On this day we arranged a trip with Sumchai to take us around the area and see some nice things. And really he arranged with us for a departure time of 06:45 in the morning (!!!) . I told him that everything is good, and that we are not in a race with anyone, and that we would be happy to start the tour a little later, and indeed we changed the time to 09:15 in the morning.
We had breakfast in the huge dining room of the Amari and set off, mainly because we didn't want to miss the train...
The trip took about an hour and a quarter, then we stopped to freshen up at a gas station before arriving at the market itself called Maeklong Train Market.
We arrived at the market, which is actually physically located on railroad tracks (!) ...
We walked on the tracks and my girls kept wondering, how the hell is a train going to pass there in fifteen minutes...
We waited a bit...
And then the magic happens...
Notice how the train works over the food at 1:45 in the video!
The train continues for another 200 meters and stops at its terminus, dropping off and picking up passengers and then - coming back again - through the market. It was very hot so we didn't stay to witness the wonder of creation again, we took a few more photos before continuing to the next destination...
It is not clear to us how the meat and fish there withstand the heavy heat, apparently the Thais have iron stomachs...
After a short drive of about fifteen minutes, we arrived at a small boat dock, where a nice table was already waiting for us with a coconut and water.
We really liked the cups that come closed with water, and if you want - just push a straw in and drink to your heart's content.
We parted with 1500 baht (instead of 2000, thanks to a discount from Somchai) in order to get on a boat and enjoy a tour of the floating market.
Our boat driver had trouble starting his boat at first, so we shared with the crew there what happened to us on the fifth day of the trip and they burst out laughing.
We set off...
Before we got to the floating market already on the way we met a lot of vendors offering their wares, and the elderly man who sailed our boat stopped every now and then so that we could think about whether we wanted to purchase something.
He didn't stop laughing at every sentence he said, and it seemed that life was smiling on him, so we laughed at his rolling laughter all the way...
Further along the way we stopped at a farm where we could try making sugar from sugar cane. In practice, it turned out to be a huge souvenir shop at exorbitant prices (which, it turns out, can be debated...)
We left there quickly... then even before we got to the market, we stopped at one of the sellers, who told us that the older driver in the boat - is actually her father... and then she told us that his memory is bad... so we should tell her where we need to get to and for how long We rented the boat, because he already forgot... and sent us on our way...
We continued with him to the floating market in the hope that he would remember the way back...
In the floating market we met many other sellers who sold many, many things of the same thing. Mostly I was happy to see the "extra strictness" on safety, while they are sailing with a gas cylinder and having a barbecue and all this on one boat...
There too, as in the train market, we were shocked by the way the food was sold, without refrigeration, without cover, without a future.
From there we sailed back to the vehicle in a stunning view, which was located about 5 km from us.
When we returned they were waiting for us with a photo they had printed for us at a completely symbolic price (200 baht). We happily purchased it and continued to the next destination.
Those who are interested the place is called Damnoem saduak, ratchaburi and this is its location
From there we drove back to the ICONSIAM mall where we mostly had a late lunch (the malls are huge and it took us almost half an hour to figure out where the food court is...). We noticed that the western food (that we eat) is relatively quite abandoned - while all the locals prefer to eat in the local restaurants...
From there we continued with Somkhai to the MBK mall, mainly for the experience.
We ended the evening with a delicious dinner at the hotel restaurant, and went to bed for the last day in Bangkok.
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