Amazing Bangkok: Day 3 - Floating Market Tour

This is going to be the third day feature of our Bangkok Trip. In this third article you'll get to see the sights of the Popular Floating Market. Surprisingly I found out that almost every hotel would be able to set you up for a day or overnight stay at the Floating Market. One had to give a day's notice to the receptionist to schedule the trip. The tour group that handles the tour can speak manageable english which is good enough and once you've reached the place its pretty much no guide and you can pretty much go around and check everything out yourselves as long as you get to follow the meet up time expectations.

This is the welcoming sign to the floating market. The sign is also a bridge that connects the two sides of the riverbank

Here's what we saw on the day of our Floating Market Tour

The usual mode of transportation from the hotel to the Floating Market were these vans which took us about 1 1/2 hours to get there. One thing to note - vehicles in Bangkok are right hand driving

Once there you'd be briefed of the meet up times and possible activities one can do there are the market. This is the boat's dock where you are to ride one of these boats taxi's that'll take you around the Floating Market. For the locals living here, traveling and marketing their produce by boat is a regular day by day thing for them.

Boat service at the time of this writing is at 150 Baht, once you board the boat there will be a camera man to take your photo which he will later on sell to you once you get back to the boat dock. The picture will be in a small plate which is quite a cool souvenir to take home with you.  

This is an example of what one is about to see as the boat service brings you around the market place.

The water is rather dark but thankfully not stinky. They have been able to keep it from smelling irregardless of how seemingly dark the water looks. 

Boat traffic is quite common at the Floating Market and it is advised by everyone including the one paddling the boat to please keep your hands inside the boat and not on the edge as your hands and arms may get injured if caught between two boats.

Not everything being sold in the market place are on the boats but is still quite accessible. Simply inform the boat service guide to bring you to a store you find interesting by the river bank.

A lot of the shops are quite unique and features a lot of souvenir items one can bring home to family and friends. Not all of them accept credit card transactions, but surprisingly there were some that do accept card transactions. But if I were you carry enough cash for trips rather than charging your cards and getting horribly surprised with the bill once you reach home.

The boat vendors are also known for selling rather sweet and scrumptious meals and fruits. Some of them are able to cook in their little boats. 

Boat Traffic as you can see here is both fun and stressful depending on how you take in the scene. Us we took it as a picture opportunity. As mentioned earlier do remember to keep your arms and hands within the boat or get the risk of being painfully squished in the boat traffic jam. 

There are so many things to buy here at the Floating Market and they seem to have something for everyone. 

I am always amused as to how resourceful people can be in their given environment. Who would've imagined cooking let alone barbecuing in a tiny space such as this. Mind you everything smelled so delish.

In case you were thirsty you can always buy from one of the boat vendors ice cold drinks both local and international brands, but if I were you I'd recommend trying the local branded drinks. The unique taste can be quite pleasing to the palate and besides you wont be able to get a taste of them when you are back home. 

Fresh Fruits from the local farm around the river is always so tasty. Lots of bananas and mangoes are being sold  here at this picture and I have to say they are very sweet. And what is so cool is that they all do it with a smile that is genuine and heartfelt.

Be prepared to be met with so much culture and history in the boat trip not to mention the different colors that represent Thailand as a Nation is present even here.

As you can see here, the boats are mostly paddle power. There are other boats that are motor powered but that is for the second part of the Floating Market tour that'll bring you to more of the wonderful sights along the river.

A lot of the items for sale are indicative of their religious beliefs, in this case Buddhism. Special thing to mention here is that you aren't allowed to check in a Buddha statue - you can only hand carry the statue.

Everything is so colorful in Bangkok, even here in the market one can see how much they love to incorporate colors into their products. 

All of those herbs and spices that one has a somewhat hard time looking for in supermarkets are easily found here and fresh. The price is most likely a whole lot cheaper than any other place.

The items sold here vary from religious items to fashionable outfits such as these bags and hats.

As one can see most of the shops are only accessible through the boat ride. Simply tell the boat lady(most of the one's paddling are women) to bring you to a shop that suits your fancy.

Here you can see a lot of the hand crafted novelty items one can bring home to family and friends.

This is one of my favorite shops along the river cause of the ingenious designs made from wire. They have crafted items to resemble that of motorbikes to even toys such as transformers for the kids and collectors alike.

This is just one of the few stores that accept credit card payments and even provides the money changer service for those that forgot to change their money to Baht.

Wood carving arts are also quite common along the river. All of them were quite exquisite and if we had more in terms of baggage limit would have loved to bring quite  number of them home.

Here you can see the motor boats and the bridge that serves as a walkway for the local residents from one side of the river to the other. Though I haven't seen anyone actually use the bridge. I would presume they are too used to simply using their boats as the main mode of transport here.

These are some of the homes along the river with their own mini boat ports.

The Floating Market is no small area as you can see here. There is an entire community that thrives very well here.

You'll also notice that they too have specialized shrines for their Gods along the river. Some big some small but all showing how much respect they have their beliefs.

The walkways from home to home as shown here are quite simple but more than enough for their needs.

There are parts of the river that actually get wider than what was shown earlier. The height of the bridge and homes also indicate that the water levels here tend to go up periodically.

There are even cute coffee shops and cafes that one can stop over and enjoy the scenery with. 

From here we dock and start talking the walking tour of the Floating Market:

Here they are making my favorite Thai dessert: Sticky Rice and Mango yum!!!

HEre are more desserts one can try, but was already too full to try it. But they smelled so delicious nonetheless.

I love how the place is setup. So much life and color around the Floating Market not to mention the food!! :D

I even got sight of these chinese medicinal herbs that are supposedly good for different ailments.  

Satay Anyone??? This is one of the local favorites and so is that Coconut in the background. 

I was really marveling at how much life and how thriving the commerce was here in the Floating Market. I have to warn you that you can't leave the place until you have tried and seen all that there is to see especially the food here.

Something that you shouldn't pass up. Spices and more than one could count all fresh and so cheap.

Dried Fish anyone?? :) tasty

Here people just cant get enough of the food here :)  

These are little toys that you can bring home to the kids :) both big and small

Even in a place like this there are advertisements. Notice that this ad has a QR code because most of the Thai's are completely wired digitally.

This was one of my favorite things to try there - reminds me of Takuyaki balls but instead of octopus or squid they use spring onions and other veggies as fillings.

For those that want a full meal there are tiny cafes and riverside restos that one can eat at such as the one above

The first impression of the river isn't exactly as welcoming but it isn't so bad. The color is mostly due to the increase of water plants due to the high amount of nutrients it gets from the farms and people around it. Though generally it kills the oxygen of the water I believe the locals are working on improving it's condition. There is no smell that comes out of the river either so that is something to be at ease with.

This is where we started touring the rest of the river side away from the floating market to see the different farm lands and residences that are around the place. The Thai's are very proud of how they have been able to preserve this part of their culture and dont be surprised to see satellite TV in every household here. Their farmers are very well compensated and taken care of.

One of the larger shrines that I have noticed in the river tour. I presume the more well off a family is the larger their shrine is, but irregardless I am impressed as to how they really honor their deities. 

The stretch of farm lands are really beautiful. 

This is one of the town halls that we spotted as we toured the river.

The place is really lush with plantation. I felt quite at ease here for some odd reason considering that I am a full fledged urbanite.

This is one of the Inn's along the river where guests can check in for the night. It also is the mark of the end of the tour for those that opted for the day tour of the Floating market like us.

These are the places where the guests will be staying if they decide to stay for the night. First impression was like a motel taxi room but with a nice rustic feel of the place.

Beside the River Side in is an antique shop which reminds me of the History Channel show The Pickers. If they had a chance to get there I am pretty sure they would go gaga over the stuff displayed here, most especially at the cost.

This is a quaint little coffe shop/bar for the guest of this inn. From here our van was waiting to take us home.

From the hotel to the Floating Market to back home, roughly took us the whole day. My advice is to schedule this early on your trip to Bangkok so that you can reserve the rest for fun shopping and site seeing in the city. Also make sure you have enough Baht for souvenir shopping at the river cause of the limited amount of place to have it exchanged in the Floating Market. Also don't spend your buck on everything here, in the next article I'll feature an awesome bargain shopping place that is sure going to get you shopping like a madman and work our those leg and arm muscles.

Till the Next Time....

-Metz-