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Part 29: The floating market.....*
I have never been a fan of these so called ready made package tours, and so far on my travels, I cant recall booking any. All of my trips and places that I've visited up to now have either been a mix of do it yourself improv, or just 'winging it' which is, always more fun, considerably more adventurous, and in most cases, far cheaper.
But ultimately its the feeling afterwards which gives me the most satisfaction.
Not wishing to be overly critical of tours because, like I mentioned before, they do have their place of course. Well that, and I booked my first one today.
We wanted to head to the floating market which was about 2hours away and approximately 110 km west of Bangkok, in the Ratchaburi province.
To get there would have meant changing busses several times, and costs roughly the same anyway, so I opted for the tour. The mini bus would be picking us up right out the front of our hostel at 8am, but first we went on a mission for breakfast. Luckily we did not have to walk to far as there were several street vendors dead opposite.
One old guy had a cool looking fruit stall with the freshest melon, mango, dragon fruit, pineapple and papaya.
I was sold just watching him expertly chop up the delicious fruit with his lightning quick reflexes and a lethal looking long blade, costing me 40baht, (less than £1) for a huge cocktail mix of his exquisitely ripe fruit, beating those expensive, bland and really tasteless, Marks and Spencer's fruit salads back home hands down, and for a fraction of the cost too .
There were waffle vendors and grilled sausages, fresh coconut juice and buttered toast, all being served for breakfast right outside, scoring the hostel even more points in my book.
Once we ate, the mini bus arrived right on cue, where we were met by a tour guide checking us off a list as we boarded - it was all very orderly.
She was really chirpy to begin with, which was more than could be said about the rest of the bus, everyone sat in silence and looked really miserable. Then after driving around Bangkok to pick up a few more passengers, we made our way to the 'Damnoen Saduak' floating market as it is known here. The eager driver pulled off a bit hastily whilst the tour guide had one leg on the mini bus, and one off. We all looked on as she shrieked at him, smacking him round the head, briefly pausing, then whacked him again even harder on the side of his head with her clip board, just to make sure the bungling driver got the message - it was really comical.
I seriously struggled to contain my laughter, barely managing to hold it down, just in case she whacked me too. Anyway after the commotion, we continued on the journey. I'm not sure if the driver was taking it out on the guide, but he drove like a lunatic, firstly bumping a motorcyclist who just avoided spinning off the road by the skin of his teeth, and if that wasn't enough he drove so fast and hazardously I was almost sick!
Getting there quicker was no consolation for me at all, I hated every minute of the journey, I also felt like whacking him round his head too!!
When we got there I wondered how much of a tourist trap this place would be, but in fairness after being met by another guide there, we at least had options. He gave us an itinerary and explained a brief bit of history about the area, and how Thailand's few remaining floating markets are a historic symbol of what life was like in days gone by.
The small boat trip around the market was included in the price, which was an added bonus, and we did not feel to pressured into booking extras or 'add ons' to the tour. I discovered that there were quite a few floating markets around Bangkok, and this particular one was probably the most famous.
It was laden with long canals in every direction and the old wooden houses and shop fronts seemed to have retained some of their original charm, with people living densely along side the canals and elderly boat men and women gently rowing it looked really quite authentic to me.
We got inside our narrow boat for the slow cruise and almost immediately were approached by the sellers in their boats, full with tropical fruits, flowers and other fresh produce, creating a wonderfully colourful and picturesque scene.
Even though they were a little pushy, I wasn't to offended, instead just smiling and taking it all in - they have to make a living somehow.
I occasionally thought to myself, what must they really think of all the tourists pointing at them, especially the brash Australians sharing our boat.
Still it was thoroughly enjoyable just people watching, yes admittedly It's a touristy scene but worth persevering with the crowds in order to experience this unique and infectiously busy market.
I managed to take some cool discreet shots of the locals on the hour long cruise before it dropped us off back at the start point. Now it was time to wander around on foot and take a closer look at the stalls and market life.
And it was at this point the marketers became a little more, shall we say, persuasive, some rubbing tiger balm into my arms stroking and massaged me whilst I was still walking along!
'Massaaaaaaaaage' they said over and over again. It still did not overly bother me, I just kept smiling away. But this said Yvonne, was exactly the problem, as she kept pulling me away in an almost tug of war with the massage lady.
'Stop being so nice' she told me, and 'you need to quickly learn the idea of being more assertive with them, they will not get offended'.
She was absolutely right of course and I soon got the hang of it, or they would just not leave you alone.
Some guy then tried to put a massive python around my neck but soon as he did they would have wanted money, and Yvonne once more came to the rescue bless her.
Still it was a really great experience here, and one that I was enjoying immensely.
My t-shirt was so drenched in sweat from the heat that I had to purchase a new one, but it did give me a chance to practice my new assertive bartering skills, I did good this time.
It was time to meet at the regimented rendezvous point back at the beginning for the last part of the organised tour.
We would be riding a speed boat through the village and get to see the locals first hand.
Something about riding around in a tour looking at all the local people does not sit hugely comfortable with me.
Up to this moment, I was more used to mingling and talking with the people face to face, which Im sure they appreciated far more than feeling like animals on a river safari, with tourists taking pictures of their washing lines.
Maybe I was over reacting, Im not sure, but I'll leave it for everyone else to make their own minds up.
The fast speed boat was pleasant enough, and we really did get a thorough insight into traditional Thai life albeit from a slightly different perspective than I'd been used to.
The old bamboo houses were beautiful as were the giant brightly coloured dragon flies that whizzed past, with the occasional temple's on the canal side it made for some wonderful scenery.
We were dropped off on the outskirts of the village where we were quickly bundled straight back into the mini bus home, which all seemed a bit sudden to me, but hey thats what you get with tours right?
There was some good news though, discovering the driver was different from the clumsy guy who got his ears boxed made my day.
We gently cruised to the speed limit all the way to Bangkok, at last my kind of driver.
There was still half a day left so we decided to visit the four faced Brahma and Ganesha shrine near Chidlom.
After a brief pitstop and a freshen up at the hostel, we asked a really easy going girl who was traveling alone from England to join us, Thats what I love about hostels, its just so easy to make friends. The 3 of us made our way to the sky-train and headed to the famous Erawan Hindu Shrine which housed the Phra Phrom, or the four faced Brahma golden statue. People were lighting candles and incense, praying to all four faces, where there were performances by traditional Thai dance troupes, who are hired by worshippers in return for seeing their prayers answered.
It was beautiful to see.
I also learned that only a few years ago in 2006 a man vandalised the shrine with a hammer, smashing it to pieces, and was consequently killed by bystanders on the spot for his actions, who were then later charged with his murder!
We all took a few quiet moments to prey to each of the faces before finally moving on to the Ganesha shrine around the corner.
It was bright yellow gold, with its distinctive elephant head being one of the most recognisable shrines to non Hindus. Again it looked amazing, set against a brilliant blue sky backdrop.
Just opposite the shrine was a river with several restaurants where we stopped to eat as the sun came down.
For some reason we all craved Thai papaya salads and found the perfect place that served them with ice cold Chang beer by the river side.
Today was a brilliant day and I managed to tick off quite a few places of interest on my list.
We strolled back to the Hostel and ended the night meeting several new friends outside on the benches. Our group was getting bigger.
We all had a dig at the tour guides and ready made packages, exchanging some amusing stories.
So it was settled, all of us made a pact, agreeing to boycott the tours and make our own way in a group to the Grand Palace and giant gold reclining Buddha the following day.
This was going to be fun....
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