Had an early start for our ½
day tour of the pretty famous Train Market at Damnern Saduak and the Floating
Market at Talad Lom Hoob; we had gotten a travel video out of our local Jeffco
Library months ago about both markets so we were thrilled to be able to see
both.
·
The
first stop was at the Train Market, arriving at 9:10; we were told that the train should be passing by
about 9:40 so we had plenty of time to wander up and down the
tracks. I’m sure you’re thinking what IS
the attraction of a “train market” right about now? It was exactly like just
one more of the many markets we’d seen elsewhere except here people were selling
their fruits, vegetables, meat and fish RIGHT up to the edges of the very
narrow tracks on both sides! The entire
market was packed with locals buying foodstuffs and no tourists except for
those, like us, who had come to see the train pass by; it was not a touristy
town at all so no souvenirs being hawked at all which was a welcome change. Awnings covered each “stall” but they came
down within seconds as soon as the train’s whistle could be heard. The train passed by covering all the items
next to the tracks – amazing to see this.
I was all of 2” from the side of the train as it passed by me (probably
NOT the safest spot to be, I’ll be the first to admit, but I did get some great
photos if I do say so myself!). I felt
safe at the time as the train went by pretty slowly; the moment the train would
pass by the 1st stalls, the vendors would put up their awnings
again. I wonder how often that process is
repeated every day?
·
We
drove for another 30 minutes and were dropped off by the waterfront where, very low
to the water, long speedboats were waiting Each boat was able to carry 6 passengers, to
speed down the canal or klong as it’s known in Thailand,
to the Floating Market itself. On the 10
plus minute boat ride to the market, we passed by someone riding an elephant in the jungle next to the shore; it wasn’t a tourist being taken out for a ride but a local using the
elephant as a means of transportation.
·
Once
at the market, people had the option of walking around a fairly small market
area on land or pay an additional 300thb each ($10) to take a half hour paddle boat ride
on the klong; we chose the latter as it didn’t make any sense to us coming to
the Floating Market and not experience it first hand.
·
I
loved being in our paddle boat on the narrow klong packed with other paddle boats
and motorboats; the latter had the largest underwater oars or blades you can imagine; each
paddle boat would often touch others which meant that people on the boats would
then have reach out by hand to push away so the boat could continue on its
journey.
·
At
times our paddle boat “driver” (no idea what the correct term is but definitely
not a skipper b/c the boat is so small) would intentionally stop at other paddle boats
floating down the klong whose drivers were selling a variety of generally very
touristy products: souvenirs, fruit, spices, prepared snacks, etc so all the
passengers in our boat could more closely look, barter and buy any of the items
for sale. It was frenetic but a load of
fun ½ hour ride. It was without a doubt
touristy in the extreme b/c the market is no longer used by the locals to buy
items unlike the train market but that didn’t detract from the fun we had.
·
After
getting back to the guesthouse, we picked up our 3.2 kg bag of laundry that had
been washed, dried and folded for us; I sure could get used to this service even
if we did have to pay 50thb a kilo compared to the 30thb per kilo we paid in
Chiang Mai!
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