Another day, another early morning. This morning after breakfast we were collected in a minivan and taken to a meeting point where we hopped on a bigger bus to head to the Damnoen Floating Markets. Our guide for the day was Alvin.
The first stop for today was at a coconut plantation where we could see local cottage industries. It was fascinating to hear all of the uses of coconut and to see that virtually nothing goes to waste. The green "young" coconuts are used for providing sweet flesh to eat and for drinking, while the brown "mature" coconuts have so many uses. These include being hollowed out as bowls, the flesh being scrapped out to form desicated coconut, coconut milk/cream, firewood, charcoal, and fertiliser. Other parts of the plant are used for palm oil and palm sugar. We got to see the palm sugar being made and to taste it. Obviously it was very sweet. While we were hear we also got to go inside the family's home to get a better idea of traditional Thai family life.
When we were finished we boarded the bus for our short trip to a pier where we boarded a long tail boat to go through the villages and the floating market. On the narrow waterways these boats could really pick up speed. It was a lot of fun and at times we got quite wet.
After leaving the boats behind it was time to explore 3 different sections of the market and to shop, shop, shop. David as usual bargained hard and saved us a small fortune. We walked away with David's wallet a little lighter and with the following goods: 2 pairs of trousers and a dress for me, a robe for each of the boys, a carved wooden cat for Ryan and a carved wooden dragon for Connor. Poor David came away without a purchase despite our best efforts to convince him at least he needed a tiger souvenir or a pair of Thai boxing boxer shorts - no sale.
Soon it was time to board the bus for the 1-2 hour drive back to Bangkok. When we got back to the hotel we soaked up the wonderful air-conditioning for a while before walking down to the 711 to get something for lunch. Connor went for his new favourite, pork noodles, while the rest of us tried Korean chicken with fried rice which was delicious.
We watched TV for a while before going to a swim. Unfortunately our swim ended abruptly when poor Connor broke off the bottom of one of his front permanent teeth when he hit his mouth on the bottom of the pool. We left to get him some pain relief and to try to contact our dentist in Australia to get him in as soon as we can when we get home.
Both boys were really keen to go for a ride in a tuk tuk, so after relaxing for a while we went out to find one to take us to MBK mall for dinner. We would never have thought it but it was hard work trying to find one. Eventually we found one and went to MBK.
This shopping mall is enormous with 8 floors and over 2000 shops. We decided to eat at the 5th floor Food Avenue but unfortunately poor Connor really struggled to eat anything and was in a lot of pain. When everyone was finished we decided to head back to the hotel. This time there was no trouble in getting a tuk tuk. This one was fully pimped out in an Angry Birds theme and the driver was sure in a hurry. Ryan in particular loved it and name it the James Bond Tuk Tuk. When we got back there was time for a bit of TV watching before heading to bed.
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