Day 5: Damnoen Saduak Floating Market!
Today's weather is a bit cool. We woke up very early like 5AM in the morning so we would arrive early in the famous Damnoen Saduak Floating Market. I've read blogs that you have to be very early there so you can enjoy the place with less tourists. :)
We rode a taxi going to the Southern Terminal where we rode a bus. Even the taxi driver was not familiar with the terminal, he really tried his best to check on the google map I was showing him. We paid 145 THB from Sap Road going to the terminal. It was a bit far, maybe 30 minutes without traffic. When we arrived there, there was a lady who asked us our destination. When we told her about the place, she then directed us to a booth to pay the bus fare for 64 THB each. Then we just waited for the bus to arrive. While waiting, we bought and ate bread in 7/11. They have a lot of cheap foods there. :)
At around 7:50 AM, our bus arrived. The travel time would be roughly 2 hours. The bus would stop at a market. So here's what happened when we arrived at the place, a lady approached us telling us that we can rent a boat for 300 THB each in the market. I've read blogs saying that the offer was actually a scam because you can actually find a cheap offer at the Damnoen Saduak market itself. So we declined her offer, instead, we went out from the market to look for a vehicle we can ride going there. The floating market was actually 1-2 KM away from the bus stop. It was so hot at that time, good thing, a van stopped and asked us to ride so he will send us off to the market. We were hesitant because that would might be another scam and we might pay a big amount. So I talked to the driver, and he said it's for free. So we hopped on the van, praying that everything will be fine. He actually stopped in a house with a sign board saying 'Boat Rent for 1,000 THB'. So I was like, waah he sent us to another boat rental booth so he can get commission. Anyhow, we still declined the offer. We walked away from the place and decided to just walk following the directions going to the market entrance. Well, for me, I wouldn't suggest that you walk from the bus stop to the main entrance of the floating market because it's s really far. You can check for a motorcycle or a Tuktuk going there. Good thing, there was a tuktuk who stopped and told us that he will send us to the market for 10 THB each. Thanks God! :)
When we arrived at the floating market. There were a lot of tourists already. So we decided to just walk around the place. My sister wanted to rent a boat so we can feel the Floating Market. I was really hesitant because I find it really unattractive. Unfortunately, we gave in to my sister's plea. We rented a boat for 200 THB each for 30 minutes. The place was actually full of mini stores just like the Chatuchak market. To be honest, I really did not enjoy much about it because all the boats there are just bumping each other. It took our boat a lot of time to move out. We didn't enjoy the ride at all. I felt like it's really overrated. It would be nice though if there were less tourists and boats. After we passed through the crowded place, the boat driver led us to a place with no view. Ugh! Since our boat do not have a cover, we were exposed to the sun the whole time with no good scenery and she was like driving really slow. All of us were no longer in the mood and wanted it to finish.
After exactly 30 minutes, our boat arrived. So we decided to eat in the area because we were really hungry and thirsty. We usually eat the same food choices for a 100 THB. You can also buy some coolers in the area. We stroll a bit to check some stuffs but then later on, we decided to go home since it's already noon. Another dilemma came up, there's no vehicle we can ride going to the market where the bus usually stops. We had to wait for a couple of minutes to see if we can find any tuktuk, but there was none. We were so exhausted already and really tired. We walk from here to there, hoping we can find someone we can talk to who can provide us a clear details on how we can find a vehicle going back to Bangkok. Good thing we found someone who said that we can ride a motorcycle to send us to the bus stop. We tried to haggle but it seems they have a fix rate which is 25 THB each. We decided to just go for it because we didn't have a choice. The motorcycle drivers though did not send us to the bus stop but instead to the van terminal which is way better because the van is aircon and the fare was just 85 THB only.
It took 2 hours before we arrived at the southern van terminal. We were actually worried that we rode the wrong vehicle because as per google map, the van went farther away from Bangkok but we realized that the van would actually go to another floating market which is the Amphawa to pick up more passengers. It was quick though. Since the travel was smooth, we were asleep the whole time. When we arrived at the terminal, we just rode a taxi going to MBk mall.
Mbk mall is actually a huge mall. You had to ask for a map from the information booth. We enjoyed our time there. They have several cheap stalls just like in Chatuchak but I noticed that most of their designs for clothes are actually the same. Also, we were so excited to see that finally we found two famous fastfood chains. It's the KFC abd Mcdonalds. We ate at KFC because there were a lot of people in Mcdonalds. Their chicken and drinks were huge. We had a great time there and decided to just ride a taxi outside the mall. They have a taxi waiting area where you only have to get a priority number and wait there. So again, the taxi didn't know where our location was. And I felt like the taxi driver was a bit annoyed because our place was just near. Maybe 500 km from Mbk mall.
Anyhow, today is a success! Though it was exhausting and tiring but still we were able to go home safely!
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