Tong met us at our hotel at 7:00am. We then drove to Mae Klong train market, which Tong also called the scary market. Why is it scary? It is on active train tracks! Seriously. Passenger trains go through the market several times a day. We walked on the train tracks for a while. There are local merchants selling mostly food. A lot of seafood and meat. It grossed me out at times and I had to look away. Remember Thai people eat everything!
Then Tong yelled at us to start running. We needed to get to a place to stand because a train was coming. I did not hear people actually saying a train was coming. They speak Thai so they we would not necessarily understand their warnings. I would not want to be there without a guide! The Thai people wait until the last minute before taking down there stands and getting out of the way. Some of the food stays in place so the train goes over it. It was really something to see. Brian and I had seen this market on the travel channel before we left but we did not know we would be there. It was amazing. Nothing like this would be allowed in the United States. I doubt the cruise would even ever take people here because of the liability. This is probably the closest we have ever been to a moving train. It was really neat and was one of our favorite stops. We have video of it on our camera we can show people when we get home. It is something to see.
Then we went to a local art shop. We saw pieces of Thai china. It was beautiful china. I would of love to have a set. They make the design handmade and it takes months for them to create it.
After the art shop, we went to a floating market. A floating market is a market on water. To get to the merchants you need to be in a boat. Tong arranged for us to take a canal tour. On the tour the boat was hand paddled (not motorized). This made the trip more peaceful and allowed us to travel outside the market down some shallow canals where people lived. We looked at handcrafts while on the tour. There was also some food. We had some Thai noodles and meat on a stick. The Thai noodles were really good!
While on the canal tour, they took us further than just the floating market. Again we got to see how people live in their houses. The canals were really pretty. The reflection on the water was very peaceful. It is unfortunate because the water had some trash in it but it was still beautiful.
Unfortunately we then need to go back to Laem Chanbang to meet the ship. From the floating market it was a three-hour drive. Tong again gave us insight to Thai culture during the trip. Most Thai people are Buddhist. They believe in karma and reincarnation. They like to give without receiving. It was really interesting. For Buddhists, sins cannot be washed away or forgiven like Christians believe. They can only be diluted. An analogy is how you can dilute salt (bad things) in water by adding more water (doing more good things).
Tong was fantastic! I cannot recommend her enough. She arranged a great tour for us. She had boats ready for us when we arrived. She would recommend and order food for us to try that was interesting and good. She was just great in so many ways. We learned so much in such a little amount of time. Anyone going to Bangkok should definitely contact Tong for a tour. You will not be disappointed. Her website is: TourWithTong.com.
We got back on the ship. When the ship was sailing away, I was actually sad. I loved Thailand. I missed Tong. I really wanted to stay longer. Poor Brian because he will now have to listen to me telling him that I want to go back everyday!
We got dressed up for dinner. Since it was my birthday, I thought it would be nice to get dressed up even though it was not formal night. Our waiters sang happy birthday to me. It was embarrassing especially since there were probably 8 waiters singing. I ended up with two cakes. I learned why after dinner. Princess knew it was my birthday from when we booked. When Brian ordered his meal, he gave our waiter a note also letting him know it was my birthday. Our waiter did not realize that both birthday references were about the same person. So I ended up with two cakes. I gave our other cake to our dinner table mates. While we were still at our table the head waiter came over and he saw my Princess birthday card . Then he started singing happy birthday to me with the chef. Once was really enough. It was fun though.
I told Brian all day that my birthday was 36 hours this year. My thinking was we are 12 hours ahead so at home it would still be my birthday so it still should be here. I could do whatever I wanted. Brian countered by saying that there are no birthdays in international waters, so he argued my birthday was only 12 hours. It was a great day. Thank you to everyone for the birthday wishes.
Today we have been at sea all day. We have relaxed most of the day. We even went swimming. Who would think that we would be swimming outside on December 7th! Amazing. Tomorrow we start our 3-day tour of Vietnam. We will be leaving the ship for three days. I’m not sure if I will be able to update this blog. I will write about our adventures daily but it may not be uploaded until Friday so don’t be concerned.
1 comment:
So I have to know what was the nastiest food they were trying to serve up in that market?
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