Floating Markets, Ancient Ruins and Awesome friends

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I took a 12 hour sleeper train from Chiang Mai to Bangkok. It was a blast. I met some really cool people, we watched a movie to pass the time and within a few minutes my seat transformed into a full bed for the rest of the ride. The train is the way to go. Just make sure you get lower bunk, sleeper with AC and you are good to go.

I had a list of things I wanted to see in Bangkok and around. The floating markets and Ayutthaya. I booked 2 tours from Khao San Road after doing a bit of price comparison.

The Floating Market tour was a 1/2 day and was pretty cool. The place is crawling with tourists, dare I say there are more foreigners than Thais. We arrived and hopped on a longtail speed boat to the market. After that we had the option to rent a slow paddle boat to see the market from the river. I chose to do so, it was like playing bumper cars with boats. There were so many people. Regardless I did manage to take some pretty pictures, eat some weird new food and find little nooks in the market that were more genuine.

After the floating markets and a little bit of a hostel annoyance, I moved my lodging to Khao San road. Turns out my friends were also in the area and we met up to spin poi in the park. It was such an amazing time and great to see familiar faces. We ended up grabbing some delicious food, getting a foot massage, a fish pedicure and taking a joy ride in a Tuk Tuk to Chinatown and back. Just before we were about to turn in for the night we started spinning poi near a place jamming good music. We did this for hours, I even learned 2 new tricks! So fun!

That next day I was off to Ayutthaya. This tour was a full day and was packed with different temples, ruins, etc. The most amazing to me being the buddha in the tree. It was much bigger than I expected it to be, it was nice to see in person after looking at only photos for so long. I reccomend a day trip here, it's worth it!

Well, tomorrow I'm off to a 10 day mediation. No communication with the outside world. No talking period. Have no idea what I'm in for. Wish me luck!

Next up Vipassana.

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Comments

[Bodlagz]

Good Value Tours
I think these tours of Thailand are great value, been on 2 myself, Ayutthaya & Bangkok, Kanchanaburi & Floating Market. Tip: If you have sufficient numbers it's best to fill the minibus with only your personal party.