Our first excursion was to the floating market in Bangkok. We were picked up for this excursion 7 hours after they dropped us off at our hotel! Good thing the jet lag only hit Hubby!!! It was a private tour, with one tour guide taking Hubby and I out. That was great so when we were ready to go, we could move on.
It was an hour and a half drive to get to the floating market from our hotel in downtown Bangkok. On the way we stopped at a coconut processor that was also a orchid farm. It was crazy eating coconut sugar and seeing these beautiful orchids!!
Then it was on to the floating market. It was definitely an adventure!
We started by taking what is called a “Cowboy Boat” to the market. It is crazy that they don’t capsize more the way they whip around with the crazy motors!
Once we were at the market, our tour guide showed us where to shop and let us loose for an hour in the market. She was able to explain what souvenirs you will most likely see everywhere you go, and what to focus on here. Her suggestions: eat the sticky rice and mango and get some coconut ice cream. She also suggested not eating the actual food at the market (there were people trying to get us to eat pad Thai everywhere) as it was overpriced.
If anyone has read the Jamaica post, they remember what happened when I let Hubby go on his own in a market. Let’s just say We learned from that experience!
We followed our tour guides advice and tried the mango and sticky rice. It was great!! We split that and then were too full to try to coconut ice cream.
If your picturing the floating market in that you get to buy items off boats, there is some of that, but really it is a large market area next to the canals that were built. It is all about bargaining, which we aren’t the best at. At one artists booth, we didn’t even try to negotiate the price, as his paintings were so beautiful, they were worth the price.
My favorite part about walking around the market is when Hubby got accosted by an old lady who just HAD to cover him in tiger balm and give him a quick massage! Needless to say, we walked away after buying two jars of tiger balm. I often wonder if hubby has “Pick me!” written on his face sometimes!
After we left the market, our tour guide convinced us to go on an elephant ride near the floating market. The animals were beautiful, but after that, we both agreed no more add ons. I grilled our tour guide on how they treat the elephants and she promised us they treats them very well and use the money to feed the elephants. They were amazing creatures, but something just didn’t sit right with us on it, hence not adding anything on to the excursions when we are on them anymore. To make it even more funny though, you aren’t allowed to take pictures because they sell them to you at the end for 200 Bahts (about $6.00) each. While we were on our tours with the elephants, the guides offered to take our cameras and take pictures for us, only to ensure we “take care of them” when we are done! We both said yes, but the kicker was we only had a 100 and 500 Baht bill left! So I gave them the 100 baht and told them to split it!
Then it was a two hour drive back to our hotel. Let me just explain that is not because of the distance, oh no. It is because of the TRAFFIC!!! It gave Hubby and I To get in a nap before going back to our hotel and crashing before dinner!!
