End of the Line

All good trips have to end, and this was a good trip. For my last day it was one of the many Bangkok must-dos I haven’t done yet – a trip to the Damoen Saduak floating market, 100km southwest of the city.

The canal was dug in the mid-19th century and a number of local traders set up stalls on the various tributaries the canny villagers built around it.

Progress sailed past the canal in the next century, but the national tourist authorities saw the possibilities of drawing visitors as early as 1971. What that means today is that the site is now flooded with daytrippers and most of the stalls are selling overpriced tourist tat. Still, it’s a pleasant enough way to spend half the day, and there are so many sub-canals that there are only a couple of choke points where you’re bumping into other boats.

Once we’re done here, it’s off to the Mae Klong market a few minutes down the road.

A bit more like it for me, this one. Everything’s on land this time, so there are no mooring issues.

And I do like a decent shop that’s easy to get to. Preferably on a train line.

But not normally literally.

Apparently trains run through here eight times a day, and when the warning bell sounds the traders dutifully roll their stalls away, and the hundreds of visitors equally dutifully stand too close to the line and have to be shooed back by the stallholders.

“The next train arriving at the three-clementines-for-18baht-stall…”

Great fun. As has been this trip. Hope you enjoyed the ride. The train carries on past Mae Klong and onward through this beautiful country and this endlessly fascinating region. But for us, for the time being, it’s the end of the line.

Bye for now!