Fun exploring some of downtown Bangkok

On Monday, we relaxed in the apartment until after lunch. Ruth had read of a sound at light show that they do at one of the bridges downtown, and it doesn't start until after dark. We hadn't been to downtown yet, so we figured we would start late and see some of it at night as well.

We headed out at about 2:30pm.

Our apartment is located 30 kms (18 miles) from where the bridge with the light show is, so it's not that easy for us to get downtown. Actually, I shouldn't say that... it's fairly easy, it's just time consuming.

We have to take the monorail, and then connect to the skytrain. Then we could have taken the subway to get closer, but we decided to walk the 5 kms (3 miles).

The monorail was free, as we know that it is until December 18th. But then when we transferred to the train we had to pay 47 baht ($1.30 USD, $1.80 CAD) each for the one way ride. We're not really sure why, because we didn't have to pay on Sunday. Maybe it's a Sunday thing... we don't have the payment system quite figured out yet.

It was almost 4:00pm by the time we arrived.

Arrived close to the central area.

Downtown Bangkok.

Very cool skyscraper!

Some kind of shrine. They are smaller than they appear.

There are temples and shrines everywhere.

Ha... funny Santa.

It's kind of odd, we didn't expect to see so many Christmas decorations.

Another temple complex.

This one was fancy.

Close up of the front.

You can click the photo to make it full screen, and click again to zoom in.

There are a lot of canals.

Scenery along the way.

We walked through some definitely non tourist areas.

These apartments have seen better days.

Yikes.

We didn't know we were heading through Chinatown until we got there.

Yes, Bangkok has a Chinatown!

Chinese area of Bangkok.

There were actually quite a few western tourists in this area.

No idea what these are.

Yes... another temple.

Very colorful.

The one beside it had the doors open.

Abandoned building with trees growing out of the roof.

We made it to the Chao Phraya River.

This is the main river flowing through Bangkok.

Zoomed in on the opposite side.

We were getting hungry, and decided on a rooftop all you can eat BBQ place that had a view of the river. It was pretty busy, so we really didn't get much of a view.

It turned out to be quite a different experience because there were surprisingly few tourists, and not much in the way of English. So it took us a while to actually figure out what we were supposed to do!

We were brought to a table where there was a gas cannister stove that the guy lit up. We weren't sure if they actually bring you food and they cook it there, but it turns out it's totally do-it -yourself. You go up to a buffet style thing where you choose your meats and accompaniments. 

Then you cook your own food right at the table.

Busy spot!

It was actually pretty good. You could go up and get as much as you wanted, and there was no time limit. 

With a Chang beer, and Ruth had some kind of odd alcoholic drink, the bill was 648 baht ($18.35 USD, $24.90 CAD). A little more expensive than we've been paying, but it was a different experience and it was downtown by the river. Still, not bad!

By the time we left, it was dusk.

We headed over to the Memorial Bridge for the 7:00pm sound and light laser show.

I took a video for you... turn up your volume...

It was done well enough, but it only lasts about five minutes. Then they do it again every hour on the hour for the rest of the evening.

We decided to walk over to the Royal Palace complex. We knew it would be closed, but maybe we could see some of it lit up.

Along the way, we saw some more temples.

Fancy!

We walked through the flower market.

So many flowers!

About 50 baht ($1.40 USD, $1.90 CAD) per bouquet.

We walked by another flower shop that had a big Christmas display. There was a statue of a Santa playing a saxophone, and I was going to take a photo of Ruth standing beside it. As she got closer, some kind of a sensor went off and it started playing. It was pretty funny. I took a short video for you...

Some of the Royal Palace lit up.

We walked by a busy wine bar of some kind.

Wine is pricey in Thailand, but this place was really busy!

More of the Royal Palace.

You can buy tickets to the inside, but it's fairly expensive.

We're going to pass.

Me, with one of the statues outside the Royal Theater.

Hey, I don't think you've seen me in my Turkmenistan t-shirt!

I bet I'm the only person in this city of 11 million with a Turkmenistan t-shirt!

We took the subway, then the skytrain, then we were going to connect to the monorail, but it was closed! Other people trying to do the same thing were surprised as well. We ended up hopping into a minibus that we hoped was going to end up where we wanted to be, and it turned out to be correct. Getting home cost us 105 baht ($3 USD, $4 CAD) each in total between the three modes of transport.

It was almost 10:30pm by the time we got home.

So far, including accommodation, food, and whatever we've been doing each day has averaged out to $53 CAD ($39 USD) per day for the three full days that we've been here. Not bad.

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