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Published: February 14th 2009
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Arrived in Bangkok at 1am Tuesday morning , our first day and we are going on a Cycle Tour of the Floating Market that we booked through Bangkok.com. We were picked up from our hotel at 8:00 am still jet lagged but excited as we joined 2 other European couples in the air conditioned van for a 45 min drive to Samut Songkram. Not even 15 minutes into our journey and we had to stop as our van knocked down some of the electric wires that are hung really low around the streets of Soi Rambuttri, sure someone somewhere lost power. Back on the road we leave the crowded streets of Bangkok behind and enter into the countryside. The Floating Market, a major tourist attraction frought with tour buses is a sight to see that a times can feel like a tourist trap. The canals are no longer a necessity of the locals as roadways have replaced the old water network. Amazing that cooking is done on these boats. The best part was all the fruit. Amazing exotic things, besides cold coconuts and little bananas there was this fruit that had red sprouty things all over and when opened reveals a
small fleshly white fruit very similar to lychee. I loved it. Also, this purple fruit with a flower shaped top that has fleshly transucent, tangy fruit in the middle. Indescribalble but yummy. I have yet to try the pink, flower like dragon fruit yet nor the red squash like fruit either. After buying a magnet for my collection, we broaded a motorized long tail boat and rode around the canals of the Mekong River. It was fascinating seeing the country folk living in the houses built on water some quite fancy and others very rustic. An entire water community, with local stores and restuarants on water. I guess this has to be my Asian Venice Experience. I was amazed that they used the dirty water for everything from washing their clothes and dishes to bathing. We saw women clad in plastic shower caps bathing in the river from the steps of their stairs. Our tour guide explained that Bangkok city dwellers found this unsanitary as well, he assured us they had tap water but that river water was free. So go figure economics and tradition are always at play no matter where you are. I loved tht 45 minute ried
letting us glimpse countryside river life. Our boat ride ended in a small town where we picked up our bikes after having a snack of fried bananas and cold water. Did I mention that in Thailand, they drive on the left side? Being the only Americans on the trip it was hard to remember to stick to the leftside. We rode to a Buddist temple that had been built by a local monk that still lived there. It was remarkable for its intricate wood cravings from the roof to the walls. And to demonstrate that the monk had a sense of humour there were some crude depictions of male genitals within the religious cravings. Next on our ride, we stopped at a place that pays homage to Thai boxing providing a great posing opportunity for a sterotypical tourist photo with the Thai boxing statues. There we also saw a 2oo yr old temple that had been tangled up by trees. After some pictures, we rode for a long while along the fruit gardens. It was beautiful, paths lined iwth coconut and banana trees. Finally, as my butt was getting sore we arrived at a restuarant named "Home Garden by the
River" it was lovely. We ate like kings. Many amazing dishes family style, while the Europeans aksed many questions, Dapri and I dove right in and ate to our hearts content. My favorites were the sour coconut soup, I love the fish sauce that accompanied the egg omelate appetizer, and the salad made out of banana flowers phenomanal. With full stomachs we contuined to bike 5 more miles back to where we started, at this point my butt had had enough although physically I could have rode for miles. I was ever so grateful to reach our destination. On the ride back to our hotel exhaustion hit us like a ton of bricks, the adrenaline of the days events wore off and we were spent. It was a wonderful 1st day in Thailand, everything was great from our tour guides, to all the food, snacks, drinks, cold towels. Like our tour guide said " You spent a lot of money eat everything I give you" we did just that and more.
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