Whenever I visited Bangkok previously, it was always to shop and eat. But this time round, I stumbled upon this particular deal for half-day Damnoen Saduak Floating Market & Mae Klong Railway Market Tour that costs only $26/pax, so my friends and I decided to go for it. It sounded pretty interesting and something different from our usual BKK trips. I was very excited about it! It turned out to be one of the best experiences ever.
We were picked up from our hotel lobby bright and early at 7am, and after an hour's drive, we reached out first stop - Mae Klong Railway Market Tour. Quite frankly, I didn't think much of this market tour. Nevertheless, it's always exciting to check out local sights, so walking through the market was quite an interesting experience on its own.
The railways looked very simplified with two rails, unlike those we have at Singapore's Tanjong Pagar Train Station.
As we followed the railways, we reached the market. The market was SOOOOO LONG we had to walk out in the middle of it! We just couldn't finish walking through it. =X
So many things are being sold here, it's unbelievable! From seafood like prawns, crabs, clams, mussels, fish to poultry like chicken, pork, lamb, beef... and there're the vegetables stalls, fruit stalls, titbit stalls... Spoilt for choice. I love how local it felt - Even though many tourists visit the place, those who were really buying were the locals! The whole place was bustling with energy, I love it!
By the way, if you notice, the stalls are set up on both sides along the railway tracks. That's the characteristic of this market!
It was somewhat interesting for Jayne when we came across stuffs she seldom gets to see such as a pig's head (yes, an entire head), snakefish, crabs etc. At certain parts, the princess in her jumped out and she started complaining about the smell and the muddy waters on the floor. =P
Just when I thought the railway market was just going to be like that, I heard someone say that the train was approaching. Immediately, I heard myself smirking, "Ya, right." Turned out, it was not a joke. What I thought was an abandoned railway station converted to tourist attraction, was actually a railway station that was still in service! I couldn't believe that a train was actually going to run through those railway tracks which were so densely populated by the many stalls on both sides of it! How was it even possible??!
I've seen this often in movies, but it was the first time I've seen it right before my eyes. The gantry was closed on both sides of the road as the train was approaching. Really cool.
Look at how everyone was crowding to the front to take photos of an approaching train? It was such an interesting sight. Once the horn was sounded, there was a frenzy of tent-keeping and stall-moving actions, to clear the railway for the train to pass through. The stall owners were obviously experts at this since they probably have to do the same thing several times a day whenever the train passes through. The railway was cleared within seconds, no joke. It was nothing short of amazing.
Thanks to Joyce who has long hands and legs, she managed to capture the whole amazing experience on her mobile video! This will give you a good idea of what happened!
Jayne was super excited to see the train! It's not everyday you can get so up, close and personal with a train, you know?
The locals ought to be amused at how excited all the tourists were. To them, this was just part and parcel of life there. Once the train moved into the train station, the roads were open again and life carried on as usual.
We loved the experience! It was really memorable for us to be able to witness it. :)
If you are travelling to Bangkok soon and would like to go for this tour, do keep a lookout on deal.com.sg for similar deals, or you can purchase a package when you reach Bangkok. There're many such packages on sale over there. Quite an interesting twist to a typical BKK trip, so I strongly recommend it. The 2nd leg of the tour was to the Floating Market, which was another interesting experience. Will blog about that soon. :)
