A cruise on the river in Bangkok
August 15th 2007 09:01
Temple, Bankok
Often hailed as the Venice of the east, Bangkok is a water city. It clings to the banks of the Chao Praya river and is threaded through with a labyrinth of klongs or canals. The old Bangkok drew its life and its livelihood from the Chao Praya and the klongs. But today, still, giant barges and ferries carry goods and passengers up and down river and long boats ply their trade along the klongs. There are countless cruises of the river and tours of the canals. I took two - one because I simply had to see the Chao Praya by night and the other because I just had to explore what lay beyond the bends of some of its branching arteries.
The night cruise was a dinner cruise on the Wan Fah, an old converted rice barge, with wooden beams, a carved prow and a smell of ancient timber, hessian, river water and rice. We cruised down river, rolling lazily across the wake of business-like barges heading the other way, passing between the famous old landmarks that line the banks. like the Grand Palace and the Temple of Dawn, with their mirror mosaics flashing and their golden turrets gleaming, while in the background, twenty-first century Bangkok towered bright and bold against the sky. Dinner was a parade of delicious little dishes - soup, tiny rolls, vegetables, meats and as the main feature, freshly-caught fish from the Gulf of Thailand. It was accompanied by traditional Thai music and followed by a traditional dance performance, of incredible delicacy, control and precision. The Wan Fah had promised a memorable experience and it delivered.
The Chao Praya by day is a different river, as I discovered when I took the half day tour on another, smaller and nameless rice-barge. This time river smells and boat fuel swamped the scent of timber, hessian and rice. The now familiar landmarks of the Grand palace and the Temple of the Dawn gleamed and sparkled in the sun. Parks and gardens came to life along the banks and kids dived and swam at the river's edge. We passed the Royal boat house, where carved and polished long boats as elaborate as gondolas lay moored. At a junction, we transferred to a long-boat, turned from the river, chugged round the bend of the canal and into a different Bangkok. Now, it really was like Venice, with the canal lapping at landings and steps and with buildings and houses crowding the banks and the waters edge. But it was a smaller, flimsier, wood and bamboo Venice. Rickety wooden jetties jutted into the water, flimsy bamboo stairs led up to tiny weather-beaten houses, restaurants and shops, some hanging precariously above the waves. Washing fluttered from lines between dwellings. People shouted from house to house. Motor boats wove dangerously fast up and down-stream, rocking the long boats in their wake. Smaller craft stopped at jetties, and drew alongside us, selling fruit, vegetables and trinkets. Back on our rice-barge, a feast of local fruit and fruit juices was served, all of them sensational, but the star fruit for me, was the stand out.
If I had to say which view of the river, night or day, I liked best, or which cruise or I preferred or which rice barge most impressed me, I really couldn't say. But I wish I'd had a second look at the Chao Praya both by night and by day and a closer, longer look, down lots of other klong.
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