The Floating Market South of BKK

Although I normally pass on the tour thing (and do it my own way ;-) Suvisa advised me that getting to the Floating Market on my own was really going to be too difficult to manage. So, grudgingly I booked a half day tour, and it was really great.

Our tour guide was a bit dodgey (to use a Carys term) trying to take us all over creation before and after going to the market but seeing that 4 of the 6 of us were SF Bay area folks we stuck to our guns - and the tour plan - much to our tour dude's dismay. He had all sorts of ideas, a crocodile farm, snake farm, elephant rides, a coconut sugar plantation. Clearly we caused him to loose out in opportunities to make some extra cash, but we wanted what we were paying for - the floating market.

Despite the early start time of 6 a.m., yikes - we were all in relatively good spirits. There was the hard core-motorcycle-woman-tough (but alarmingly thing)-photographer, an Iraqi American and his father, and myself representing San Francisco. As well as a wonderfully sweet could from Bangladesh Harun and Nasim who made me promise to try to make it to Dhakar one day to stay with them.

Like Chatachuk Market, the Floating Market is a photographers feast. The movement, the bargaining, the colors, the water reflecting the sun and atmosphere of the entire place. I took over 30 pictures there (a lot for me since I rare am snap-happy). Our gang decided rather than just walking along the shore/shopping area we wanted to get in one of the boats, so for 100 baht each we got a rather manly looking woman to paddle us around the river traffic jam.

















Cathy, Harun, Nasim and our driver
















You can buy a bowl of noodles from a boat on a boat!

















Other goods you can buy from a boat or from the shore.