Thai buffet lunch and a long-tailed boat tour of Bangkok

Joe had arranged for lunch to be aboard one of the various ships that cruise up and down the Chao Phraya river. Ours will be stationary so we just had to get to the pier. Too far to walk so Joe negotiated a couple of Tuk-Tuks to take us. Neat little 3-wheeled vehicles that got their name from the noise the engine made, tuk, tuk, tuk, tuk. You get the idea.

Tuk Tuk (pronounced: took took)

Found out quickly that these little death-traps are made to fit Thai-size people. Once my derriere got in, Collette and Joe had to sit on my lap. I don’t think he had done that before, seemed a little apprehensive.

Made it to our air-conditioned boat for lunch. Typical Thai food and a few Western items, but mostly Thai. Good enough, Thai food really is pretty good and only as hot as you want. Just have to ask.

Buffet with rice, chicken, rice, fish, rice, pork and soup (yep, rice!)

Everybody’s happy when the drinks arrive!

Rice pudding cakes – very good!!!! Even with corn or green onions.

Finished up our buffet and went out to the pier where we were met by our long-tailed boat driver. These boats are everywhere in Thailand and the river is packed with ‘em. Really is an art to driving one with a V-8 or diesel engine mounted on a pivot with a long shaft coming out the back that the driver raises or lowers depending on the channel traffic.

Long-tail boat engine

You may notice that all the profits on this boat were spent on safety equipment rather than exhaust mufflers or a driver’s seat.

The long-tailed boat tour went through the “real” Bangkok showing us how the general population lives. I’m not one to seek out the poorest sections of a city just for show, but this area was really the most basic we’ve seen anywhere. Still, people we saw in the homes or on the banks were happy, most waved as they saw us, and almost all had a temple, shrine room or shrine house just outside their home.

Now was that a left at Mon Canal?????

When you live on the river, you learn to swim at a young age!

Beer here! And hats, snacks, fish food and some lovely Hello Kitty items!

There were also some “critters” hanging around. Joe said these were Bangkok Crocs (not the shoes) but I could only find monitor lizards listed. Doesn’t matter, they were big (5-6’ long), looked like a crocodile, and I’m sure they had teeth. Good enough for me!

Don’t get the wrong impression from these photos. The people are wonderful and happy, they just live differently than we do and have developed a unique way to survive and raise a family.Finished up the day with a Thai thank you, Kab Khun Kob, to Joe and headed off to a real Thai dinner – pizza!