Once at Pakret, follow the crowds to the main road and take a motorcycle taxi to the Wat Sanam Neua temple (24 Moo 3 Chaengwattana Road), a short 10-baht ride away.
As one travels along the snaking road that leads to the temple, shopkeepers outside approach beseeching visitors to buy offerings like coconuts and sweets.
Sadly, most visitors to the city experience only a tiny section of the ferry route, shuttling between Saphan Taksin pier in the south and the Temple of the Emerald Buddha or Khao San Road in the north (there are piers close to both).
I'd checked into the beguiling Maison Souvannaphoum, walked down the road, and climbed 355 steps up Mount Phousi, the temple-crowned hill in the center of town.