Second Stop: Wat Arun
Our tour guide took us to the back of the market and into a ferry station to cross the Chao Phraya river. Part of the experience, and worth it too. He went first in our group to buy our ferry tickets, and soon we boarded.
It’s just a short jaunt across the river. The boat driver had to maneuver the boat from the right side of the river to the left side of the river, while navigating thru the number of boats travelling across the river from north to south. Impressive maneuvering.
Also, the river is clean. Like, “good enough for mass tourism” clean. No off-putting smells, no noticeable floating garbage anywhere, no overabundance of river plants, and river looked relatively dark green and not black. Very impressive. The only river comparisons I have are in Singapore (the one flowing into the Marina Reservoir) and Pasig River in Metro Manila. The one in Thailand was the first large and healthily-used river I have ever been on. The Singapore River is more of a freshwater river now, just a few private boats and not much use for public transportation. And the Pasig River… I do hope someday it returns to a healthy vibrancy. Just saying we are still at least a decade away from getting that river in the same state as Chao Phraya’s.
Upon disembarking the boat, Sam led us to a sheltered spot while he bought the group’s tickets. When we entered, we got a small bottle of water for free. But I didn’t drink it and just put it in the bag. After a brief tour presentation, Sam let us roam the area for at least close to an hour. He also said there was a market nearby, and another stall nearby that allows people to do local cosplay. It’s hot and the sun was up high, so I never considered to suit up anything. Just snaps and stuff.
I tried to finish the snapping trip as quickly as I can as 1) again, the sun is unforgiving, 2) I’m on my third 500ml bottle of water, and 3) I want to check the “market” beside the area. Lots of people on the high levels, though. But this is something some people will contend with – the stairs. It is slightly wide and steep.
If you easily faint or have difficulty climbing some stairs especially wide and steep ones, or have brief fainting spells on hot early afternoon suns, just stay on the first level. It’s still good enough. The fall from those second set of stairs will be a pain and a half. Travel insurance is nice but they can’t cover dignity though. Like those people who tried the Batu Caves’ stairs.
The “market” beside the Wat Arun area was just a market. Nothing I wanted yet, really. When I go to certain temples or attractions, I usually am a sucker for the exclusive things. Like for example, N Seoul Tower had a souvenir section, and they did not skimp on exclusive trinkets and things that bore the attraction’s likeness. In Wat Arun’s case, I was looking for things that bore the attraction’s likeness and was exclusive. None. So I had saved my money there. Except for 10 baht, as I had to buy another ice-cold bottle of water. The vendor was kind enough to give me the one with some ice still inside.
Once everybody got their fill of Wat Arun, Sam the tour guide shepherded us to the way towards the ferry again, back to the same exact place we departed last time. It’s for the last leg.
Water bottle count: nearly 4
Briathrail // Albert 2MNG 
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