Pati and Beebee arrived in Bangkok at about noon on Monday (18 March 2013). Having had very little sleep since Sunday morning (and that interrupted by pilot and crew announcements), it was a sleepy day spent walking around Chinatown and eating at the hotel.
They had previously arranged by email (while in India) with a tour company called Thai Tour Guide to take two days of tours. Their guide, Leang, arrived at their hotel promptly at 9 am on Tuesday. Leang is a 20-something young woman who describes herself as "20% Thai, 80% Chinese" since her father is Thai (and Christian) and her mother is Chinese (and Buddist). She has three younger brothers; the next-to-youngest is getting married next January 19th, the most auspicious day for him and his wife-to-be. Leang's English is understandable and she hopes to learn Dutch in order to increase her desirability as a tour guide.
The daily arrangement was for Leang to buy tickets, food, and anything else necessary during the tour; then Pati would repay her at rhe end of the day, plus her guide fee.
For Tuesday, local travel was used. Upon leaving the hotel, Leang led Pati and Beebee through the narrow sidewalks to the Express Boat pier. Here they caught the boat and rode for two stops, getting off near the Royal Grand Palace and Royal Temple (Wat Phra Kaew, the Temple of the Emerald Buddha). After visiting these, they then visited Wat Pho (the Temple of the Reclining Buddha).
They ate a lunch of Pad Thai at a small local restaurant, eating at a sidewalk table because outside was cooler than inside.
In the afternoon, they took a tour of canals off the Chao Prya river, using a private long tail boat. (The "long tail" refers to the long (more than 10-foot long) drive shaft from a huge car engine sitting on the back of the boat; the shaft ends in a propeller.) During this ride, they passed Wat Arun (the Temple of Dawn).
Disembarking from the long tail boat, they walked to Pak Klong Talad (a Flowers & Vegetables Market). This is a large indoor market that supplies other sellers.
Ending the day's tour at about 5 pm, they caught a tuk-tuk back to the hotel, where Pati settled the day's account.
Dinner was at the hotel's restaurant, named Cotton, which serves delicious hot and sour soup (Pati and Beebee ate it every day as an appetizer).
On Wednesday, Leang picked them up at the hotel and they drove an hour or so to observe lifestyles in the country. On the way, they stopped at a salt farm (a series of ponds where salt is crystalized from salt water and bagged for sale to use for food preservation, but not for table use).
At about 8:30 am, they arrived at the Maeklong Railway Market, a unique local fresh market in Damnern Saduak. The small-gauge railroad tracks run through the middle of this Market. An iron railing runs parallel to the tracks on each side. Vendors with stalls behind these bars pay a higher rental rate than the vendors who sell next to and on the railroad tracks. The train comes through twice a day. An alarm sounds when the train is near. Then the vendors near the tracks lower their awnings back to the iron bars, move their produce from the tracks, and make sure that produce beside the tracks is not so high that the train carriage might hit it. As soon as the train passes (slowly), the vendors raise their awnings and return their produce to the tracks. (Readers of this blog might want to watch some YouTube videos of this process.)
This market and the train passage has become very popular with tourists; they come daily to observe and take photos and videos. There are so many tourists at times that they interfere with the market. Also, some tourists are so eager for photos that they stand in the track directly in the path of the incoming train, which causes problems for the train operations. Leang instructed Pati and Beebee where to stand for good photos without causing problems for the market or the train.
After leaving the train station, they visited a a Floating Market in a private rowing boat, rowed by a strong, cheerful lady of indeterminant age who very thoughtfully provided umbrellas against fhe sun.
Following this, they each had a bowl of noodle soup at a small eatery beside the market. Leang then brought them papaya with sticky rice, a most delicious dessert, as papayas are ripe now.
Driving back to the city, they concluded their tour with Leang at the hotel, ate dinner at the hotel, and turned in for a good night's sleep.
They had previously arranged by email (while in India) with a tour company called Thai Tour Guide to take two days of tours. Their guide, Leang, arrived at their hotel promptly at 9 am on Tuesday. Leang is a 20-something young woman who describes herself as "20% Thai, 80% Chinese" since her father is Thai (and Christian) and her mother is Chinese (and Buddist). She has three younger brothers; the next-to-youngest is getting married next January 19th, the most auspicious day for him and his wife-to-be. Leang's English is understandable and she hopes to learn Dutch in order to increase her desirability as a tour guide.
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| Leang |
The daily arrangement was for Leang to buy tickets, food, and anything else necessary during the tour; then Pati would repay her at rhe end of the day, plus her guide fee.
For Tuesday, local travel was used. Upon leaving the hotel, Leang led Pati and Beebee through the narrow sidewalks to the Express Boat pier. Here they caught the boat and rode for two stops, getting off near the Royal Grand Palace and Royal Temple (Wat Phra Kaew, the Temple of the Emerald Buddha). After visiting these, they then visited Wat Pho (the Temple of the Reclining Buddha).
They ate a lunch of Pad Thai at a small local restaurant, eating at a sidewalk table because outside was cooler than inside.
In the afternoon, they took a tour of canals off the Chao Prya river, using a private long tail boat. (The "long tail" refers to the long (more than 10-foot long) drive shaft from a huge car engine sitting on the back of the boat; the shaft ends in a propeller.) During this ride, they passed Wat Arun (the Temple of Dawn).
Disembarking from the long tail boat, they walked to Pak Klong Talad (a Flowers & Vegetables Market). This is a large indoor market that supplies other sellers.
Ending the day's tour at about 5 pm, they caught a tuk-tuk back to the hotel, where Pati settled the day's account.
Dinner was at the hotel's restaurant, named Cotton, which serves delicious hot and sour soup (Pati and Beebee ate it every day as an appetizer).
On Wednesday, Leang picked them up at the hotel and they drove an hour or so to observe lifestyles in the country. On the way, they stopped at a salt farm (a series of ponds where salt is crystalized from salt water and bagged for sale to use for food preservation, but not for table use).
At about 8:30 am, they arrived at the Maeklong Railway Market, a unique local fresh market in Damnern Saduak. The small-gauge railroad tracks run through the middle of this Market. An iron railing runs parallel to the tracks on each side. Vendors with stalls behind these bars pay a higher rental rate than the vendors who sell next to and on the railroad tracks. The train comes through twice a day. An alarm sounds when the train is near. Then the vendors near the tracks lower their awnings back to the iron bars, move their produce from the tracks, and make sure that produce beside the tracks is not so high that the train carriage might hit it. As soon as the train passes (slowly), the vendors raise their awnings and return their produce to the tracks. (Readers of this blog might want to watch some YouTube videos of this process.)
This market and the train passage has become very popular with tourists; they come daily to observe and take photos and videos. There are so many tourists at times that they interfere with the market. Also, some tourists are so eager for photos that they stand in the track directly in the path of the incoming train, which causes problems for the train operations. Leang instructed Pati and Beebee where to stand for good photos without causing problems for the market or the train.
After leaving the train station, they visited a a Floating Market in a private rowing boat, rowed by a strong, cheerful lady of indeterminant age who very thoughtfully provided umbrellas against fhe sun.
Following this, they each had a bowl of noodle soup at a small eatery beside the market. Leang then brought them papaya with sticky rice, a most delicious dessert, as papayas are ripe now.
Driving back to the city, they concluded their tour with Leang at the hotel, ate dinner at the hotel, and turned in for a good night's sleep.
Posted with Blogsy
Sounds like you had a nice time. :P
ReplyDeleteGoing to YouTube and using "Bangkok train market" will give you
ReplyDeleteabout a half dozen 'films' of the train going thru the market place.
The duration of the films is from about 1 minute to 2 minutes.
The train appears to be about 4 passenger cars long.
It's interesting to watch.