A River, A Tuktuk and an Elephant

Today was the last full day in Bangkok and we had a bit of a sleep in seeing it was a Sunday. We decided it would be fun to catch a taxi to the river and catch a riverboat to Pier 15 and then a tuktuk to the zoo.
At Pier 15 there must be some kind of offering place because the custom is to buy bread, fish or eels to feed to the seething mass of fish. It was interesting and particularly stinky!
The Thewet stop offered a great view of King Rama VIII Bridge which spans the river.
Yes Raewyn this is where we caught a lift in a tuktuk. I agreed to a price of ฿100 which was way too much but there you go! The ride was exhilarating though and I very much enjoyed the novelty!
The zoo itself was a bit of a let down- the place was thronging with people and the noise of Thai blather on microphones everywhere imploring us to do something or other was a bit much. The enclosures were small and we felt there was not a lot of enrichment going on the animals all needed better attention. I got a couple of good photos though of the African animals.
These were the same fish, we think, that were at the pier- top feeding- they troll the surface water looking for food- some were really big.
This one's not real I'm afraid- better to come later in the post but it made a nice photo opportunity all the same.
We quit the zoo early and caught a tuktuk home past the King's Palace. The king is much loved by his people and there are posters and monuments to him all over the place.
The main road to the palace has very ornate gateways scattered all the way down it. Not a bad photo taken with one hand from a hurtling tuktuk.
This photo shows the method of adding new power lines or cabling- you just do and I suppose the tangle of lines just gets more and more knotted as time goes by.
The povery and splendour alongside the river was extraordinary.
Tug boats pulled strings of barges laiden with all sorts up and down the river.
Below is our mode of transport for this leg of the journey.
We saw quite a few riverside temples.

As we got off the ferry we were greeted by a couple of young elephants. I know its a tourist thing to do but I paid the man ฿20 and fed the elephant.
We stopped at a nearby cafe for a spot of Thai cuisine on the way home. The waiter asked if we wanted hot- we said mild. Thank goodness for that- it was fiery. It made my eyes weep and my left eye twitch. You would need a local Singha beer to help with that.
While we were waiting for our bill Ben and I played a couple of games of high stakes Connect Four. The loser had to go to bed when they were told at home and only whine twice about it and pay for tea. I gave it my best shot and Ben cleverly played a blinder by building one of those plays were he wins no matter what I do- very clever Ben- well done. No worries about going to bed- I was exhausted and was in bed by 9:30pm. That doesn't happen very often!