Adventure Part II - Floating Market
Our day started early. The tour group was picking us up at the hotel at 6:30. D and I were ready after scarfing down a quick breakfast at the hotel. They ended up picking us up 10 minutes late, as we lamented that we could have had another cup of coffee. Oh well… After switching to a large tour bus, we hit the road. The city was still waking up, the streets nearly empty as we approached the Chao Praya River. It was a pretty cool sight to have my first view of the river as the sun was rising. Beauty I couldn’t capture through our bus window. Our guide had informed us that our first stop would be at a palm sugar factory. I was immediately skeptical of our tour, since I had read in our various guidebooks about all these scams where drivers take you off to places where they receive commission. It ended up being pretty interesting. Apparently they cut the bottom off the blossoms and gather the nectar, then boil it down to make the sugar. It certainly appealed to the foodie part of me, and the skeptic faded a bit.
After another hour or so on the road, we arrived at the boat dock where we were picked up by a few longtail speedboats that would take us to the floating market. It was a fun (and tippy) ride through the canals, and an interesting look at peoples lives on the canals. The houses bump right onto the water, and people were out sitting and taking care of chores. A few waved at our boats as we cruised by. Finally we arrived at the floating market. Stalls line the canal selling fruit, veggies, noodles, soup, all sorts of handicrafts, and tons of other things. Within the canal are flat bottom canoes filled with vendors selling fruit and all sorts of food, and other crafts. It was pretty amazing to see the food being prepared, many on hot plates, or boiling big pots of water on these little canoes. So crazy! Some of the canoes (with driver, mainly women) are available for rent at 150 baht per 30 minutes. D and I watched other tourists climb in the boats and promptly paddle into a traffic jam of boats. We decided that it wasn’t worth the expense and were content to walk around the market instead. I had my first taste of mangosteen (which was delicious! Sweet and tangy) and we shared a classic Thai dessert of mango and sticky rice. After about an hour and a half at the market, it was time to head back to the bus. We were off to a teak furniture factory, where we watched craftsmen and woman make these amazing carvings. Another hour on the bus to our next stop, Thailand’s largest pagoda called Wat Phra Pathom Chedi in Nakhon Pathom. It was huge! D and I walked around for a little while, admiring the grounds and trying to be respectful of the worshippers. Back to the bus and on to a resort/park called the Rose Garden. After our buffet lunch (it was decent), D and I wandered around the grounds admiring the gardens and orchid plantings. The Rose Garden is along the Ta Chine River, and D and I found a spot to sit and look out across the river and marvel at the fact that we are in Thailand.
Our guide told us that the “cultural show” was at 2:45, and an “elephant show” was at 2:15. D is a huge fan of elephants and has been eager to see some live and in person, so we headed over to see them. It was amazing to see them up close. We were both very moved and saddened by seeing them in captivity. They really are beautiful and amazing creatures. You could pay 50 baht to ride them for about 5 minutes or 20 baht to feed them some bananas. 20 baht also enabled you to have your picture taken with them, and after some gentle prodding from me, D agreed and I snapped a few shots of her with one of the elephants. Her smile was so big! We headed over to the auditorium to watch the cultural show, which was interesting and a bit confusing. I think they tried to pack too much into one show. It was back to the bus and another hour before we were back in Bangkok. We headed to a Thai restaurant down the street for a delicious and spicy Christmas Eve dinner.
More pics from our trip here:
Floating Market
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