures. I believe cities have canals to get rid of their waste....and most things that are called canal are not glamourous...like ear canal. Some great pictures. The saying "I won't swim in your tolet if you don't defacate in my canal" still holds true.
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