benik » 12 июн 2006, 00:33
Пршу прощения за обиду Но всю инфу нашел на англоязычном сайте. Кому интересно и полезно - вот текст:
Bangkok Chinatown
Walking Tour
Walking Tour - Chinatown & Pahurat
This route meanders through Bangkok’s busy Chinese and Indian market districts-best explored on foot since vehicular traffic in the area is in almost constant gridlock. Depending on your pace and shopping intentions, this lengthy route could take from 1? to three hours. You can also do this tour in reverse, beginning from the Pahurat fabric market.
Be forewarned that the journey should only be undertaken by those who can withstand extended crowd contact as well as the sometimes unpleasant sights and smells of a traditional fresh market. The reward for tolerating this attack on the senses consists of numerous glimpses into the ‘real’ day-to-day Bangkok, away from the glittering facade of department stores and office buildings along Bangkok’s main avenues-not to mention the opportunity for fabulous bargains. (If you plan to buy anything, you’d better bring along either a phrasebook or an interpreter as very little English is spoken in these areas.)
Start at Wat Mangkon Kamalawat (Neng Noi Yee), one of Chinatown’s largest and liveliest temples (the names Dragon Lotus Temple), on Charoen Krung Rd between Mangkon Rd and Trok Itsaranuphap. A taxi direct to the temple is recommended over taking a bus, simply because the district is so congested and street names don’t always appear in roman script. If you’re determined to go by bus, Nos. 1, 4, 7, 25, 35, 40, 53 and 73 pass the temple going east (the temple entrance will be on the left), or you could take air-con bus No 1, 7 or 8 and get off near the Mangkon Rd intersection on Yaowarat Rd, a block south of Charoen Krung. Yet another alternative is to arrive by Chao Phraya River Express at The Ratchawong, then walk four blocks north-east along Ratchawong Rd to Charoen Krung Rd, turn right and walk one and a half blocks to the temple.
Whichever approach you choose, to help pinpoint the right are on Charoen Krung Rd look for neighboring shops selling fruit, cakes, incense and ritual burning paper for offering at temple Inscriptions at the entrance to Wat Mangkon Kamalawat are in Chinese and Tibetan, while the labyrinthine interior features a succession of Buddhist, Taoist and Confucian altars. Virtually at any time of day or night this temple is packed with worshippers lighting incense, filling the ever-burning altar lamps with oil and praying to their ancestors.
Leaving the temple, walk left along Charoen Krung Rd about 20m to the nearest crosswalk (a policeman is usually directing traffic here), then cross the road and head down the alley on the other side. You’re now heading south-west on Trok Itsaranuphap, one of Chinatown’s main market lanes. This section is lined with vendors purveying ready-to-eat or preserved foodstuffs, including cleaned chickens, duck and fish though not for the squeamish, it’s one of the cleanest looking fresh markets in Bangkok.
One hundred metres or so down Trok Itsaranuphap you’ll cross Yaowarat Rd, a main Chinatown thoroughfare. This section of Yaowarat is lined with large and small gold shops; for price and selection this is probably the best place in Thailand to purchase a gold chain (sold by the baht, a unit of weight equal to 15g). From the trok entrance, turn right onto Yaowarat Rd, walk 50m to the crosswalk and, using a couple of savvy-looking Chinese crones as screens, navigate your way across the avenue.
Trok Itsaranuphap continues southward on the other side. Down the lane almost immediately on your left is the Chinese-ornamented entrance to Talaat Kao (Old Market). This market section off Trok Itsaranuphap has been operating continuously for over 200 years. All manner and size of freshwater and saltwater fin and shellfish are displayed here, alive and filleted-or sometimes half alive and half filleted.
About 100m farther on down Itsaranuphap, past rows of vendors selling mostly dried fish you’ll come to a major Chinatown market crossroads. Running perpendicular to Itsaranuphap in either direction is famous Sampeng Lane (Soi Wanit 1). Turn right onto Sampeng. This is usually the most crowded of Chinatown’s market sois-a traffic jam of pesestrians, pushcarts and the occasional annoying motorbike twisting through the crowds. Shops along this section of Sampeng sell dry goods. especially shoes, clothing, fabric, toys and kitchenware.
About 25m west, Sampeng Lane crosses Mangkon Rd. On either side of the intersection are two of Bangkok’s oldest commercial buildings, a Bangkok Bank and the venerable Tang To Kang gold shop, both over 100 years old. The exteriors of the buildings are classic early Ratanakosin (or Bangkok). showing lots of European influence; the interiors are heavy with hardwood paneling Continue walking another 60m or so to the Ratchawong Rd crossing (a traffic cop is usually stationed hear to part the vehicular Red Sea for pedestrians), cross and re-enter Sampeng Lane on the other side.
At this point, fabric shops-may of them operated by Indian (mostly Sikh) merchants-start dominating the selection as the western edge of Chinatown approaches the Indian district of Pahurat. If you’re looking for good deals on Thai textiles you’re in the right place. But hold off buying until you’ve had a chance to look through at least a dozen or more shops-they get better the farther you go. After about 65m is the small Mahachak Rd crossing and then, after another 50m or so, the larger Chakrawat (Chakkawat) Rd. crossing, where yet another traffic cop assists. Along Chakrawat Rd in this vicinity, as well as farther ahead along Sampeng Lane on the other side of Chakrawat, there are many gem and jewelry shops.
If you were to follow Chakrawat Rd north from Soi Wanit, you could have a look around the Chinese-Thai antique shops of Nakhon Kasem (also known as the Thieves’ Market since at one time stolen goods were commonly sold here) between Yaowarat and Charoen Krung Rds. After you re-enter Soi Wanit on the other side of Chakrawat Rd the jewellery shops are mixed with an eclectic array of houseware and clothing shops until you arrive, after another 50m, at the Saphaan Han market are, named after a short bridge (saphaan) over Khlong Ong Ang. Clustered along the khlong on eigher side of the bridge is a bevy of vendors selling noodles and snacks. On the other side of the bridge. Sampeng lane ends at Chakraphet Rd, the eastern edge of the Pahurat district.
Chakraphet Rd is well known for its Indian restaurants and shops selling Indian sweets. One of the best eateries in the area is the Royal India Restaurant, which serves north Indian cuisine and is justly famous for its tasty selection of Indian breads. To get there, turn left onto Chakraphet and walk about 70m along the east (left) side of the road; look for the Royal India sign pointing down an alley on the left. On the opposite side of Chakraphet Rd from the Royal India is a Chinese temple. North of this temple, in a back alley on the west side of the road, is a large Sikh temple-turn left before the ATM Department Store to find the entrance. Visitors to the temple-reportedly the second largest Sikh temple outside of India-are welcome but they must remove their shoes. If you arrive on a Sikh festival day you can partake of the languor or communal Sikh meal served in the temple.
Several inexpensive Indian food stalls are found in an alley alongside the department store. Behind the store, stretching westward from Chakraphet Rd to Triphet Rd, is the Pahurat Market, devoted.
If you’re ready to escape the market hustle and bustle, you can catch city buses on Chakraphet Rd heading north and then east the Siam Square and Pratunam areas) or along Pahurat Rd (heading west and then north along Tri Thong Rd to the Banglamphu district). Or walk to the river and catch a Chao Phraya River Express boat from Tha Saphaan Phut, which is just to the north-west of Phra Phut Yot Fa (Memorial) Bridge. If you’re doing this route in reverse, you can arrive by Chao Phraya River Express
