Finally, I arrived at Hua Lamphong/Bangkok Station. It was so pleasure came back again to Bangkok.. ^^ After I got out of the train, I walked through the alley and found different atmosphere at train station. The station was full of flowers and photos.
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| Bangkok Railway Station |
Beautiful yellow flowers displayed in every corner, and King Bhumibol Adulyadej's photos were filling the space at the center of the platform's station. At the railway, stood a kingdom train in yellow colour also. O my o my.. I realized that everything related to the kingdom is using yellow colour.. one of my favourite colour.. love it! ^_^
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| Yellow train, yellow flowers ^^ |
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| Bangkok Railway Station became exhibiton hall of King Bhumibol Adulyadej's pics |
After I took some photos, I got out from train station to the bus stop. At the bus stop, I waited long enough for the bus which was never showed up :p
And then, I saw a mark of MRT Hua Lamphong Station, right next to me.. ^_^
(FYI: Bangkok/Hua Lamphong Railway Station is totally different with MRT Hua Lamphong Station. Bangkok/Hua Lamphong Railway Station is a train station which is serving for outside of Bangkok City and MRT Hua Lamphong Station is serving for inside of Bangkok City).
Then I went inside of Hua Lamphong MRT Station. At the beginning, I got little bit confused how to buy the ticket. But, I remembered that I ever read about how to buy MRT ticket at Bangkok.
Here, I will show you how..
(FYI: Some of MRT Stations have different shape of tickets, one like a black coin and other like an ATM card).
Black Coin Ticket:
We can get this ticket (black coin) from ticket vending machines by using small change or coins.
If you don't have coins, you can exchange at the ticket booth/counter.
Then, find the name of station that you want to go to at the machine and you will see the price that you have to pay base on how far is it.
Insert coins/small change according to the price, the machine will release small black coin that you can use as ticket.
Card Ticket:
There are two ways to get card ticket:
1. Buy at the ticket vending machine. Do the same as above.
2. We can get card ticket directly from ticket counter. You just walk through the ticket booth and say where you want to go to the officer. And he/she will mention how much you have to pay and give you card ticket.
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| (top) ticket vending machines & inside of Hua Lamphong MRT Station. (bottom) waiting for MRT's coming - underground & black coin as MRT ticket. |
Olrite.. back again to my story..
Hua Lamphong MRT Station use black coin as ticket. I have to pay 18 bath to go to Sala Daeng Station. Sala Daeng Station is an interchange station which is connecting MRT and BTS train.
MRT and BTS basicly are same, they are trains.. :p
But based on what I saw, there is a different thing about MRT and BTS. MRT (Metropolitan Rapid Transit) runs underground, and BTS (Bangkok Mass Transit System) also called Skytrain, runs at flyover.
More info about MRT or BTS, you can visit wikipedia page.. :p
Okay..
From Sala Daeng MRT Station, I have to walk out of station, from underground to skybridge. It easy to find path to Sala Daeng BTS Station. Along the skybridge, there are many signs that can be my guide.
BTS Station
About 10 minutes walk along the skybridge, I arrived at Sala Daeng BTS Station. This station is using card as ticket and I have to buy it at ticket vending machine. Again, I got confused how to buy the ticket. Not only me, a girl (from Japan that I met at skybridge) also confused. Together we tried to understand how the ticket machine works, but we failed.. hihihi.. ;))
Then I decided to ask a man next to me how to use the ticket vending machine. He explain me well (read text above how to buy the ticket at the machine).
Only 28 bath that I have to pay to go to Sapan Tak Sim Station.
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| (top) skybridge to Sala Daeng BTS Station & platform. (bottom) Card ticket & BTS train. |
When I hit at Sapan Tak Sim Station, I dirrectly went out of station and saw many signs which were guiding me to pier. The name of the pier is Sathorn Pier.
(FYI: Sathorn Pier is a central pier that connecting BTS dan Pier).
Sathorn & Phra Atit Pier
At Sathorn Pier I was confused which pier that I should enter because there are three piers!
I decided to entering it one by one. First pier guarded by two women. On they desk, there were alot of brochures, photos, and a bunch of paper tickets. I asked one of them that I would like to go to Phra Atit Pier and how much should I pay? She said 200 bath! What??? *dizzy*
Suddenly I remembered an article that I read before. It said that one of these piers is special for visiting tourist attraction with expensive cost.
I asked no more and went to the other pier, right next to it. Two women with blue uniform were guarding that pier. I asked how much to go to Phra Atit Pier and one of them said that I have to go to the next pier (the one that I visited before), hah? *dizzy again* -_-
Well, I felt something wrong here. I asked her once more, but this time with specific question.
"I want to take a boat which has orange flag."
"Ooow.. Orange flag? yellow flag?"
"Yes, yellow flag. Where should I wait?"
And her finger was pointing to the space in front of her. "Wait there," she said.
Thank God! finally I found the right pier.. ^_^
By the way... you might be wondered why I used colour of the flag boat to recognized the pier? Because I remembered an article which was said that boat for public transportation in Bangkok is using yellow or orange colour, hehehe.. :D
*yeahh... you should read and browsing alot before you go, so you can anticipate if there is bad situation ;)*
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| Sathorn Pier |
(1) Special for tourist attraction - using Chao Praya Express Boat Service. This pier can be recognised by lot of pictures or photos or brochures on the desk, and by flag boat. The flag of the boat for tourist attraction is blue. This boat has expensive cost, around 200 bath.
(2) For public transportation. To recognise this pier is by flag boat, which is using orange or yellow colour. It is very cheap when you use this boat to go around. Only 10-15 bath.
(3) To go to Asiatique, free.. no charge.
So, you better asked first before you enter the pier. Sometimes what the officers said were not correct. It is because they cannot speak English and cannot understand English well. So, use simple language and try to be specific, otherwise they will direct you to tourist attraction boat (blue flag).
Olrite..
After quite enough long waiting, the boat finally came. With others passangers, I went in and sat at the back side. A woman collected fare for the boat. Honestly, I didn't know how much to pay, I just saw other passengers using a piece of 20 bath and I did the same thing.. :p
And the woman gave me cash back 5 bath. So, the price that I have to pay was 15 bath.. :D
FYI: The cost for public boat (orange/yellow flag) is between 10 - 15 bath. If your direction is only one pier you only pay 10 bath. But if your direction is more than one pier, you have to pay 15 bath.
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| Chao Praya River and public boat |
Inside of the boat, I checked my notes. According to my notes, Phra Arthit Pier is quite far from Satorn Pier. Honestly, I got little bit worry.. I was afraid that I will get lost because I can not see the mark or the name of some piers which have passed by the boat.
"Execuse me, can you speak English?" I asked a girl who stood beside me.
She just smiled and shook her head.
I was not give up. I kept on trying but this time I gave her my notes so she can read and understand what I was asking for.. :D
Again, she shook her head but she gave my notes to her friends. Together they looked at my notes and said something with Thai language. One of them tried to explain in Thai mix English that I didn't understand.. Meanwhile, other passangers started looking at me.. -_-
Suddenly, an old man who sat beside me took my notes and spoke to me in English! Gosh..! the one who can speak English precisely was right next to me! -_- Sorry I was underestimate you old man.. I though you cannot speak English.. *blushing*
Then he explained where I should stop clearly.. Not only that, he yelled to the girls (whom I asked before), that they have resposibility to guiding me to stop exactly at Phra Arthit Pier. He also requested to the woman (who was collecting fare) that she has to tell me where I have to stop, loudly.. yes.. loudly.. Seems all passangers known that I am not Thai.. -_- *tengsin.com*
After that, he asked me where will I go, where do I come from and so on and so on.. with smile :D *he thought I came from Philipine :p*
Few moments later, that old man stepped down from boat and followed by those girls. Before went down, one of those girls reminded me, she said, "One more station," with smile.. ^^
And when the boat finally arrived at Phra Atit Pier, the woman (who was collecting fare) poked my shoulder and gave me code by pointing her finger to way out (cos she cannot speak English).. hehehe.. ^^
Alhamdulillah.. I met good people here.. ^_^
(FYI: If you want to go to Khaosan Road by public boat, you have to stop at Phra Atit Pier. This pier is the closest pier to Khaosan Road).
Khaosan Road
After I went out from Phra Atit Pier, I did not know where was Khaosan Road. Which way that I had to choose? right or left? confuseddd... @_@
Lucky, I met a local man who speaks English very well. He explained to me a short way to Khaosan Road area by passing the temple. Alhamdulillah.. I met good people again.. ^_^
Around 10 minutes walking, I arrived at Khaosan Road area, yeayyy.. ^_^
As you might know, Khaosan Road area is backpacker area. Most of backpackers from around the world stay in this area when they are in Bangkok. In this area, you can find a lot of hostels, restaurants, shops, tour agencies and many more.
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| Khaosan Road & Rambutri Road |
Next to Khaosan Road is Rambutri Road. Rambutri Road is look like Khaosan Road. Many hostels, restaurants, shops, etc, are filling the roadsides. I walked into Rambutri Road and tried to find hostel. I went in and out some hostels and I found a good enough one, Orchid Guesthouse. I decided to stayed for one night, its cost 400 bath/night.
The room that I stayed is a private room at third floor. It has double bed, bathroom inside, hot/cool water, air conditioner, a small table and chair. After shower, I took a rest for a while at my room, waiting until mid day to come out and explore Bangkok city..
to be continue... Wat Arun & Asiatique Night Market
Salam,
Ifa Abdoel
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