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Floating Market
We went to the Damnoen Saduak floating market outside Bangkok. The
floating market is a bit touristy but is nevertheless a wonderful
experience. You rent a boat and a driver who paddles you along the
canals. The canals were full of other boats with people (women mostly)
selling wares and food. Along the sides of the canal there were vendors
selling wares (mostly souvenirs) to us farangs (foreigners). If you pointed to a vendor the driver would paddle
you over to the vendor where you could get a closer look and negotiate a price if you liked the item. While you were
shopping, you could buy food and drinks from the food vendors paddling up and down the canals. I drank coconut milk
from a fresh coconut and had the sticky rice with the custard on it. The sticky rice desert was magnificent.
Many people do not like sticky rice but one taste of this would convert just about anyone into a sticky rice fan.
The wares they sell at the floating market are basically souvenirs for us flatland touristers, but I did get my daughter Kimberly a string puppet of a dancer in an authentic Thai costume, mask, and one of those pointy gold hats that you see in all the pictures. She loved it. Since I don’t speak Thai and I am not very good (or comfortable) with haggling, I let Lucia’s sister-in-law do the bargaining. She seemed to know what was a good price. She spoke a little English and her mother helped translate since she speaks English very well (she taught English grammar in Thailand). Lucia’s niece also helped. I didn't know it at the time but she was studying English and came along so she could practice. As Lucia said, you need to bargain them down from farang prices to Thai prices. Despite the tourist-trap aspects of the floating market, it is an experience that should not be missed if you are ever in Bangkok.