Trains and Boats (but no Planes)
This week the elevated Pink Line opened despite some stations not being fully ready yet.
This was going to be another joint try-out trip with Mike.
At Talad Bang Yai Station I took the Purple Line to Nonthaburi Civic Station where the signage was already put up.
However, the direct walkway to the station was still under construction.
Since the stations are about a 10-15 minute walk on the ground level from each other, this was not really a problem.
For now staff will give you this free Single Journey Card.
This monorail is similar to the one used on the Yellow Line. (*)
Ready to board!
Lots of passengers were standing and taking photos/videos, just like us...
The extension to Muang Thong Tani isn't finished yet.
The front and back windows provide excellent views!
Altogether there are 3 connecting lines: Red, Green, & Orange, this last one is almost finished.
Arriving after standing a good hour at the final station: Min Buri.
Unfortunately we very quickly discovered that there's almost nothing in the surrounding area, except for the unfinished Orange Line station.
We quickly decided to turn around and hop on the train to the previous station: Min Buri Market.
We walked around a bit on the market and headed towards Khlong Saen Saeb.
Turned out there's a Min Buri Pier where electric boats run!
We quickly hopped on board, not many passengers even though riding this electric boat was still free of charge.
As you can hear it was a very, very peaceful ride!
Just before Pratunam Bangchan Tai Pier was a huge sluice.
No problem, a 2nd boat was already waiting for us on the other side.
Electric boats are quiet and peaceful, but also very slow, both of us began to yawn from time to time.
We passed Yamiyatun Muslimin Mosque and quite a few more, definitely a Muslim part of town.
The boat driver did a good job, but Wat Sriboonruang was the terminal pier.
There we changed to an old Khlong Saen Saeb Express boat, a completely different experience.
Noisy, faster. and at times bone-shaking as everything was vibrating!
We were happy to get off at Pratunam Pier, but all in all in a good trip!
BONUS
Years ago when I started using this express boat regularly, water management wasn't that great I guess as the water level in the khlong was at times much higher.
In those cases, the whole roof of the boat was lowered a lot in order to be able to get under the bridges!
I remember everybody on board had to bend over quite a bit, different times...
And recently I saw that happening again, although just a little!
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