Bangkok Hidden Treasures (Half Day)
We have created this half-day tour to introduce you to a less well-known part of Bangkok – Thonburi, the ancient capital of Thailand, which lies on the other side of the Chao Phraya River. The local communities on this side are full of history and surprises. The many small canals (Khlongs) act as arteries for the local communities, filling them with life.
We will start from Wat Arun (where our main office is located) and cycle through a maze of small streets (Sois), markets and straight into small local communities. Life is buzzing in this area and you will learn about the culture and traditions of the local people.
This route will also take you through diverse neighborhood communities, which are known as “One district – three religions”. Here you will see Santa Cruz Church, an old Portuguese community, Wat Kalayanamit, a Thai-Chinese Buddhist temple which hosts one of the largest sitting Buddha statues in Bangkok and Kudee Khao or Bang Luang Community, a Thai-Muslim community.
We will then cycle along Khlong Bang Luang and relax at the edge of one of the main Khlongs, which connects to the Chao Phraya. Here we will visit the Artist’s House. There are many different things to explore here. At the center of the Artist’s House is a stupa (Chedi), which dates back to the Ayutthaya period, about 500 years ago.
The Artist’s House is also home to a famous performance – a traditional Thai puppet show, which takes place at 2pm every day except on Mondays. The route along this Khlong was actually the original path of the Chao Phraya River until a new river bed was cut (the existing route) during the Ayutthaya period in order to reduce travel time.
On the way back, you can enjoy the beautiful scenery from our long-tail boat when we take you back through some local communities, before getting back on our bikes for the last part of the tour.
