Damnoen Saduak Floating Markets

Merchant at the floating markets
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Today is dedicated to visiting the Damnoen Saduak Floating Markets. And after a breakfast in the hotel, we catch a taxi to the same bus station which had given us a nightmare the previous day.

After researching at various agents in Bangkok offering day trips to the markets, we decided it would be best not to purchase a tour for today and do it all ourselves, mainly due to the fact it costs and extra 100 Baht  for a boat tour on the markets. But as the taxi pulls into the bus station, the instant I step out of the taxi, suspiciously, a lady in red is in my face:

"Where you go? Floating market?" she says, this far from my nose.

Selling bananas. Some are deep fried.
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"Where you go? Floating market?" she says, this far from my nose. ( But I have a sneaking suspicion she already knows where we want to go.)

"Um, yeah, 'floating market'," I reply a little stunned. So we follow her to the bus, where she sells us tickets and tells the bus driver it's alright go now. Well alright, that took a little pain out of the whole business.

Two hours later we arrive there. The Lady in a Red Suit comes out of the bus and shows us where to go for a boat. (Is she deliberately playing 'tour guides' with us?)

A stall selling everything under the sun.
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A nasty surprise for us was the price of a boat. I'm not sure exactly what we were expecting, but it was definitely not 1600 Baht for exclusive use of a hard wooden boat. Maybe we should have got a package tour after all...

The markets were very enjoyable, although get you into uncomfortable situations when your driver pulls into a stall but you don't want to buy anything. Then there's the times when the boat breaks down at a stall so you end up buying whatever  takes your fancy the most from a very fortunate stall owner.

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After our one hour trip through the canals and stalls, our driver takes us to the drop off point, which is, for some reason, a different place to where we got on the boat.

Turning around, we are surprised to bump into the Lady in a Red Suit waiting for us. She starts towards us so we do not miss her. We seem to annoy her by asking where the toilets are to use before we leave. She and her bus must be in a hurry. Or perhaps not, because just as a faithful tour guide and bus would be, she is still there waiting for us when we are ready.

When we got on this bus we are the only passengers on it.

The moral of the story is, make up your mind without obviously researching the best option. Either visit a travel agent in Bangkok with the clear purpose of buying a day package, or don't touch the place with a barge pole, because they have connections...

Since the markets close at about 11am, we had the rest of the afternoon to visit temples and palaces.

Starting with Wat Arun before lunch, you can make a nice route by then  crossing the river with lunch at the restaurant on the other side. Wat Pho with the world's biggest reclining Buddha next, and then if you're not running too late, you can get into the Golden Palace before the gates close.