Bangkok Floating Market Tour and Fancy Dining

This was to be our last day in Bangkok for a while and we had never been to the floating market. We enjoyed our floating market tour in Vietnam so we booked a tour to see the floating market in Damnoen Saduak for 300 Bht each.

They were supposed to pick us up at 7:00 am. At 7:50 am we were about to give-up when they appeared. We drove to Damnoen Saduak by mini bus it’s about a 1 ½ hour drive. In Damnoen Saduak we arrived at a sort of longboat station and we were taken by motorized longboat to the market. We were not alone! The canal was full of long boats which were full of tourists.

The market is definitely a tourist trap and nothing like what we saw in Vietnam but it was kind of fun in a tourist trap sort of way. There was a sign saying they get 1000 tourists a day and I believe that. We stopped at the market dock after a somewhat tippy ride in heavy traffic. From there they took us to another dock where for an additional 150Bht you could go around the market in a non-motorized longboat.

There were so many boats going around the market it was grid locked so we just walked around the market. You miss the on water experience but you can still visit most of the market.

The market is a mixture of souvenirs and food. We bought three sweet Thai crepes which were very sweet. They are filled with meringue and coved in shredded egg yolk.

Harold had Kuay Jap Yan which was really good. It’s a noodle soup made with pork and pork intestine. I am glad I found out about the intestine after we ate it.

We bought mango sticky rice which is all the rage but I still prefer Banana pancakes.

After an hour wandering around the market we returned home via min-van. Turns out there is a bus parking lot beside the floating market.

We met up with a friend from home for the evening who took us to see how the non-budget world travels. We went to the Banyon Tree Roof Top Vertigo restaurant. The restaurant is on the hotel roof 59 floors up.

The views are stunning.

The service was outstanding. The sort of service where  when you need something someone magically appears with it but you never feel like there is anyone hanging around behind you.

When you ask them to take a picture for you they set it up with backlighting so it works. The food was great too. The dress code does not allow shorts. A gentleman in front of us had shorts on and they offered him a loaner pair of pants I have seen loaner jackets but that was a first.

We took a taxi home and when the hotel called the taxi for us they gave Harold a card with the taxi number and the hotel name on it in case we were overcharged. The taxi home cost us 50% less than we paid to get there!