Bangkok, Thailand
Wednesday, June 7, 2006
We had an early start this morning and caught the 8:00 o'clock bus to the floating market. We had a two hour bus ride ahead of us and only a chocolate bar to survive on! We were hoping there would be a food stand near the terminal but the bus was leaving so you get the picture. We sat in the front because we weren't too sure where we had to get off. The only thing is, they turned the television on which only played very loud Thai karaoke songs. Tim and I just turned to each other and laughed. We passed beautiful temples on the way to the market. We also saw all kinds of ponds and later found out they were shrimp and salt farms. As we approached the two hour mark, we got off the bus and started walking towards the market. Not knowing how far it was, we grabbed another bus and 25 km's later, we finally arrived. The second bus driver dropped us off at the "new floating market" and right away we knew something was up. Yes, there were canals but where were all of the people, other tourists? Not too mention the guide book said it was the old floating market
. A man quickly approached us and showed us a map of different temples and fish farms. We were right. The bus driver probably just dropped us off at his friends place or he got some kind of commission. So we continued walking and two minutes later, we saw the Old Floating Market sign and tourists all over the place. Now, this was more like it!
After walking around for a bit, we decided to take a boat ride across the canals. There were women with straw hats selling fruits and vegetables. As our boat glided by the stores, some of the vendors would stick a hook out in order to pull our boat in for a closer look. We knew before we left that the prices at the floating market were inflated. Some things were quadruple in price so we ended up taking pictures instead of purchasing any souvenirs.
