When Nena, Carrie and I arrived at our first hotel, it was around 12 pm in the afternoon. We only put our baggage down, then started our Bangkok Journey. Our hotel is near the BTS Nana, it takes around 15 minutes walk. We’re resting and have lunch in Subway (we don’t have it in Indonesia) and spent 158 baht (52000 rupiahs or $5.2). After that we’re heading our way to Asiatique.
What is Asiatique? It is a place of a night Market and Restaurants, allocated on the side of Chao Phraya River. From our hotel, we could reach there by taxi, BTS/MRT, tuk-tuk. Considering the traffic jam that we saw in front of our hotel, and the passion of using a comfort public transportation (that we don’t have in Jakarta, Indonesia), we decided to go anywhere with BTS/MRT/Train.
So, how did we go to Asiatique? By taking BTS from Nana to Saphan Taksin (changeover in Siam), cost 35 baht (11500 rupiahs or $1.1). Saphan Taksin connects with the Chao Phraya Express Boat, at the Sathorn Pier (Pier 0 ~ zero, remember! Pier 0!). We made our way to the left side of the Pier, waiting for the Express Boat that has Asiatique sign on top of it, to take us to Asiatique by the river, and free of charge! I love Bangkok, right away!
What did we do in Asiatique? When we arrived, many of the shops weren’t open yet. So we took a lot of pictures around the place (lol) The place is very big and might be confusing! Around 18 pm, the shops and restaurants were ready to sell and ready to serve. We’ve spent each 110 baht for a yummy chicken rice dinner, and I bought a short (390 baht) and a hat (250 baht)! Comparing the price with Indonesian’s store, this is cheap! Yay! We’re hanging on there until 20 pm, then queued the line for another express boat that would take us back to Sathorn Pier.
So, here are things you should remember if you wanted to go to Asiatique by the River. The express boat is starting its service on 16.30 pm – until 20.00 pm and 21.00 pm – 23.00 pm. Mind your time there, so you don’t have to go home by Taxi, and the line is really long if you queued on last minutes. There’s a lot of stores selling clothes, food, etc, but not much of them allow a Credit Card use. So bring a lot of cash, if you really want to shop!
Sundaeftri Chocolariska 