Bill loves taking great night pictures. I must commend my husband for planning pretty awesome evening adventures- even if they are after very long days of sightseeing.
He had done some research before booking the river cruise. He was set on taking the Apsara cruise. But I had only seen the information online. There were no brochures, no booking tables and people would look at us strangely when we asked about the Apsara.
Bill had confidence in this company. He was sure the boat was going to show up at the pier where we were waiting. He kept telling me not to stress- he had spoken to the hotel who handles their booking yesterday. He was so sure this one would be better than others offered.
I on the other hand was nervous. We waited at riverside pier for an hour. And during that hour we watched river cruise after river cruise load up with people and depart. They had brochures and advertisement all over the pier. Hundreds of people got on these boats. Bill sat calmly reassuring me our boat would arrive at 8pm. I sat and got more and more nervous.
But without fail, the boat showed up. We checked in and set sail on a mostly private tour. There were a total of 4 guests on the boat and 7 crew members. Unlike the other boats designed to pack people in like sardines, there were only 13 tables on the Apsara. We were told there was little interest in this cruise the night we set sails because of the possibility of rain. But the weather turned out beautiful- not a cloud in the sky and a full moon! It was a beautiful boat and the little touches made the boat seem luxurious. The boat was 150 years old, it used to be a shipping barge carrying sand and rice up and down the river. The Banyan Tree Hotel put in millions of $$$ to refurbish the engines and the deck. It was so lovely. The Apsara was far above in class, and experience than the other boats we saw leave the pier at River-city. Great thing, is it was about the same value!
Here are a few things lit up at night:
The grand palace.
A pagoda and boat dock.
A beautiful bridge. It is neat to see during the day, but it is stunning at night. It is asymmetrical. There is only on pylon holding up the bridge. There are 64 wires, the left side of the wires are all in line and then they go through the pylon and the suspended side had double side by side wires holding up the part that crosses the river. True architectural marvel!
The bridge was to commemorate the 8th king- here is his statue.
Here is another boat passing us, loved the old style and all the lights.
This is Temple of Dawn. We stopped here long enough to take photos in front of the light up Temple. It is quite impressive at night.
Here is our attempt at taking our own photo with my phone- it's blurry!
But we departed the boat with a professional photo of us in front of the temple. Such a nice keepsake.
Now as we are passing all of the beautiful sights, we were being served a gourmet meal.
For our first course we had spicy chicken in pandan leaves, fried Papaya salad with sweet and spicy Thai chili dressing, northern style spicy sausage, and grilled beef with spicy sauce. Everything in this course was delightful!
Next was acacia, soft shell crap in a Tamarina soup. I was not a fan of eating the crab- shell and all. But the broth was tasty.
Next came out the main dishes-
Wok fried chayote
Steam river prawn, with garlic, lime, and chili sauce.
Grilled fish turmeric
Roasted duck red curry with pineapple, lychee and tomato
The duck curry was my favorite. Oh my gosh was it delicious. I loved the spicy and sweet combo. The fruit mocked with the meat was such a treat.
Lastly was desert-
We had black bean sticky rice with coconut milk, Thai style pumpkin custard, and roselle jelly with fresh fruit.
As a surprise the chef brought out these tiny cookies.
It was quite the experience. Gourmet Dinning, beautiful scenery, great weather, private boat- great way to end our time in Bangkok! Best river cruise ever! Bill was right to have faith in the company- they delivered above and beyond! Best experience we could have chosen! So great that I am considering getting on TripAdvisor and leaving a glowing review.
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