And now for something completely different
Just for the amusement of my fellow bargees and
Piper owners, here's a little story and some pictures for you.
I worked in Thailand for 25 years and, 20 years later, I retain my right of
residency. Every year, when the Northern winter starts to bite
I return to my Bangkok riverside home where I cruise and explore the Chao-Praya
river and the maze of Bangkok canals.
Here are some pictures for you.
My current boat is a 17' Aluminium centre consol runabout.
60hp main and 5hp auxiliary.
Most of the following pictures are taken from this, but mixed in are shots from
previous craft.
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The Chao Praya river is very busy. All construction materials
for the development of Bangkok are brought down river by barge.
Silty clay, excavated to make way for the foundations of high-rise buildings, is
barged out to be dumped upriver.
Many religious and mythical statues border the Chao-Praya
river.
This is a "Naga", a seven headed snake behind a seated Buddha.
Here's a more conventional Buddha.
Moving off the main river onto the smaller canals that criss-cross
the city, we see life as it must have been before
cars became king and many canals, known locally as "khlongs", were
filled in and turned into roads.
Unfortunately the water didn't get the memo and this short-sighted action of
damaging an eons-old drainage system
has resulted in frequent flooding of the city today.
Moving back onto the river here we approach the downtown area.
Navigation in a small boat is uncomfortable here
as traffic is heavy and the walls on either bank are concrete. The wakes bounce
back and forth creating standing waves,
making the surface of the water pyramidal, like the inside of an egg carton.
It's relatively calm in this picture, but this isn't the norm.
Continuing South, past the city centre, toward the mouth of
the river where it becomes the gulf of Thailand, we come to Klong Toey
the port of Bangkok.
Not such a great quality shot here but worth showing for the
interest. It's the "Royal Barge" and its oarsmen
practicing for an upcoming royal occasion.
The main pleasure is going for lunch on the canals. Here we are moored at a little canalside restaurant.
Here's a slightly more upscale place where we bring visiting friends
Friendly canalside residents are pleased to see a Westerner on their waterways
I hope you have enjoyed this
little "alternative canal" narrative and that it perhaps
cheers you all, suffering from a European winter, up a bit. But spring is on the
way!
We'll be in Europe in June searching for a new barge. Maybe we'll bump into some
of you then.
