One of the most interesting parts of our Bangkok Travel is the tour to Mae Klong Railway Market. It’s my second time there, and a first for most of my family members, and everyone was fascinated! More experienced this time round, I stationed myself inside the market and took a video of what happened when a train came through the market. It’s definitely something you would not see in modern Singapore. It’s way too cool.
Wore my trusty specs with Transitions lenses to the railway market, and it was a great choice. The sun was glaring that day, and I would not be able to fully enjoy the whole tour if not for a good pair of specs that protected my eyes from the strong UV rays. It’s perfect that the lenses would turn dark to make it more comfortable for my eyes under the sun, yet maintaining a vivid vision to appreciate the splash of colors at the market. You’ll see how colorful everything was at the market as you read on – I love how happy vibrant colors make me feel!
The market itself has lots of charm and local Thai flavor. Many locals shop here because it’s their usual neighborhood wet market with fresh produce and abundance of seafood selections. The reason why it’s called a Railway Market is because the stalls are set up on both sides of the railway track. When I visited the first time round, I thought they were abandoned tracks no longer in use. To my surprise, a train came through all of a sudden – The railway tracks are still in use today! This place is an epitome of what it means for civilization to thrive and develop to adapt to their environment.
Look how everything’s lined along the railway tracks. Customers walk on the railway track through the market to browse and buy whatever they need. It’s narrow and crowded but the atmosphere is vibrant and superb – I absolutely love it! My kids might be a lot less enthusiastic than me though – They are city kids through and through, and kept making comments about the smell, mud and pushy crowds. I chuckle when I think of how I am exposing them to what rural life is like. =P
You can virtually find anything you need at this market and to Singaporeans, everything was extremely affordable. The local folks were friendly and nice too.
Even though I was under the shade, there was obviously still UV rays everywhere. How could I tell?? My Transitions lenses turned slightly darker! Haha! That’s the good thing about Transitions – They adjust automatically to make the whole wearing experience a good one.
My very cute mom was more excited about what’s selling at the wet market more than the approaching train. She might hurl everything home if we did not try to control her. Admittedly, the fruits look good and fresh, but I won’t dare to purchase any of their poultry or seafood.
The whole place was jam packed with tourists. The locals must think we were an amusing bunch. What to them was an everyday normal routine turned out to be of such great interest to foreign tourists with cameras in their hands, waiting to capture everything down.
While waiting for the train to arrive, we made friends with other tourists and took photos with their cute and smiley twin boys. Such moments make travel that extra special.
The train finally passed through, much to the excitement of everyone. Suddenly, there was a buzz everywhere. The locals were busy keeping their stalls to make way for the train and the tourists were taking photographs and videos. So much fun!
Once the train came to a stop at the station, everyone rushed to board the train and take photographs. For city dwellers like us, this was certainly an interesting experience!
If you are interested to go for this tour when you are in Bangkok, I’ll be happy to share how I booked it! You can purchase a deal from deal.com.sg like I did. Our tour was a half-day one that brought us to the Railway Market and the Floating Market. Pick-up and drop-off at hotel included. Go to the website and search for “Half-Day Damnoen Saduak Floating Market & Mae Klong Railway Market Tour”. It costs $26/pax for weekday tours and $39/pax for weekends. Very value-for-money tour package in my opinion!