Koh is Thai for island and yes you read it correctly, Koh Kret is an island in the Chaophraya river about 20 kilometres north of Bangkok. The island was created due to the tight bend in the meandering river, which meant the bends were too tight for long carrier barges to get through. To solve this problem they created a channel going straight which cut off the tight bend in the river and alas creating Koh Kret island. The channel was created just under 300 years ago and still has members of a tribe called the mons who were a hugely influential force in Thailand from the sixth to tenth century.
Beauty Before Crossing
There are boats that go to the island from the Chaopraya river in Bangkok, but the times are hugely inconvenient and the timings are for locals to travel from the island to the city in the morning and a returning boat late afternoon for locals to return home. So the best way is to hire a car or a taxi, so you you can arrive at your own leisure, although I wouldn't recommend travelling between 6-9 am or 4-7pm on weekdays, peak hours will have you sitting in traffic for hours, ruining the experience. Once you arrive at Koh Kret you will have to enter through a beautiful temple, which made a great start to the trip. The way to the boat was paved red and matched well with the golden details of the temple. I think our Explorer family spent a little longer on this pathway than most other tourists visiting the island.
There were plenty of people going over and coming back to the island, by midday there was a constant flow of people going in either direction and the temperature was already reaching its peak. As you can see from the photo above it was perfect weather for the shops selling hats, quite a few people were making purchases as they conveniently passed the hat suppliers on the way to the boat.
Modes of Transport
The river was very busy with various types of aquatic transport. There were several jet-skis upon the water that day and if I could've chosen my vessel of choice, one of those speeding jet-skis would've been at the top of my list. I can just imagine speeding across the surface, but knowing my luck crashing into the side of one of the huge barges, which were up to four carriages long, with a tug boat at the front and rear. On second thoughts it was probably safer taking the foot passenger ferry across!
Boarding, Crossing and Arrival
We boarded the ferry, I carefully aided Mrs Explorer and Junior Explorer to board the vessel, as there was a bit of a gap and step down onto the boat. I didn't want them to slip in, soggy Explorers aren't usually as good company! The journey across the river was no longer than a minute, including time for the boat to turn around so we could board the island from the other side of our transport.
First Impressions
From the smiles on the faces of the visitors returning to the main land my first impression was that it would be a memorable trip! The entrance and journey had already brought pleasure to our eyes, what would the next part of our trip entail of? Thank you for reading my blog and I hope this starter whet your appetite for the next instalment. Please return for the main course, where we will get stuck into the heart of the island and show you what it has to offer!
Thank you for taking time to check out my blog.
Never stop exploring!
Peace out fellow Steemians
The temple looks incredible!
What time of year do you suggest visiting Thailand?
I would come between November and May, this will guaruntee dry weather, December is the coolest and April is the hottest. April can be over 40 degrees!
Wow, that looks stunning. I have always admired this kind of architecture.
A really unique contribution to the map, well done!
I need to get out to get some more shots of the temples, there are so many amazing ones around, just need to get that new camera now!!!
What a gorgeous #walkwithme, such vibrant colours everywhere, it truly looks like you live in paradise @theexplorer!
Soon as you leave the smog strangler Bangkok it pretty much is paradise everywhere, unfortunately I work in the city and the traffic sucks! Hopefully I will move out of the city when my contract runs out next year!
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Bet that guy is having fun on his jetski
Too right, Imagine speeding up and down the river all day, would be a total blast!