Chao Phraya River Panorama

You can click on this image to enlarge and scroll around on it.

Some of the nicest views while traveling are best seen while you're walking. Yes, you could see the panoramic view above from a bus, but not only would you see it for a fleeting moment, you'd also miss the experience of seeing everything else while getting to that quick point of view.

The Chao Phraya river runs a winding course through Krung Thep (Bangkok) on its way to the Gulf of Thailand. There are many vantage points you could see it from, but one of the more accessible - for a newcomer, anyway - is the short walk from the Saphan Taksin BTS station, up the stairs and across one of the bridge walkways. In the diagram at the bottom today you'll see the station in the lower right hand corner of the image.

I was staying at the Grand Tower Inn (on the left in the image, below the green V) the day I went for a walk around the area there and while in the park you can see at the river's edge I discovered the wide cement stairway up and thought "Why not?" I enjoyed it enough that the following day I walked over it again and visited some familiar spots on the other side of the bridge. I took the image today (five individual pictures, actually) from where the blue X is on the image below.

The red cranes to the left rise above what's known as "Pepsi pier," where hundreds of thousands of cans and bottles of the soda are shipped and trucked out. The tall white building slightly to the right of that is the Peninsula Hotel, consistently rated one of the top 10 hotels in the world. You can stay there any time you feel like popping for a room with rates starting at $300US per night.

The curved hotel on the right is the Southern end of the Shangri-La, which is also a plush spot I've never stayed. To my far right, out of the picture, is the Royal Orchid Sheraton. You can see both of them in the image below.