一趟游船 – One Ferry Ride

11/29/2025 星期六，Saturday, the 28th day of our Down Under to Eastern Delight trip

中午时分我们在酒店附近随便逛了逛。PJG 的行李箱拉杆坏了，找了一圈也没看到能维修的店，只好先打算再买一个新的。午餐我们去了 2019 年来曼谷时去过的一家泰式沙拉小店。店里几乎和以前一样，没有什么变化，味道依旧是那熟悉的泰式沙拉风味，还不错。

Around noon we wandered a bit near the hotel. PJG’s suitcase handle had broken, and after looking around without finding any place that could fix it, we decided he would probably need a new one.

For lunch we went back to a Thai salad shop we had visited in 2019. The place was almost exactly the same as before, hardly changed at all, and the salads still had that familiar Thai flavor — pretty good overall.

玉米沙拉，粉丝虾青木瓜沙拉，烤猪肉 – Corn salad, glass-noodle and shrimp green papaya salad, and grilled pork.

贯穿曼谷的湄南河是泰国第一大河，许多著名地标包括大皇宫、郑王庙等都坐落在河岸边。河上交通十分繁忙，渡船、长尾船、观光船来回穿梭，被称为“曼谷的水上高速公路”。我们俩从旅店出发，打算随便搭一艘船到黎明寺的河对岸拍照片，顺便欣赏沿途风景。到了码头才发现，很多船是靠船头的彩色旗帜来区分的，其中蓝旗船属于游客常坐的随上随下观光船。正准备买票时，一个陌生人递给PJG一张她不再用的蓝旗船票，150泰铢，全天无限次上下，真是幸运啊。而我自己则买了一张普通的单程票，40泰铢。

The Chao Phraya River, which runs through Bangkok, is Thailand’s largest river. Many famous landmarks, including the Grand Palace and Wat Arun, sit along its banks. The river is always busy, with ferries, long-tail boats, and tourist boats crisscrossing the water, earning it the nickname “Bangkok’s water highway.”

We set out from our hotel planning to hop on any boat and ride across to the opposite side of Wat Arun for some photos, while taking in the scenery along the way. When we reached the pier, we remembered that many boats are identified by the colorful flags at the bow, with the blue-flag boats being the popular hop-on, hop-off option for tourists.

Just as we were about to buy tickets, a stranger handed PJG a blue-flag day pass she no longer needed—150 baht for unlimited rides. Such luck! Unfortunately, I had to buy myself a regular one-way ticket for 40 baht.

湄南河的河水十分浑浊。查了一下资料，这是因为它属于沙含量较高的平原河，再加上河上船只高速穿行，桨叶不断搅动河底泥沙，使得水色更加混浊。虽然如今的水质相比过去已有不少改善，但湄南河仍承担着城市排水的重要功能。我觉得因为这浑浊的河水，让两岸原本颇具风味的景色多少褪色了些。

The water of the Chao Phraya River is very murky. I looked it up and found that this is because it’s a lowland river with a naturally high sand content. On top of that, the constant movement of fast-running boats stirs up the riverbed with their propellers, making the water even muddier. Although the water quality has improved compared with the past, the Chao Phraya still plays a major role in the city’s drainage system. I feel that because of this murky water, some of the charm of the riverside scenery is inevitably diminished.

傍晚在考山路附近串酒吧 的时候，我们终于解开了一个谜题。昨天找到的那家几乎面目全非的 Popiang 酒吧，总觉得哪里怪怪的，今天终于找到了它真正的主人新开的店，名叫 Sopa。是怎么找到的呢？全靠那些你好招牌。Popiang 门前原来挂在路对面树上的各种语言写着“你好”的小牌子，如今在新版的 Popiang 已经看不到了。但在几十米外另一家酒吧 Sopa 的对面电线杆上，却挂着几乎一模一样的牌子。我总是觉得：八成是同一个主人！于是我们在Sopa喝酒的时候，找到老板，把我们2019年拍的 Popiang 酒吧照片给他看。他立刻露出惊喜的笑容，说现在那是他姐姐的酒吧，以前是他的；两年前他自己开了这家 Sopa。我告诉他，因为那些独特的牌子我认定Sopa的主人就是Popiang曾经的经营者，他听了特别开心。就这样，一个小谜题被解开了。

While bar-hopping near Khao San Road in the evening, we finally solved a small mystery. Yesterday we’d found Popiang Bar, which looked almost unrecognizable, and something about it felt off. Today we finally discovered the real place run by its former owner — a bar called Sopa.

How did we figure it out? All thanks to those little “hello” signs. The old Popiang used to have a bunch of small signs hanging from a tree across the street, each saying “hello” in different languages. The remodeled Popiang no longer had them — but a few dozen meters away, on a utility pole across from a bar called Sopa, we spotted an almost identical set of signs. I thought: it must be the same owner!

So while we were having drinks at Sopa, we showed the owner a photo of Popiang from 2019. His face lit up immediately. He told us that Popiang is now run by his sister; it used to be his place, and he opened Sopa two years ago. I explained that we recognized him because of those distinctive signs, and a few other hints … and he was genuinely delighted.

And just like that, the little mystery was solved.

晚饭前我先来了一份芒果糯米饭，一边吃一边看着来来往往的人群，格外惬意；某人则继续在那儿喝着啤酒，悠闲地看人。我到对面做了一个背部和肩颈按摩，30分钟只要 200 泰铢，性价比超高。晚餐我们随意找了一家非常本地的小饭店，味道中规中矩，没有特别惊艳。不尝试就永远不会知道，很多时候不起眼的小店反而能带来意想不到的惊喜——只可惜，今天的这次尝试并不算成功。

Before dinner, I treated myself to a serving of mango sticky rice, enjoying it while watching the flow of people passing by — incredibly relaxing. While someone was sipping beer and people-watching, I slipped out and went across the street for a back and shoulder massage — 30 minutes for only 200 baht ($6.00) so cheap!

For dinner we picked a very local little eatery based on Google review. The food was average, nothing particularly memorable. You never know unless you try; many unassuming places end up being pleasant surprises — just not tonight.

Apparently Bear loves sticky mango rice too! – 显然小熊也爱吃芒果糯米饭！