Thursday, February 4, 2010

Days 99 & 100 – Thailand

January 12 & 13, 2010 - Bangkok to Damnoen Saduak to Bangkok, Thailand

On day 98, we jump on a public bus to go to Damnoen, Thailand.

Damnoen is a city approximately 1½ hours west of Bangkok where there is a famous floating market. We arrive in Damnoen and again experience the famous Thai hospitality! Our bus driver makes a U-turn across the highway to deliver us as close to our hotel as possible and then his assistant personally walks to the check in desk.

Not bad service from the public bus system, eh? I think the private sector needs to take notes… VIP Bus, I’m talking to you!

After settling in at the Noknoi Hotel – “Noknoi” means “little bird” – we wander the village and book our boat for tomorrow’s morning tour of the market.

It’s a 6:00am rise to catch our boat. Eric and I decided to take an early boat to try to avoid the Bangkok day-trippers that begin to roll in around 9:00am and we are successful as we are one of the only boats on the water.


Our first purchase is coconut pancakes, which were recommended to us by two Canadian girls we ran into the day before. And let me tell you, they are delicious and I typically do not like coconut!!

The market does seem to be a dying thing as there are more souvenir stalls than local produce and wares, but it is still a peaceful and fun way to spend an early morning. Eric and I are lucky because we’re able to see the market as it’s just starting up, before the crowds begin to swarm.

After the market excursion we pack up at the hotel and head back to Bangkok.

We do a little more shopping and I finally manage to find a pair of shorts in my size. Plus Eric wants to return to the Thieves Market, particularly the doll/action figure stalls, because some of them were closed when we were there last. So we spend the remainder of the day at the Thieves Market, wandering around Chinatown and finding the train station in preparation for tomorrow’s journey.

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