Bangkok is known as the Venice of the East & much of its traffic travels along its lifeblood river, the Chao Phraya, as well as the myriad of klongs, or canals. We did a couple of river trips while I was in Bangkok. over the New Year period of 1981. Many of the photos have degraded, in colour, somewhat but they are still viewable.

The famous, & very luxurious, Oriental Hotel, Bangkok, sited right on the river. We embarked on our boat trips from the jetty right by the hotel.

This would be a similar boat to the one we were on. And, yes, the water in the river was that colour.

The very busy river. There is a constant flow of boats of all types going in all directions.

Rice barges being towed down the river. There is a long line of barges being towed by a rather small boat.

The rear end of the rice barges. I am amazed that such a small boat can tow all this.

Our very pleasant tour guide.

Entrance to the Wat Arun, or Temple of the Dawn, which we were visiting on this tour.

Wat Arun ~ Temple of the Dawn ~ is very impressive. It is a large complex.

There are, also, plenty of stalls in the grounds of the temple. I bought a dress here.

Think I took this photo as I felt it showed the two modes of transport. Road & river. The traffic on that looks fairly sparse when in actual fact the roads of Bangkok are choked with traffic.

The busy river. The long. skinny boat speeding across the river is one of the speedboats that plied the river as taxis. They usually have a roof on them.

Part of the Wat Phro Keo or the Temple of the Emerald Buddha. It is next door to the Grand Palace of the Thai Royal Family. The Grand Palace complex is very large. The present King of Thailand does not live here.

A small part of the Grand Palace.

Some of the grounds of the Grand Palace.

A typical klong bridge.

This scene is typical of life on the extensive network of klongs in Bangkok. These women go from house to house, along the klongs, selling their very fresh vegetable, herbs & fruit.

Homes built right over the water.

Women selling their wares to the people who live by, & on, the river.

Some homes have their little gardens. There is also washing hanging on the line. Did see women washing their long hair in these klongs.

One of the zippy "speedboats" which ply the Chaophrya River & its klongs (canals). Its helm (steering), engine & propellor are all part of, or attached to, a long pole. The safest, & driest part of the boat is to sit in up near the front. That is unless you wish to get wet from the spray, as well as a mouthful of the river.

A boat similar to the one we were in. Looks a bit lopsided. Must be more people sitting to port.

Water taxis waiting for a fare. THe ornate structure, by the water's edge, seems to be a commuters' shelter. The tall chimney in the background is in a temple complex & is part of the crematorium. All major temples have crematoriums. There is something exquisite about Thai traditional architecture.

This a very fancy "bus(ferry) shelter".

This is a spirit house at the entrance to the Temple markets which was our destination. Here I had the freshest coconut water I have tasted. The top part of a very fresh coconut was hacked with a machete to reveal the "eyes" & using a straw I was able to drain the contents.

A boat jam near the Temple Markets. There was actually a traffic policeman jumping from boat roof to boat roof, attempting to sort out the tangle & reduce the chaos. This he was able to achieve with short, sharp blasts on his whistle. He, quite literally, unravelled the mess.