Hi guys! Today I'll tell you how is it to
visit a floating market. These markets
are very common in Southeast Asia. The one
I went to was in Thailand, about 1 1/2 to
2 hours from Bangkok
"Damnoen Saduak" - not sure I'm pronouncing
it right, but this is the most famous
floating market in Thailand
And what is it exactly?
Well, it's kind of a flea market, but
without a lot of used stuff and it occurs
on a river. And you can find everything there...
Clothes, shoes, souvenirs, stuff for home,
A lot of food...
"Coconut pancake"
"How much?"
"10 Baht"
I got myself one of those really nice Asian hats
"This one has this inside. You can (fit) big (heads) and small ones. Can (fit) big, can (fit) small"
It was just hard to pack, but that's another story
Well, over time and with the amount of tourists increasing,
a lot of people believe this place became a tourist trap
I can definitely understand why
But you can also
experience it in a more authentic way
I discovered how to do it totally by chance
I was in Thailand working and I had
to start at 9 am
But I really, really wanted to see this place, so,
I thought with myself: "I'm going to leave Bangkok early,
early in the morning, arrive there still
super-early, do everything that I have to do,
see everything that I have to see, and
go back to Bangkok around 7 am, 7 something
in the morning." And it was the best thing
that I did because I saw the traditional
market, the Thai way, you know?
Basically with no tourists
I went there by taxi and the driver stayed
there the whole time waiting for me
About 5 hours in total and I paid
like 30 dollars
This was great, I got the taxi driver with
the hotel and if you go by bus you can
actually pay a lot less. Well, when I got
there I had the boat for myself,
there was nobody else. And it was amazing!
Do you speak English?
When you talk to other people
who did the same thing but arrived at
9am, the story is totally different and
they're actually disappointed because
there's lot of people, the canals are very narrow
so there's a lot of traffic jam there as well
and you spend a lot of time just waiting
And, of course, 80% of tourists
Like other things in Thailand there's a
lot of bargaining for everything, you know,
from the taxi ride to everything
you're going to purchase there
The only thing that I learned that has changed is
the boat tour. Now they have flat rates
for an hour, 2 hours, 3 hours,...
From the location you get the boat until
the floating market itself you see a lot
of the Thai culture, you know, their
houses, the lifestyle, the religious demonstrations,...
And I like to pay attention
at these things, to see the culture up close, you know?
I didn't go there just to shop!
At the floating market itself, it's very
cool to see women preparing food right
there in front of you, people buying and
selling stuff, you know, from one boat to
the other... I had breakfast right there!
"How many Baht?"
"10 Baht"
"_ Thanks!" "_ You're welcome!"
And there are some places also where you can leave the
boat, go walk a little bit, there are
some stands... Anyways, it was exactly as I
expected and I really enjoyed it
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"_ Thanks!"
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