Sunday, September 14, 2014

Bangkok Day 2 - Maeklong Railway Market

the main reason why i was back in bangkok for the 6th time was because Ms Loh promised me that it would be more than a non-stop shopping trip.... 

and what she meant was to 5早6早趴起来看火车挤过湿巴刹....wahahahaha.... i like... =) 

woke up at 530am to meet at 6am at hotel lobby to take bts to Victory Monument Station to look for 'van terminal' at exit 4



70฿ per pax for a van ride to the main road near Maeklong Railway Market ...


van will depart once all/most of the 10+ seats are filled up... we waited for about 15-20 minutes and while waiting, took a pic of my comfy shoes from DMK 

the van we were on had difficulties starting whenever its engine was off so it needed an additional push when it went to refill petrol... the heartening thing was that it was super easy for the driver to seek help.... with a simple request, 4 petrol station staff and customers stepped forward to push and push and push... =D  


1.5 hour later at about 830am, driver told us to alight along a main road... point here point there, sprouted some direction in thai and off he went.... 

got me panic a little as i didnt see any railway station nor wet market la.... but based on ms chia's gut feel and a pic of the train on the phone to ask around, we managed to find our way to the station within 10 minutes... =)  


based on the schedule, first train was supposed to arrive at about 945am  


there was a train parked in the station when we arrived




look how close were the stalls, tables and stools just next to the train!!!



we boarded the stationary train to look see look see at the interior... nothing impressive.... =S

as there were still ample time before the train was to depart, we took a walk through the wet market along the railway track



the passage way which we were walking on is the railway itself...=) ... how cool is that.... 






baby sharks???? 










bumped into a group of kiddos having their learning journey... luv how polite and confident they were at interacting with the sellers and how patience the sellers were in answering their queries... the kids were very well behaved, curious about their environment, doodling what they saw onto their paper... there wasnt any need for their teachers to raise their voice at them.... i was very impressed.... 


spotted two animals along the way...
"the cute one"

"the disgusting one"

we even had time to have wanton mee (40฿) for breakfast in one of the shops just next to the wet market




but to our dismay when we returned to the railway market, we were told by some random guy that the train was not coming as there was a train/ track accident the day before.... most of the tourists then scattered and left.... must be feeling super disappointed la.... 

super 心不甘,情不愿地, we decided to loiter around for a while to see if the train was really not coming and also to get some souvenir 
cute t-shirt at 150฿ for myself 


 and the usual magnet for our fridge

and boy!!!! were we glad that we had loitered around....
watch this next video to find out why?!?!?!?!?!

Yes... Yes... Yes... the train in the station would be setting off.... =) 

look how relax the stall keepers were at making way for the passing train even though they had less than 2 minutes to do so



here comes the train and there goes the train.... choo choo choo choo.... 


and with this experience checked against our to-do list for this trip, we were ready to head back to bangkok.... =)  

walk till the end of the market where there are no more stalls, 


then turn left, cross the road and walk along the shops and you will see a big red sign... that's where we took the van back to bangkok at 70฿ per pax




the trip back took only an hour due to better road condition in the afternoon... 

yummilious coconut ice-cream along the way back to our hotel 


back to hotel for a short rest before heading out to tailor make Mr Ang's shirts at Paul's Fashion at Amari Watergate Hotel ... made a total of 4 shirts at 4200฿



then to dinner at Platinum Mall




ending the post with a pic of bangkok's famous traffic jam... =P

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