We woke up the next morning in Bangkok. But we would not be staying there much longer. We all got up extra early in order to stop at the famous Train Market. We were warned ahead of time by Rio that the people in the stalls don’t really like tourists. He explained that we come to take our videos and photos, stepping over everything, causing havoc, and blindly walking in front of the train, etc. Picture clueless stampedes of migrating wildebeest charging through a market while a train barrels through it. But they’re all holding phones and talking to their Instagram followers in live Reels. He also suggested that all the vendors know we are not there to buy anything, and that mostly we do not.
We were warned to be on our best behaviour, and not to be stupid.
With practiced disdain for the ‘other tourists’, we blended ourselves into the market and waited for the train to arrive. We were not like the other tourists. We were orderly and polite and aware.
And if you believe that hocus pocus, I have a tree farm in Albuquerque to sell you.
I immediately saw the reason the vendors have grown weary of tourists. We’re like a plague of locusts spreading over something, making it untenable, and then disappearing forever…not caring about the chaos left in our wake.
Turns out there were tourists ON the train as well. Tourists taking photos and videos of tourists taking photos and videos. Makes you think…
It was quite a thing to see, however. I’m glad we did the sideshow side trip.
Just imagine how chaotic this is several times a day for the vendors. People stepping all over their stuff trying to watch a train go by. Thousands and thousands of pounds of metal capable of ripping them all asunder. It’s no wonder they’re tired of seeing tourists.
After the Train Market we stopped at a coconut farm. It is absolutely astounding how many things one can make with coconuts! As it is with all tourist locations, there was a souvenir shop…resplendent with coconut merchandise.
It was a gorgeous place, too. So much to take in.
After the coconut farm was the big event of the day…the floating market.
This event was a little misleading. We did not really participate in the floating market. Rather, we were taken to where it is and then dropped off on land. It was definitely a gorgeous boat ride, though.
The floating market…
Once we were dropped off on land, inside a market, we could look down into the floating market from a little foot bridge. But we did not participate. We had a walking market. Talk about false advertisement. Oh well.
After the floating market, where we had an amazing lunch, we went for a river cruise. As you can see from the photos below, it was a little wet. It wasn’t the greatest weather during our trip. It was warm, but the sun didn’t come out so much and there were occasional rain showers. Anything is better than snow and cold, though.
Later that evening, a few of the tour group took the dinner cruise option. Our group of four among those who chose this option. It began at the iconic Iconsiam shopping centre. This place was the literal lap of luxury. They had every high-end store you could think of…including boutique car dealerships right inside the mall.
We had some time to snoop around the insanely upscale mall prior to boarding our dinner cruise. They had a gorgeous rooftop lounge. Of course we imbibed.
We had GORGEOUS views of Bangkok from the top of the Iconsiam…
The dinner cruise was buffet, which was a little chaotic. Not a lot of space for the buffet and everybody wanting to get to it at the same time. Rio guided us into a little nook and we were able to attack it before it got too overcrowded.
There was lots of entertainment on the dinner cruise and lots of fireworks on the shore. It was nonstop wonderment.
It was a brilliant night and such a great way to end our time in Bangkok! The next morning we would leave Rio (and Bangkok) behind. It was time to move on! We all wished Rio could follow us for the rest of the tour. What a great guide!
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KEVIN CRAIG 
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