Saturday January 23rd

Tonight, we leave on the train - more about that later.

We had to come up with a couple of day activities that allowed us to also, pack, check out, and get ready for train trip on our sleeper car.

So first, we decided to visit the river and take a recommended boat ride. Took a taxi, successfully, to the river area and found the water taxis. Now, this is a mode of transportation used daily by people going to work, shopping, to school, by the monks as well as tourists who want to see a different view of Bangkok. 

We stopped at many piers to unload and load.

The taxis came in all shapes and sizes and some were nicely decorated. 

There were times that our boat was so full, we worried about capsizing. 

The water was pretty polluted, so having to swim to shore would have been a terrifying thought.

All sorts of structures were along the shores including hotels, restaurants, apartments, hospitals, very nice homes, and poor homes. 

Some, that were obviously being lived in, looked as if one strong surge would take them into the river, but people were sitting on those porches, hanging laundry or watering their potted plants anyway.

We met some interesting folks on the boats - tourists from several different countries and locals who had great English skills and wanted to chat. We did learn that the very well loved and quite elderly king is pretty much living in one of those hospitals along shore. He is in his nineties now and not expected to live much longer. 

We made our way back, on foot, without getting lost. We decided to visit one more establishment before prepping ourself for our evening train trip.

We went in for a leg massage. 

 PD got a little more than that, however.

For some reason, the therapist thought he seemed stressed (maybe it was the constant talking that He was doing with the cute South African girl in the next chair?) So the masseuse worked on his knees (seemed as if he was trying to bend them backwards), then he directed him to one of the nearby beds, flipped him over and walked on his back. We were lucky he didn't break something and require me to break out the traveler's insurance. 

That done, we rested up, took showers back at the hostel, made our way to our now favorite outdoor cafe across from the train station and ate our last meal before boarding the train. We ate with a nice couple from Holland, about our age, interesting back stories. Everyone in the cafe was awaiting different train departures. By 7:30 the cafe was vacant. 

Train trip .... Next post.