Bangkok -- Day 4 -- Damnoen Saduak Floating Market

I met Darren downstairs at 8.00 am for breakfast and Boo, the cab driver arrived at 8.30 for the road trip to the famous floating market. We had agreed upon a fare of 1500 Baht for the trip and it was worth every penny (or every satang). Most visitors mistakenly believe that it's in Bangkok, but it's actually 2 hours south by car in the province of Ratchaburi. Darren and I had contemplated taking public transportation, but it would have been too cumbersome. Boo is a good driver, but very dangerous. He ran through stop lights and went the wrong way on many an occasion; we were concerned about getting hauled by the cops, but nothing happened. I, for one, would not dare to drive in Bangkok at all. To pass time, Boo played old country western tunes, Bhangra rap as well as Thai pop songs on his CD/MP3 player. He told us that an album of CDs/MP3s cost 30 Baht (~ 80 cents US). Music piracy is alive and thriving in Asia!

Upon arrival at the floating market, we took a motor-driven ferry through the canals at a cost of 2000 Baht (~ 50 USD) for an hour. It was a complete ripoff. The ferry made "appropriate" stops for more and more tourist junk. The ferry rushed us through the main sights and gave us little or no time to relax and enjoy. My advice? Go to the main market and hire a paddle boat/ferry at a much lower cost for a better experience.

Boo took us to a very nice restaurant along the Chao Phraya river, where you see water hyacinths and fresh water cress floating. We had a family style meal with a pan fried river fish, pad Thai (Darren's choice), roasted prawns, excellent tom yum soup (spicy!) and fried rice. The lunch was relaxing and cost us 1300 Baht (~ 32 USD). If only I knew the name of the restaurant!

It was time for more sightseeing. We went to Samphran Elephant Ground and Zoo (admission 450 Baht). This is strictly for Western tourists! It's a schlocky display of mundane pachyderm facts. They show some "historical" events with elephants, elephant soccer (with cheesy World Cup 2006 players and logos) and elephants as they are used in forestry. One of the male elephants got frisky and decided to display his pride and glory to all and shower his affections right in the middle of the tourist show. You could almost sense the red faces of the mahouts! At the end of the 45-minute show, tourists could "buy" bananas to feed the elephants. Making money by fleecing tourists was a constant theme. Bleechh! Although, I must admit, the crocodile feeding was interesting.

Boo took us next to a neighboring village that put on a Thai cultural showcase (admission fee 500 Baht) for tourists. They enacted scenes from muay thai (Thai boxing), a traditional Thai wedding ceremony and various traditional Thai dances. The whole show lasted about 45 minutes and I enjoyed it very much. Whew, this was a busy day and time to return to Bangkok. During the ride back, Boo was trying his best to have us indulge in "sex tourism". Every cab driver tries this trick on tourists. Caveat emptor!

We were completely exhausted, but not so tired as to pass up on a few beers at the guest house. I met Tamara (Canada) and Francesca (Germany). Dinner was a very simple Thai curry and rice accompanied by -- what else -- bottles and bottles of Singha beer with ice. Torrential rains in Bangkok forced most of the guests to stay indoors and guzzle more beer. Many restaurants were closed and hence a huge party-like atmosphere at the guest house. At any rate, this was to be my last night in Bangkok and sadly I settled my bills at Asha Guest House vowing to be like The Governator, I'll be back!