Days 95 - 96 Thursday-Friday April 18-19, 2024, Bangkok Thailand

Arrival: 11:00 Overnight in Port Departure: 15:00 - April 19

We enter the Chao Phraya River system early on Thursday morning as we make our way towards Bangkok after cruising the Gulf of Thailand the previous day. The city of Bangkok has a population of 11.2 million people while the entire country's population is 71.8 million.

The city is located on the delta of Chao Phraya River 40 kms (25 miles) from the Gulf of Thailand.

We decided to take a night tour of Bangkok by Tuk Tuk which Janice had booked through Viator. The tour was booked for four people, so we asked another couple from the ship, Steve and Christy to join us.

In most instances the Viator guide will meet us at the cruise terminal but not this time. Janice was given a meeting place 8 kms or 5 miles from the terminal.

The ship provides a shuttle to the local shopping centre where we found a taxi to take the four of us to the subway which took us directly to the meeting place.

We left early afternoon to get Thai massages before our tour. For those who have had a Thai massage, you will know that your body is pulled and stretched in many ways and directions. You wear lose pajama's and lie on a mattress on the floor. I turned towards Janice once and saw a Thai girl standing on top of her. I'm ok with them but Janice loves them, especially for $10 per hour.

Upon meeting our guide Tony, he provides us with a small brochure with the details of the night tour. These include visits to the following: a local market, a local temple, the giant swing, dinner, the flower market, and dessert. The tour will take approximately three hours.

Tony provides us with an interesting fact - 1,682 canals totaling 2,604 kms in length can be found in Bangkok. Because of the large number of canals, Bangkok has gained the nickname "Venice of the East."

Two tuk tuks were provided as we make our way through Bangkok. This is the most common means of transportation in the city. The first stop was to a local market. These can be found throughout Bangkok providing quick inexpensive meals. Everything from meats, fish, rice, and desserts are found here. He explained that very few families cook as it is cheaper and faster to eat street food.

The second stop was to- Wat Prayurawongsawas Worawihan Temple (Wat Prayoon for short). It was built in the 19th century during the reign of King Rama III. Climbing to the second floor you can look out at the other smaller temples on the grounds. When entering the stupa, there are pictures of its construction. An interesting detail was that we were required to leave the stupa through a smaller opening by crawling out for good luck.

There are over 40,000 temples in Thailand of which 400 temples are in Bangkok. Within these numbers, 310 are considered Royal. These are temples that were built, restored, or renovated by the King or the Royal Family.

A third stop before dinner was to the Giant Swing located in the old city outside the gates of Wat Suthat temple and Bangkok's City Hall. From the pictures our guide showed us, it looked like groups of four would swing back and forth to reach heights where they could attempt to pull down the bag of gold some 15 meters or 50 feet from the ground. The Giant Swing is 21 meters tall. The ritual was discontinued in 1935 after several fatal accidents.

You have not visited Bangkok unless you make a stop at the Bangkok Flower Market which we did after dinner. Here you can find all varieties of flowers including jasmine, chrysanthemum, gerbera, orchids, lilies, and roses. This is one of Janice's favourite things to visit. It is massive, open 24 hours a day and supplies flowers to Bangkok and its surroundings.

The final stop after a delicious dinner and mango smoothies is in Chinatown for ice cream.

We say goodbye to our Tony and then the tuk tuk drivers take us back to the shopping mall and shuttle bus back to the ship.

It definitely was a great night in Bangkok.

Insignia will spend the night in port and will leave at 15:00 tomorrow. We will be leaving the ship for our first overland tour to Cambodia and meet up with Insignia on April 22 in Singapore.