Although we went to Bangkok just for couple of days to transit to Cambodia we knew that visit to a floating market was a must for us. I wasn’t really sure which one to choose but finally we took a half-day trip to Damnoen Saduak floating market which is the best known floating market in Bangkok. It is actually situated around 100 km South-west from the capital.
It took around 2 hours to get there by a minivan. Once we arrived the hustle started. We had to be fast and follow our guide to get to board on a small boat which would take us around the market. It was more crowded than I expected and very often we would bump into other boats. You just have to be careful where you put your fingers. There were approx. 6 people in the boat plus “captain” who was basically a teenager pushing the boat in the canal. Each boat captain had his friends selling stuff so he would just stop wherever his friends had their shops. Very basic rule I guess. Every shop in Damnoen Saduak floating market was basically selling the same stuff. Too bad the tour was just around 30 minutes and we didn’t spend more time in “food-court” section of floating market except for the time when we found a boat selling beer and we started yelling “beer, beer” and the guy just started to paddle for his life to catch us up. After some bargaining we got ourselves cold beers to enjoy the hot morning even more.
Second part of the tour was a long boat and further canals. Just around the corner of Damnoen Saduak floating market was much calmer environment where we were able to see some local life in the canals. Our long boat captain was a girl who likes to race I guess which was a lot of fun. After 15-minute long boat ride was done it was time to leave back to Bangkok. The way back was just so bad because we took a seat in the back of the minivan and the ride was extremely bumpy. Like always I was the only one who was awake and the rest of the crew was sleeping. But it was pretty funny to watch those Chinese heads jumping up and down in the minivan. I would definitely recommend either take the tour or just go visit by yourselves Damnoen Saduak floating market or any other floating market because it’s definitely an experience you don’t get in many places.
Useful link : Damnoen Saduak floating market
