Given our experience in Chaiyaphum last weekend, we considered ourselves adequately prepared for another Thai roadtrip, we were wrong. Our excursion to Samut Songkhram taught us the number 1 principle of Thai roadtripping: as many unnecessary stops for fuel, food, and photo shoots as possible without actually getting out of the car at the desired destination.
Our adventure began at Kalasinpittayasan school, where 21 people piled into 2 vans and drove for 8 hours, and stopped 9 times, before arriving in Samut Songkhram, where we promptly shoved 7 farang into 1 hotel room and slept for 3 short hours.
Pre shopping group shot!
When we woke up after our not-so-restorative sleep, we piled back into the vans and headed towards Peaw Floating Market, the oldest and most photogenic in the area. The excursion obviously began with a photo shoot on the bridge over looking the river. It was quite a scene. The narrow river was crammed with long tail boats jostling for position to buy or sell, depending on its inhabitants.
Happy vendor selling coconut juice
Women, in boats overflowing with brightly colored fruits or stacks of bizarre hats piled high, shouted out over the shoppers advertising their goods. Meanwhile, old, leathery men huddled over small, makeshift stoves set up in their boats while rapidly preparing dishes ranging from noodle soups to meat skewers. The banks of the waterway were lined with shops selling all kinds of touristy goods, miniature Buddha sculptures, colorful umbrellas, sparkly swinging marionettes, packets of Thai spices, and an array of bugs and spiders frozen into thick glass.
hats hats hats and more hats
The smells, colors, and sounds were so overwhelming that I barely noticed as Charlotte and I were herded into our own long tail boat and floated down the river. We were bombarded by vendors hollering over our heads and hooking our boats with long poles to literally grab our attention. Despite some serious traffic jams, we arrived at the sugar cane plant amid a grid of palm trees. Inside, we sampled some sugar cane candy and palm sugar juice, both sickeningly sweet.
the name of this floating shop was spicy, get it?
In the end, Charlotte and I had restrained ourselves. We attributed this to the time sensitive and pressured decisions implicit in the art of floating shopping. We managed to escape with most of our salary intact. I purchased an elephant shaped purse (seriously, obsessed!), some sugar palm candy (which no one would eat because it was like sucking on sugar cubes), and some mango sticky rice (aroi! aroi!).
smelly crabs, ew!
Once the troops reassembled we hopped back into our vans and headed to the shoreline, which happens to be the gulf of Thailand for lunch. Due to the extremely low tide, the smells wafting up the boardwalk were horrendous. Coupled with the strange and unidentifiable seafood on display all along the walkway, we all lost our appetite before we even arrived at the restaurant that was up on high stilts, in order for be prepared for high tides.
Gloria and I checking out the low tide at lunch
Luckily, when the food arrived we remembered why we loved Thai food. And despite my usual offense to seafood, I dug right in with my big spoon. We had flaming bowls of Tom Yum Goon (Spicy tomato seafood soup), plates piled up with sea snails covered in an orange curry sauce, huge salty prawns with eyeballs the size of buttons, and several plates of unknown deliciousness topped off with huge cauldrons of kow sueye (steamed white rice).
Palmy, Reuven, and Wannee
Once we recovered from our food comas, and yet another photo shoot, we crammed back into those trusty vans and headed to the crown jewel of floating markets, Amphawa. We arrived right at opening time, so had the short-lived privilege of walkable alleys and pathways. Entering the neighborhood of Amphawa our hearts were racing with excitement, and our wallets thumped with anticipation. We were ready for some serious shopping!
Looking down on Amphawa from the bridge
We stopped at the main bridge and looked over the murky grey waters of the river, noting the differences between this market and the last one. This market wasn’t so much floating as it was very precarious placed shops along very narrow walkways along the river (no railings to speak of, of course). The long tail boats in the river were filled with mostly snacks and food products, and if you saw something you fancied, you merely waved down the boat to the nearest staircase, which ultimately resulted in more traffic jams. Atop the bridge we enjoyed a quickie photo shoot before the rain began. And then we were off. Charlotte and I buddied up and took Amphawa by storm.
The smallest shop i've ever been in,
"String Thing Shop"
Our collective purchases included numerous pairs of earrings and scarves, amphawa signature shirts, a fedora, bizarre nibbles of food, a cat-shaped case the housed contacts and solution, more earrings, souvenir picture cards, and some good luck fish from the “string-thing” store. Each shop was unlike the next, one was bright, open and airy, the next was the tightest corridor you could imagine passing as an actual shop. Each held its own treasures and mysteries, and Charlotte and I explored them all.
With our wallets emptied and our feet pulsating, we collapsed on the benches along the river and waited for darkness to fall. At dusk we all filed into some large long tail boats and headed down the river in search of the famous Amphawa fireflies. All along the river, past floating houses, resorts, and restaurants, were a special kind of tree that attracted fireflies. These blinking beauties amazed us with their light show, like Christmas lights at a disco party. Amidst the bright display we discussed the origins, logistics, and purpose of the firefly, sang both Thai and English songs ranging from traditional tunes to “Don’t Rock the Boat.”
The next morning we set off for Hua Hin, a popular beach resort town on the West side of the Gulf. We drove right past the gorgeous beach without ever setting foot outside the car, and instead ended up at Pearn Wan, also known as the 100 Year Old Market. This place was ridiculous, designed purely for Thai photo shoots, which we of course participated in. It looked like something out of Disneyland. And despite our empty wallets, we explored and shopped around. For lunch we tried something new and delicious, kow kruk ga pee. This special rice dish uses a young grain of rice mixed with tiny ground shrimp and topped with prawns, sweet jerkied pork, raw mango peels, shallots, and crispy fried garlic. A lot to process, but so strangely good. We ended the outing at an ice cream stall with sweet coconut ice cream topped with salty ground nuts, my new favorite dessert.
Before departing for home, we drove to the highest point in Hua Hin, a peak known as Chopstick Mountain. We had our final photo shoot before running back into the van, due to some overly friendly monkeys. Oh Thailand!
Charlotte, Gloria, Laura, Josh, Neil, and Me!
Greetings from Hua Hin!
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