A Day at the Floating Market

We have never visited a floating market in Thailand so we hired a driver and packed for a day of adventure.  A floating market is like a farmer's market on the water.

On the way to the floating market, we hopped on the local train headed toward a market that is situated right on the train tracks.  It's called, "The Train Market."  All the vendors have three minutes to clear their stalls from the track before the train passes through.

Here is the view as we approached the end of the line at Maeklong Station.  You can see that the locals have pulled their wares off the tracks to let the train pass.

Locals and tourists also step off the tracks to let us pass.  Some of them even take photos of us on the train.  Look at how close they are to the train as we pass by!

When it's time for the train to head back, the shop owners again quickly pack up their things so the train can use the tracks again.  We walked through the market a few minutes after we stopped and the market was fully back to normal.

As we were traveling to the floating market, we stopped at Wat Bang Kung, a temple enveloped by banyan tree roots.

Inside the temple, people were able to buy flakes of gold leaf and affix them to the Buddha statue.

Later, we stopped at a roadside stand to buy some lychee fruit.

A lady sold us a bundle of lychee still attached to the branches.

We also visited Wat Amphawan and saw rows and rows of golden Buddhas.

This image of the wat's stupa looked surreal behind a wire mesh.

When we arrived at the floating market, we boarded a boat and sailed around for about an hour.

I immediately took out my watercolors and began to paint. 

We traveled so far that the hectic marketplace turned into miles of tropical jungle.

However, civilization was never too far away as we noticed an ice cream boat cruising nearby.

I bought a chocolate ice cream bar and got a grateful handshake in return.

We were surprised to see this gigantic statue of a Buddhist monk on the side of the river.

A close-up of his face reveals very realistic features and a piercing gaze.

We started to get hungry as we arrived back at the busy marketplace. 

Who could resist fresh, barbecued mussels and tasty, jumbo shrimp? 

We ate on the dock, but the kitchen and cooks were actually on the boats in front of us on the river.

Fresh, delicious, and very affordable.  It was the end of a perfect, day-long adventure!