Chao Phraya River Khlong Tour

If you ever find yourself in Bangkok we highly recommend doing a Khlong (canal) Tour (over the floating markets, for sure) off the Chao Phraya River. On our first day in Bangkok, we set off to the pier that was 5 minutes from our hotel (Ibis Hotel guys.. just do it) to take the public transportation boat across the river and down to the Grand Palace. But, oh don't you know, at the pier they had Canal tours to offer. Be forewarned Traveller there are literally a gajillion things to do in Thailand, and there will be no shortage of people making sure you know ALL the opportunities to you. 

Lucky for us, we just so happened to have "Canal Tour" on our list, so we were super happy to oblige the eager lady wanting to sell us a long boat. She started at 1200 baht and we talked her down to 850 baht and I think it could probably go lower but she wouldn't budge that day. So for $25 we took an hour Canal Tour and then were dropped off near the Grand Palace. 

We loved being the only ones on the boat. It was relaxing and the weather was perfect. I absolutely loved looking at all the houses built on the canals and spent most of my time daydreaming what it would be like to live there and of course, move to Thailand. It was just so peaceful! There were tons of people outside on their little "balconies" sleeping, reading the newspaper or playing checkers. Many still eagerly & so very joyfully waved at us. You'd think they'd get sick of their backyard being a tourist playground, but they were so sweet. I guess it would be hard to get worked up in such a peaceful setting. 

Though this is a popular tourist activity we didn't see too many other boats. We were never bothered or distracted by other long tail boat tours which was so nice compared to tourist attractions in China. Things are usually filled to the max, to where you can't even enjoy what you're doing. 

These little ladies were the "floating market" of the khlong. Ha. We saw on a map that there was a "floating market." We were bummed when we got to our drop off point and never saw a big bustling floating market. We asked our driver and he said, "Ya. We go. The ladies. You buy beer." Oh. Right. You mean the 3 lady market. Okay. Got it.

 

I have to admit it was pretty cool having someone boat up to you. She had tons of little trinkets and souvenirs to buy as well as cold drinks. Despite the 100 baht each price tag, I convinced Z we buy three beers. 2 for us, and upon this little clever money maker above, one for our driver, which we thought was a pretty nice idea. 

 

Our driver chose Leo so we chose Leo. I figured he'd know best. If I knew something about beer I might tell you how it tasted here but I don't know anything. So I will just say, it tasted good. 

The long tail boat tour was a great way to start our first day in Thailand! We recommend staying on the River as you can get to most tourist attractions via the river. You avoid traffic, it's super cheap (regular city boat fair is less than 10 baht), safe & a fun new way to experience traveling through a city.  If you're interested in a long tail boat tour there should be boats available at most major piers.