Boat Ride Down the River of Kings
Catching a boat back to Khao San Road after touring Grand Palace and Wat Pho, was the perfect way to end a long day of walking and site seeing. Express boats run up and down the Choa Phraya River all day long. Figuring out which boat can be kinda confusing. Basically, the Orange Flag boats are for locals and commuters. As such these boats are crowded and cost only 15 baht to ride from one end of Bangkok to the other. The Blue Flag boats are for tourists, run less frequently, and cost 40 baht for the same ride. But, for 40 baht, the boat is less crowded, you’ll get a seat and be able to take lots of pics of the cool stuff you’ll see along the river – like Wat Arun (temple of Dawn). For 150 baht you can buy an all day pass on the Blue Flag and hop on and off as you please. The other main advantage of catching the tourist boat is that the staff all speak English and call out the stops and why you should get off there, and how to get to where you are going next.

Wat Arun/Temple of Dawn

Yodpiman Pier
A Blue Flag tourist boat was pulling up just as we reached the Yodpiman Pier, so that’s the boat we caught back to the Banglamphu area. True enough, we had lots of seating options. The lady who sold us the tickets told us to get off at Phra Artith Pier in order to get to Khao San Road. Traveling by boat is lovely! It was early evening, we were tired and hungry but the boat ride and the river of kings rocked us into relaxed groove. Relaxed enough to enjoy the beauty of Wat Arun from the pier and not get all down with FOMO, for not actually visiting it and climbing up those stairs to the spire, and getting the sexy river views as we had planned. Oh well…

Chinatown
We had ended up at the very touristy Yodpiman Pier after wandering around Chinatown and the flower market area. The Pak Klong Talat Flower Market is huge and a supposed big deal. However, we got there at around 4pm, when things were still being set up. Most markets, food, flowers or whatever, happen at night, when it is cooler. Overall, Wendy and I were not that enthralled by the Chinatown area. Dirty, run down. It was here, that we got to witness how filthy the city canals get. Swamps of green lotus plants, lolling over an invisible river. And in amongst the foliage is garbage. Whoa, lotsa garbage! OMG, it’s a mattress!

Whoa, is that a mattress!

Next Stop, Khaosan Road
 At Phra Arthit Pier we made our way through a series of alleys and walkways that zig-zagged us into the famed backpacker haven—Khao San Road. To our dismay, it really is as touristy as you can imagine. Rows upon rows of young western tourists, drinking beer and/or staring at their phones while getting their feet massaged. Stall after stall of vendors selling elephant pants, skirts and t-shirts. Lotsa really touristy bars and restaurants packed with predominantly Caucasian clientele. And then finally, lots and lots of great food stalls. We stopped at a cool place grilling up whole fresh red snapper. Wendy picked out our fish for the evening feast. We hadn’t really eaten anything but for a mango smoothie (instagram/Fb) since breakfast, so we were ravenous. It was a hot and humid evening, and we lucked out with a nice table by a tree. It was so nice to sit down and chill out, just watching the whole scene around us. Every half-hour or so we’d see a group of backpackers walk by as if they had just gotten off the bus and were now looking for their hostel. Lots of bearded young men with Go Pros.

Winner, Fish Dinner!
The grilled fish was so good. Fresh, moist, flavorful due to the lemon grass stuffed in the middle. It was served with a small side of salad. For the two of us, who were ravenous, this was more than enough food for two, plus scraps for a cat. The whole meal, which included two beers, cost us around 300 baht ($10).

After feasting out, we ventured deeper into the Khao San District. Mostly just a bunch of bars and the usual things expected in big city tourist areas. Lotsa lights, blaring music and general boozy rowdiness. We were glad to quickly pass through the partying throngs and head back to our quiet and cozy hotel, on the other side of town.

Check out our short video of Khaosan Road on our Youtube Channel.