I think I have finally hit the wall and will need a vacation from my vacation. This morning Bowman and I chose to go with 4 others to visit the Maeklong Railway market and Damnoen Saduak floating market. We had to leave at 7am this morning, and when the alarm went off at 6am, I was regretting our decision to go. But that changed. It took us over an hour to get to the Railway market, and on the way there we drove past acres upon acres of salt ponds, and thousands of bags of salt for sale. It would have been cool to stop and learn about this, but wasn’t in our plan for the day. I did a little research and these ponds are flooded with shallow sea water. These are left for around ten days until the sun evaporates all the water, leaving the salt to be collected and carried away in shoulder baskets to be bagged. This means it is very much a weather reliant industry and takes place in the hot season. It is hard and heavy work, and the salt means there is very little vegetation around to give shade to the workers.

We arrived early and in time to ensure we had a good spot for the 8:30 am train. Seventeen trains run daily in each direction between Samut Sakhon and Wongwian Yai. There are multiple food vendors that set up stands right next to the train tracks. And I really mean right next to them. Whenever a train approaches, the awnings and shop fronts are moved back from the rails, to be replaced once the train has passed. We got to see the train pass through twice, and it was quite amazing. When the train wasn’t there, people walked on the tracks and shopped. We stopped at a coffee shop to sit, have a drink and watch the train. I was sitting on a small wooden bench and when we heard the train coming everyone started moving, not as many awnings were out because it was overcast, but everyone was preparing for the train. It approached slowly, and I wasn’t sure that my knees were safe, but the shop owner kept saying “you ok, you ok,” but I still moved them to the side just in case. We could touch the train as it passed us. People on the train waved at us. And then when it was through, everything went back to the way it was. When the second train passed, the shop owner gave the conductors two drinks that they picked up on their way through.

Next we drove to the floating market. Eadie and Mike told us this was more of a tourist destination then true market, but it was still pretty cool to see how the market used to be. While I would have preferred a different market, the others were farther away and Amy said this was the only one left. We arrived at a good time, before the buses arrived. Cloe, Mary, Karen and Brenda took a boat ride, while Bowman and I walked around, shopped, had some coconut ice cream, and enjoyed people watching. It was quite dicey watching people get on and off the boat. No one tipped over but it was close. In the market, I found some salt to buy, and you had to bargain everything done at least 50%. Bowman bought a scarf for 200 baht, but it started at 650. Very impressive bargaining.

Grand Palace was next, well not for me, but for everyone else. We had to go back to the hotel to ensure everyone had long pants on, and when we got there, my feet, knees and sinuses were bothering me, so I chose nap over Palace. Erika and Matt also went to the Palace, and since Matt was in shorts, he had to buy pants and even Erika’s capris were not long enough, so she bought a scarf to wear around her legs. They were disappointed with the Palace – so many Chinese tourists, and so many of the buildings were not accessible. The highlight for them was the cremation site. Even with an hour long wait, an odd cue process, and lots of people taking selfies, it was still amazing at a mere 30mil. Everyone visited the Emerald Buddha and while it was still impressive, much smaller than expected. In the same room there was a place for only Thai people to pray. Bowman said the Palace felt more elusive, without a tour guide. I’m sure there is much more to see. It was huge, the golden stupas beautiful, and the guardians of the Palace appeared more Thai then Chinese. Bowman was very proud of herself in getting everyone home safely by water taxi and sky train.

We are picking up 6 new people in our group, and Bowman chose to go to the meeting to learn about our next week. Matt, Erika and I are off to dinner, then bed. We have to leave here at 6:45 for our flight to Ko Samui.