{"id":16641,"date":"2023-08-18T01:03:00","date_gmt":"2023-08-18T07:03:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gentryconnects.net\/?p=16641"},"modified":"2023-08-09T14:04:28","modified_gmt":"2023-08-09T20:04:28","slug":"bangkoks-fascinating-klongs-waterways-and-a-5-long-monitor-lizard","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gentryconnects.net\/?p=16641","title":{"rendered":"BANGKOK’S FASCINATING KLONGS (WATERWAYS) AND…A 5′ LONG MONITOR LIZARD!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Our first day touring in Bangkok included a canal tour on a long-tail boat. Bangkok is often called the <\/strong>“Venice of the East”<\/em><\/strong> because of it’s many klongs, or canals, which crisscross the city. There are about 1680 canals of various sizes in this amazing capital of Thailand.<\/strong> Long-tail boats are seen all over Southeast Asia, especially in Thailand. They are colorful, loud, and fun. The boats use an automobile engine for propulsion. We were excited to see this unusual part of the city which many tourists skip when traveling.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Our guide hired a boat for us near the Grand Palace.<\/strong> We started on the Chao Phraya River.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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There are many little intersecting tributaries. Who has the right of way here?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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A long-tail boat passes us on a klong.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Homes on the klongs vary from barely livable to even opulent.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Plants have almost totally taken over this house.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

A <\/strong>Spirit House<\/em><\/strong><\/a> <\/em>is placed at the back of this house and hangs over the canal.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Creative building materials.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Very creative colors and symbolic design.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

This unique home combined traditional Northern Thai style with temple design. Almost every house has steps and access to the canal for transportation.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

A long-tail boat docks next to an area of markets and restaurants.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

A merchant rows with food next to the market area.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

We passed this giant Buddha statue at the Royal Wat Paknam Phasi Charoen temple. The Wat was originally built in 1610 when Thailand was known as the Kingdom of Ayuthaya. The gigantic statue was completed in 2021 and is the tallest in Bangkok at over 20 stories high.<\/strong> It cost $16 million to build.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

A woman rows her products to sell on the canal.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Marla spotted some large catfish near our boat.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Our guide gave us bread to feed the fish.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Taking a boat tour of the klongs affords us an opportunity to<\/strong> see Bangkok life up close.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I spotted a sleeping 5′ long monitor lizard on the river bank.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

We passed the majestic Wat Arun on the Chao Phraya River. This temple has special significance for Marla as this is where she felt a special rejuvenation and transformation on her first visit in 1995.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Our beautiful canal tour ended at this dock near Wat Pho.<\/strong> We were all happy to see a very unique aspect of Bangkok life in the klongs.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Photos: <\/strong>Dick Gentry. Not to be used without permission.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Our first day touring in Bangkok included a canal tour on a long-tail boat. Bangkok is often called the “Venice of the East” because of it’s many klongs, or canals, which crisscross the city. There are about 1680 canals of various sizes in this amazing capital of Thailand. Long-tail boats are seen all over Southeast Asia, especially in Thailand. They are colorful, loud, and fun. The boats use an automobile engine for propulsion. We were excited to see this unusual part of the city which many tourists skip when traveling. Our guide hired a boat for us near the Grand Palace. We started on the Chao Phraya River. There are many little intersecting tributaries. Who has the right of way here? A long-tail boat passes us on a klong. Homes on the klongs vary from barely livable to even opulent. Plants have almost totally taken over this house. A Spirit House is placed at the back of this house and hangs over the canal. Creative building materials. Very creative colors and symbolic design. This unique home combined traditional Northern Thai style with temple design. Almost every house has steps and access to the canal for transportation. A long-tail boat docks next to an area of markets and restaurants. A merchant rows with food next to the market area. We passed this giant Buddha statue at the Royal Wat Paknam Phasi Charoen temple. The Wat was originally built in 1610 when Thailand was known as the Kingdom of Ayuthaya. The gigantic statue was completed in 2021 and is the tallest in Bangkok at over 20 stories high. It cost $16 million to build. A woman rows her products to sell on the canal. Marla spotted some large catfish near our boat. Our guide gave us bread to feed the fish. Taking a boat tour of the klongs affords us an opportunity to see Bangkok life up close. I spotted a sleeping 5′ long monitor lizard on the river bank. We passed the majestic Wat Arun on the Chao Phraya River. This temple has special significance for Marla as this is where she felt a special rejuvenation and transformation on her first visit in 1995. Our beautiful canal tour ended at this dock near Wat Pho. We were all happy to see a very unique aspect of Bangkok life in the klongs. Photos: Dick Gentry. Not to be used without permission.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":16642,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[391,340,344,242,437,6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16641","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-adventures","category-bangkok","category-buddhist-temples","category-family","category-grandsons","category-travel"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/gentryconnects.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/1_result.jpg?fit=900%2C675&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gentryconnects.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16641","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gentryconnects.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gentryconnects.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gentryconnects.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gentryconnects.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=16641"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/gentryconnects.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16641\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16725,"href":"https:\/\/gentryconnects.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16641\/revisions\/16725"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gentryconnects.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/16642"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gentryconnects.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=16641"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gentryconnects.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=16641"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gentryconnects.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=16641"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}