It was a very early morning for us as we woke up at 5.45am ready for our early start on our journey to Bangkok. We were trying to keep costs down so we decided to get the train back to Bangkok as we could walk to the station from our accommodation. The only trouble with that is that there are only 2 trains a day that go from Kanchanaburi to Bangkok either- the 260 at 7.21am or the 258 departs 2.48pm. There are minivans that you can book in the town but we knew they would be more expensive or we would have to get a taxi to the bus station to get the regular bus. As we had done everything we wanted to do in Kanchanaburi and we didn’t have many days in Bangkok we decided on an early start so that we could make the most of the day.
We got ready, packed up our stuff and walked to the train station. The streets were nice and quiet and a lot cooler than they had been on our walk from the train station. We purchased tickets from the office (100B standard price for foreigners on this line) and waited on the platform trying to dodge the early morning sun. Our train pulled in surprisingly on time at 7.20am and as it was one of the first few stops we managed to get our pick of seats by an open window in the shade. The journey was fantastic, the morning sun glowing over the gorgeous countryside and a nice steady breeze coming in. Instead of riding the train all the way to Thonburi, where we would have to walk a while to the ferry, we got off one stop early at Jaran Sanitwong so we could use the MRT at 9.45am- a lot earlier than the train was supposed to get in. We nearly didn’t get off the train at this platform as it didn’t look like a platform-just some crumbling concrete next to the tracks. I also managed to fully fall over after getting my foot stuck in a hole whilst trying to figure out where to go!!
A few yards from the crumbling platform and we were suddenly back in a major city full of chaos and traffic…. it was great! After managing to cross the road, using a little thai lady as a guide, we made our way up to the MRT platform. We bought our MRT tickets at the electronic counters- choosing which stop we wanted to get off at and then it spitting out a plastic counter to swipe on the way into the platforms. We had forgotten how straight forward public transport is in Bangkok and it was a pleasant surprise. We had a fantastic fleeting view of the new golden buddha (pak nam) as we pulled into Tha Phra station to swap lines. Then after initial confusion we made our way down to a different platform so we could board the next MRT. This took us over the Chao Phraya river and to Wat Mangkon- our stop for the next few days.
For this trip we decided to stay in the Chinatown area as it has lots to see just wandering down the streets and is well connected with the MRT and the Chao Phraya river ferry. From Wat Mangkon it was only a 10 minute walk to our hotel, through the bustling and lively streets. We instantly fell in love with the chaos and life of Bangkok again. For only a few pounds more than a basic hostel I had managed to book a private hotel room, with city view. The W22 by Busari had a really well designed lobby- inviting with lots of table, artefacts and a whole aesthetic courtyard in the middle of it that had lots of bikes and harley memorabilia. The staff were lovely and after a few minutes of waiting we were able to check in early. Our room was spacious and comfortable and with a little balcony that looked over the street and had a great view of the King Power Mahanakhon building, as well as the seedy ongoing on the street below in the evening which was fun to watch!
As it was still only mid morning it was time to head out into Bangkok. We had a mission today to try and buy another insta369go2 camera, to replace the one lost to the Railay beach. For this we needed to head to Siam area, for Siam Paragon mall. On the way back to the MRT though we found a Moma’s bubble tea shop- perfect for a coffee to cool off in the heat (25 each with pearls). The plan had been to drink it on the train but as we got down to the MRT we were shown the sign by the security guard of no drinks or food. This meant chugging our drinks before we could go through! We hopped back on the airconned MRT to Silom (Sala Deng) (20 B each) and then had to walk around some bridges to connect to the Silom (Sala Deng) Skytrain. It took longer than it should have done as the bridges provided ample opportunity for photographing the hustle and bustle below us on the streets. We bought our skytrain tickets- getting a card to scan through this time and rode the skytrain a few stops to Siam.
Siam Paragon is immediately impressive and intimidating. It has a grand lobby with art installations and then the place is just huge! We had to find a map just to even try to locate where the camera shop was as there are just so many shops and levels to this mall. To find the camera shop we had to walk past luxury cars that were on mid levels of the mall. Luckily the camera shop had what we were after and after a quick and easy purchase we now had our action camera back. To celebrate we went to find lunch. Siam Paragon has a huge Gourmet food court. Eventually we decided on some stewed pork leg (60B) and some duck noodles (89) which were both delicious. After exploring the mall for a while we were both exhausted so we hopped back on the Skytrain/ MRT back to Wat Mangkon so we could have a bit of a nap.
In the evening, fully recuperated, we wandered around the local Chinatown area, seeing Wat Trammit lit up, the large Chinatown gate and a local Chinese temple looking stunning with all of the candles and incense burning. We made our way up the busy neon lit Yarowat road full of restaurants and weaved our way through the side streets in search of food. In the end we ended up getting some dim sum (35B) from a street stall, some takeaway bao buns (25B each) from a restaurant and then sitting down for some satay (50B) and pork and rice (60B) at a food area in an alley. On the way back to the hotel we also stumbled across some filming happening in one of the busier food alleys- we think possibly for a food panda advert but there was full light rigs up, a director and runners everywhere. A fun way to end a busy day!
More from Bangkok in the next blog!
Thanks
Alex
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