• 

Visited the floating market at Damnoen Saduak about 90 km outside Bangkok.  Its a sleepy town and we stayed at the town’s top (only) hotel!  How to describe it? hmmmm think old NHS hospital corridor, huge, souless concrete room, no maintenance, no other guests, that’s about it.  It was cheap and it was clean.  No restaurants in town apart from the traditional Thai fuelling stations – street cart vendors and rows of plastic tables & chairs.  Food was great and cost JS & was supplemented with beer & coke from the Seven Eleven.

Got up before sunrise to be at the boat station, about 2km walk, for 7am to pick up our slow boat for 2.  Despite reservations that this might be touristy, which it was, it was thoroughly enjoyable and our 2 hour ‘cruise’ took in a few back canals to explore everyday life as well as the tourist market.  Take a look at the photos to see the range of ‘shops’, produce, services and food on offer.  We even had a floating breakfast of coconut pancakes followed by the best Pad Thai so far.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

Paul – we took a slow rowboat, but we thought you might like to see some pictures of a longtail and the size of the engine which gives them the speed (and noise!!). 

• 

• 

Alex – please note in the pics the floating butcher with nothing but meat, meat & meat – your kind of shopping!

• 

Walking back to the luxurious ‘Nok Noi’ hotel we found a shop selling real ground coffee – bliss. When Neil gestured to the proprietor how good his coffee was he was really pleased as I guess they don’t get many foreigners in his establishment as most people visit the markets on organised rip off day trips from Bangkok.

Got the bus – getting used to local transport now – to Nakhon Pathom to get to the train station.  Spent a lazy afternoon strolling around the markets & shops and visiting the Chedi in the centre of town.  The Chedi was an amazing structure, currently having a facelift and the scaffolding surrounding it was just as amazing, with unguarded ladders going all the way to the top – 127m high!

• 

• 

• 

We saw our first street elephant – with a red tail light on his tail, because it was night time.  Got some snacks & booze for the 14 hour overnight train to Trang in the South.  Most of the ‘meaty’ treats were not really ‘treats’ and dubious they were also meat.  Leanne you will be pleased that we had some storming deep fried pigs in blankets on a stick which were excellent.