The Night Market

It was already dark when we arrived at the docks on the Chao Phraya River Saturday evening. The rain had stopped, and it almost felt cool with a breeze blowing over the water. Almost.

We didn't have to wait too long to catch a free ferry to take us down the river. The Chao Phraya is a huge river, very wide and heavily trafficked. As we cruised down the river, we passed numerous other shuttle boats, mostly belonging to high end hotels, all lit up with lanterns and little white lights on their peaked roofs.

It didn't take too long to get to the Asiatique Night Market, and we got to see some of the city all lit up, from the river.

The Night Market is pretty popular with both farangs and locals alike. It was like the Weekend Market, but more upscale and much less stressful. The market is only open (surprise) at night, and is built along a boardwalk. In fact, it kind of reminded me of the V&A Waterfront in Cape Town.

We browsed around for a while, but nobody had much money. It was kind of fun being around people from all over the world. So far I haven't really been to many tourist areas. I just got an ice cream cone and walked around with my friends looking at all the shops.

The Night Market is especially famous for its huge Ferris wheel. 

We got tickets and went around a few times. The view from the top was amazing! Looking across the river you could see all the tiny, brightly lit boats, and farther on the modern skyscrapers of central Bangkok. Unfortunately it was too dark to get any good photos for the top.