Let's just say we wanted a quieter day today - no temples, no major tourist attractions. Beth had turned into a news junkie overnight, but there was very little new information on the bomb from last night. Nothing like Phad Thai to cheer you up though, right? Right!?
We made it outside by 11, as the girls slept in and we weren't in too much of a rush to do anything. We settled on heading down to the pier by the grand palace. We waded through the market area and were quickly flagged down as eligible boat rental flunkies by a tout - I didn't mind, I had done my research in price. When you know what you should pay for something, a tout can help you wade through the crowds faster. We made it to the "sales desk" for long tail boat rentals. I wanted to get on the water and explore the "Klongs" - the canels that run through the heart of Bangkok. The most interesting area and most common area to explore is to the west side of the mighty Chao Phrya River that runs through Bangkok. Greater Bangkok, actually even the entire area up to 100 kilometers away encompassing the former capital of Ayutthaya sits in the Chao Phraya delta - a huge flatland that is crisscrossed with a myriad of rivers. Seeing the Klongs of Bangkok is always an interesting take on the city. It's also well away from most people, which certainly met Beth's objectives for the day.
The sales woman started out showing us the list price of 900 Baht per person per hour. I stood firm on my initial price, knowing it was the fair, actual price at 1000 Baht per boat per hour.... She out on a good show - actually whining like I was stealing food from her plate, but we eventually settled on an hour and a half trip. And we were off!
It was great being in the river. The main river was very choppy, as it was a pretty windy day and there is always a ton of activity on the water - big tour boats, huge, densely packed water taxis, ferries to the other side and industrial tug boats hauling huge barges. Soon enough, we were on a side canal and things started to get more interesting.
Eventually we were met by a "floating market" (an old lady in a small dugout canoe selling coconuts - sure!) and we drew near another boat that was feeding the huge fish that are everywhere in the river. I'm not sure how these guys survive in the polluted waters of the Klongs - they must literally be garbage fish.
This smile wasn't put on - Beth actually seemed to relax a bit on the river cruise (though I just noticed she had slipped on a life jacket.... Hmmm).
The kids were in their own world - chatting up a storm as we cruised through smaller and smaller canals. The further we got the more we felt that we were seeing the real life on the river. Stilt houses in varying degrees of decay, people doing washing in the river, older people watching a TV over the backdrop of their backyard klong, the occasional temple and even the odd new, modern building.
It was a nice, relaxing distraction.
As the time wound down, we emerged back on to the Chao Phraya, back to the busy activity of the river.
We found a taxi outside the busy market area, and headed to a mall on the "local" side of the river. We wanted to check out a movie and a SIM card after finding some lunch. Cha-Ching! We stumbled into s Yoshinoya, always guaranteed to bring a smile onto the face of..... Oh.... Me. Well, an ice cream / brownie place did the same for Beth!
I got my SIM card and data - unbelievable - $10 for 30 days of unlimited, high speed 4G mobile internet. Hello Bell and Rogers?!?
We saw the Pixar movie "Inside Out" - a story featuring the emotions running around the inside of a pre-teen's head. It was.... Interesting - a lot of the funny parts hit home, and Abby got the irony of it which was nice. Wow.... A lot going on inside those little heads :-).
We elected to go the sidewalk restaurant near our hotel that we'd visited the first night. It was nice to have a beer... Or two.... Some great food and play some President with my little family. All is good :-).
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