Walking Khlongside - Part 1
The idea was to check out the new electric boat service on Khlong Saen Saeb which goes all the way to Minburi.
Therefore last Sunday Tim and I decided to meet at Pratunam, take the ordinary express boat to the end station at Wat Si Bun Rueang and continue from there with the new electric boat.
Wonderful idea, except for the fact that the Pratunam boat stop was as dead as a doornail, no boat service on weekends, perhaps due to covid? I'd googled quite a bit, but never saw anything of this suspension of services, classic!
At least this street cat had a good attitude, just take it easy, therefore we decided to see if we could walk along Khlong Saen Saeb all the way to Phanfa.
Perhaps not that easy as some parts of this canal are without walkways... Instead, we walked along Petchaburi Rd. and turned left just before Panthip Plaza, to the parking lot which borders the canal!
Although technically sealed off, I spotted a rusted gate that wasn't locked and gave access to a concrete walkway.
It didn't last very long though and we had to retrace our steps back to Petchaburi, but at least we'd seen some boat traffic.
At Soi 20 we tried it again, walked through a wooden houses area, and reached the beginning of a very narrow walkway.
We had a break at a canalside restaurant near the Hua Chang Bridge and observed some other tourists waiting in vain at the boat stop...
Continued walking and spotted these recycled tire seats, they seemed quite comfortable.
These solar light things have become standard along this stretch.
Some of the wooden houses have intricate carvings.
But unfortunately most are in a poor state...
Classic!
Under the Charoen Phon Bridge, some local artists had been active.
Most of the murals are covered up by loads of junk, but this is a nice example.
The walkways are at times just an extension of local houses and lots of activities take place here!
We had to cross the next bridge (Saphan Central) to the other side as the right-side walkway had 'disappeared'. There we couldn't help noticing this spirit house equipped with two cannons!
Back on the walkway, we encountered this odd model tower made out of little pieces of scrap wood.
As well as a Harley Davidson restaurant, not sure if they'd approve of this!
A light blue-painted spirit house also served as a way to dry clothes...
We had to take another small detour due to the railway bridge, no walkways on either side of the canal for a while.
We'd entered the outskirts of Bobae Clothing Market, lots of dark alleys with closed shops, a bit gloomy...
But we finally arrived at Krung Kasem Rd., we were more than halfway!
To be continued...
