Last year when I travelled to Bangkok with some friends, we visited the Damoen Saduk Floating Market and enjoyed it very much. So, this time round when we were planning our family trip to Bangkok, I thought it would be fun to include that as well. You see, when we were still kids, my dad brought us on a family vacation to Bangkok and we visited a floating market together as well. My irritating brother then (OK, in all fairness, he was probably only 5 or 6 years old) played with our camera and took out the unused film, exposing all the photos we took at the floating market! Till today, I still blame him for the lack of memories I have of that experience. So, this was a trip to make up for my loss! Haha!
The voucher I bought from deal.com.sg was for a half-day trip to Mae Klong Railway Market (I blogged about it here), as well as Damoen Saduk Floating Market, but when the agent got to know that I had visited that place before, she suggested to bring us to Amphawa Floating Market instead, which was supposedly more authentic and localized, with lesser tourists. So that’s the one we went to in the end.
Our Amphawa Floating Market tour started off with a 60-minute boat ride round the coast of the nearby village. Love the breeze and the rural and rustic feel of the place – Almost non-existent now in Singapore.
Jayne makes a drama out of every experience, as you can see. In this particular episode, she’s singing in the wind with an unmatched gusto.
Don’t be deceived by the somewhat cloudy weather. The UV rays were still strong, as you can tell from the shade of my Transitions Signature lenses. Someone once joked before, “Wearing Transitions has a bonus point – You would know how much sun block to slap on your face.” That’s really true, isn’t it?? Even though it may not be sunny, the UV rays may still be present and strong. Put on more sun block to protect your skin, just as Transitions lenses do for the eyes!
Love what we saw during the boat ride, and definitely made me appreciate my life more. Many of these poorer people do not have good living conditions. Their main water supply is the river, from which they take water for cooking, bathing and washing. Yet, so many of those villagers smiled broadly at us when we passed them by, and their happiness was obvious. How ironical that urban dwellers like us, who live in better conditions, are often not as happy as these simple folks?
Because I’ve been to Damoen Saduk Floating Market, I could understand what the agent meant when she said that Amphawa is a more authentic and localized market. Unless the former which has lines and lines of shops targeting at tourists, the latter is a lot simpler in terms of layout. There were only a few shops accessible by boats, and obviously selling souvenir items targeted at tourists. Majority of the shops were onshore, and they were all selling local produce, daily necessities and the food stalls were packed with locals. Definitely made me feel like I was in the midst of a local Thai market. Love that feeling!
Cooking on these narrow wodden boats require skill, in my opinion. Yet, the vendors all did it with great ease and grace. It’s after all, their livelihood.
We disembarked, and the first thing we looked for was coffee. Typical Singaporeans, you see. Don’t you love this little cafe with its charms, little knick knacks and a little resting corner?
The kids were given ice-cream while the adults indulged in their caffeine. In Bangkok, always go for coconut ice-cream, I say! They are served in real coconut husks with generous toppings of mango & coconut strips, peanuts and corn. It’s an extremely tummy-happy food!
While exploring the market, we came across very colorful fruits, local produce and even sumptuous BBQ seafood offerings such as HUGE prawns (Not kidding you – Extremely huge ones), squids, clams, mussels and even lobsters!
It was such a happy sight to see many locals feasting on the river banks. Everything smelled delicious and no one bothered with whether they were hygienic or not. In Bangkok, just indulge!
We couldn’t resist and ordered a beef noodle soup to share. It was SO GOOD. The soup was flavorful and tasty and the noodles were so springy!
You might frown on this but I let the kids eat it too (and they didn’t have any tummy ache after that, for the record). In fact, they were the one fighting to finish the noodles!
Damoen Saduk and Amphawa Floating Markets have their own strengths and weaknesses. At the former, we could buy fruits and little snacks from many vendor boats on the river. It actually felt more like a floating market. There are many shops on the river banks accessible only by boats selling souvenirs and gifts, targeted at tourists. At Amphawa though, you get a taste of authentic local Thai markets. There are a lot more food options and many shops selling souvenirs, local produce and titbits and even clothes and shoes. In any case, you can find none of such things in Singapore, so go ahead and explore Bangkok at its most authentic! :)