A Japanese Christmas and a Thai New year.

[drron]

At this last photo I had to wait an age as a young Thai fellow took numerous pictures of his offering, then a lot of selfies which included re arranging the offerings of others several times for a better selfie. I presume the gods were not amused.
But the last picture as you exit was understated compared to the rest.

 

[drron]

So I set off for the hotel as I had spent a lot more time that I planned. Used google maps again as a myriad of narrow streets. Was good for a while until once again i noticed that the distance to the hotel was getting longer. so i followed my nose and was half way there and started recognising buildings I had passed earlier in the day.




This area was all shoe stores.






Although the streets do have footpaths often they are used for storing goods or parking.

 

[drron]

So back to the ROS and up to the lounge at 1700 to drink and watch the sunset.


















You may well ask why happy hour for drinks starts at 5pm but the food only starts at 6pm. Well it all has to do with a Thai law that says you can't serve alcohol between 2pm and 5pm every day. And from my observations the clientele of the ROS are unwilling to wait until 5.30 or 6pm to start drinking.

 

[drron]

The night's food choices in the lounge.















The clouds and haze settled and the sky took on intense colour.

 

[drron]

The next morning as usual started of looking at the river traffic. The Thais do like colour on their boats..


This tug as usual was towing 4 barges but the first 2 were much larger than usual.








Then came a barge under it's own power.


A couple of photos from the previous day I left out. There were several of the fish massage places still doing business around the city. I would have thought it would have died out.

 

[mrs.dr.ron]

I never did like the idea of fish eating the dead skin from my feet - so I never tried it. I still prefer the old fashion way of pumice / sandpaper/ water / soap !!

 

[drron]

Now to my walk around the Saphin Taksin area. I started off by taking the Sheraton boat to the Saphin Taksin ferry terminal. Someone had fed the pigeons.


Then to a little temple/street food area.










Then to the next temple where the major attraction is shaped like a boat.

 

[drron]

Now you could climb onto the boat.

 

[drron]

 

[drron]

The last of the temple.




And continued past a kindergarten.





Then the fire station.


And another temple/food court.


Then turned towards a Wat I wanted to see. Passed this place where you certainly don't want to end up.


The Bangkok Criminal Court.
And then the first of the Wat.

 

[drron]

This is Wat don originally constructed by Burmese immigrants.
















Now the monk you can see walking back from the car in the 4th picture came over and directed me to go through the door in the 7th picture which was the senior monks retreat. He was Burmese and very friendly with good English. He said that this place was the best part of the Wat and I think he was right. Just entering you see this.

 

[drron]

Some of the oldest parts of the temple are here along with later additions.

 

[drron]

There was a funeral about to take place in this building.


I thought it best that I left.
So down the street with half of it taken up by street vendors.


And past the Watdon school.


Then over a canal with some ramshackle buildings.

 

[drron]

They were ready for the weekend in the next street.


And I spied a sign on one of the smsll food outlets.


It was indeed a KFC banner.


Along with this stall with soft drinks and fries-


It was right beside a private secondary school.


Which had a moat.


The children were just getting out of school so I took the opportunity to cross the road when a guy with a red flag went out to let the kids cross. There were still a couple of motor cycles that went through the crossing.
Though about 500 metres further on when crossing the main road on the walk sign a car went through in front of the group I was in. Then a policeman with a Go pro on his helmet stepped out onto the road and signaled the car to stop. One unlucky driver.
Then back to the hotel for a short nanny nap before Happy hour.

 

[drron]

Once again back to the hotel and happy hour. the initial dinner cruises had started.




And then sunset. The camera beats the iPhone at this.




And now from the Sony.








Tonight was different there was a fellow in the lounge who obviously wanted to take a shot of the sunset. So we invited him to sit at out table so he could get his pictures. His name was Raj and he was from Vancouver. He is an IT manager at one of their hospitals so we ended up having a long conversation. Turned into a lovely night.

 

[drron]

The next day Mrsdrron was feeling quite tired so all we ended up doing was going to the River City mall next door. You can go direct from the Sheraton but you pass by a couple of shops. One is a jeweller who Mrsdrron bought a ring from in 1983 on our first stay at the ROS. We hadn't seen him and presumed he had retired but this day he was there. As soon as he saw us he jumped up and came out to talk to us starting with I haven't seen you for a long time. What a memory from 40 years ago.
Sadder though Mrsdrron used a Jeweller in River City for many purchases. Their work was excellent. However we learnt that they had closed down in November. No one knew if they moved or a permanent closure.

However all we were doing today was buying some stuff from the Boots shop and then having a Starbucks Frappuccino. first a couple of shots from the room. We saw one of the old tugs in action. They don't look like they could tow loaded barges but they do.




And once more back in the lounge time for our last sunset.

 

[drron]

The food for the night.

 

[drron]

Back to our room and we watched the nightly procession of dinner cruises.





Now Iconsiam had been advertising a drone and light show. We certainly saw the fountains display but no evidence of drones. I spotted one now.




But it was only one.


One of the people on the wharf caught it and they left so still no drone and lifgt show. Just the dinner cruises. This night we saw the greatest number out on the river at one time - 14.




And our last views before checking out. Two garbage boats that had actually collected a lot of garbage.

 

[drron]

Saturday and we transfer to the IC Bangkok. Once again the doormen at the ROS are really good with the taxis. The first cab driver refused to turn the meter on and he was told to leave. The next one argued for a couple of minutes then we were ushered into the cab. The meter was on and we were expecting 150-160 baht that the doorman had said. Instead it was 120 so I gave him 160 and thanked him for being honest. His smile said it all.
Check in at the IC was a breeze. We were told we could check in at the club but I prefer at reception unless there is a line. Soon up to our room. Given an upgrade from a classic king to a premium king on a high floor. I have club access now until the end of 2025. So to the room. The IC had a long refurb last year. They did a good job.














Mrsdrron loved the bathroom Lots of light, a good shower and separate bath.
So to the view.







Unfortunately no obvious visible car park.

 

[drron]

Soon after we unpacked a welcome gift arrived.


And at 1730 it was up to the Club. Spacious, not crowded.






And beautiful food. Plus NZ wines with a chardy, sav blanc, pinot noir and a cab sav.




Though the Negroni or the Botanicals were a nice way to start.
To some of the food.






The hams were really good.