Bangkok Part 4-Longtail

After our walking tour of some of the temples in Bangkok, we jumped in our very own personal longtail and traveled on the Chae Phraya River and one canal waterway. The longtail is a wooden hulled boat with a car engine running a long propeller shaft.

Bangkok used to be called the “Venice of the East” because canals criss-crossed the city and was the main way to travel.  The canals are only about 20 feet wide. The longtails will comfortably hold at least 6 passengers. Ours held only the two of us and our guide ( plus the guy driving the boat).  There were life preservers on board and we were asked to put them on briefly in an area that is patrolled by police. It was windy!

There were opportunities to stop along the way, but honestly the longtail wasn’t the easiest thing to get in and out of so we stayed put and enjoyed the tour from the boat. There were homes, restaurants, shops, temples, shrines on both sides of the canal. Most of the canals are no longer used commercially.

I didn’t know this but longtails were made famous in chase scenes in the Bond film, “The Man with the Golden Gun.” In a couple of spots there were women in paddle boats selling snacks, water and souvenirs for the tourists. One lady paddled right over to our boat to show her wares. Some of the houses are mansion-like, others appear to be collapsing in on themselves.

We even got to see pretty large water monitors sunbathing alongside the canal. Here's another longtail speeding along.

 Getting pretty choppy.

  View of the Palace and Wat Phra Kaew in the distance.

At the end of the first day with our guide, she asked if we had plans for the next day.  We had read about this spot that was within a 3 hour drive. We agreed to go out with her the next day as well. She was a good guide.