Bangkok Silom 2 March 2012

Chao Phraya Express to Silom

Good news this morning, they have a 1 person room  available and it's mine! Moving then for the third and hopefully the final time for a week or so. It's hot though but I'm just going to have to get used to it. After all, for £3.33 per night there isn't going to be any luxuries!
Doing anything much before and around midday is quite hard work, even for the locals. People are just milling about with cold drinks, taking advantage of the occasional slight breeze. The university canteen by the river is always a cool spot - the river breeze always blows through here. After about 1 there seems more of a breeze and it's a good time to make a move.

I'm going to take a boat and head South to the district called Silom. The Chao Phraya Express boat go's from the same pier as yesterday, Pier number 9 also called Tha Chang, according to the tourist map. Quite well orientated with this area just beyond the university. The boats are alongside every 10 minutes in each direction, but it's not clear which pier they will be at since there are 3 of these floating structures. Asking around and I'm joining a queue for the next boat southbound. These boats don't hang around. About a minute tops and they pull away no exceptions. They are fast boats too, creating quite substantial wash effecting the other boats tied up along the route. Someone comes up rattling a tin at me, I need to pay 15 bht. It's a nice trip on the Chao Phraya river - cool and less humidity for a while. A good vantage point to see the Bangkok skyline as a few tourists get to work with their various photography gadgets. I'll snap my photos going back since the sun will be in a better position by then.

20 minutes and the Central pier is alongside. I'm getting off here, probably for a couple of hours. A few steps ahead is a Bangkok Sky Train station, worth noting since from here the rest of the city can be accessed. A few more steps and there it is, another market! Silom is where the smart, expensive 100$ and upwards rooms can be found. The likes of Hilton, Holiday Inn etc are all here and seem to be part of this Plaza and that Plaza! The area beyond though isn't really anything exciting. A few street vendors and rows of shops selling and dealing in silver, gems and textile materials. there isn't anything like the atmosphere surrounding Khao San here, just streams of traffic all trying to get on the Rama VI expressway heading out of the city. Some smart multilevel expensive shopping plazas with food courts and McDonald's, where a small latte will cost £1.33. Silom is also the district to find some alternative entertainment, but I didn't spot anything, I really didn't.

Back on the boat, south towards Tha Chang again, snapping some skyline scenes as the sun begins to set. A good trip, there and back for 66p, getting to look at another district if only to make an informed comparison.