Did I already say that water is my natural element ?

Yes, and you might have also heard me saying that cities crossed by a river are charming, usually more charming than the ones with no water. Think about Venice, Amsterdam, Bruges, Strasburg, Empuriabrava (it’s ok if you have never heard about the latter, but don’t miss its map !) …

Where would you stay if you visit one of them ? Most likely near the water.

That was also my natural tendency during my first days in Thailand. I arrived in Kanchanaburi after a few days of jet lag and headed to a sweet place recommended by my loyal Lonely Planet. The room was litterally on the river: the idea to fall asleep while being gently rocked by the water was so delightful, but my nights were very very short. Soon I discovered that the river was the most living part of the town during the night.

Ok, I thought, thats’s part of the adventure and with a tired smile on my face, I moved to the next stop, Ayutthaya, and again, of course, I picked a place near the river. Nice terrace, fairly nice view, but a permanent flow of boats of any size at any time of the day and night. It was a non stop come-and-go of boats transporting anything ranging from vegetables, to people, to raw materials. You could hear their exhausted engines from a long distance and you could totally tell when a boat had reached the proximity of your window.

Do I recommend going to Thailand? I will spare you the obvious answer :)

PS: the picture below was not shot in any of the places mentioned above, but shows how much life there is on Thai rivers.