Yesterday we woke up at 6:30am as we had booked a full day tour which included the floating markets and the River Kwai. We had breakfast again at Sawasdee Restaurant. I had some scrambled eggs, bacon and toast for a change. Dad, mum and I love their "2 fried eggs and big noodles with minced pork served on hot pan + 2 toasts"!
At 8am we were picked up by our driver, Likit, in a 15-seater van and driven quite a distance to the pick up spot for the long tail boats. we were expecting to see floating markets like the ones in Vietnam and were quite disappointed when all that happened was that we were transported to another landing jetty via some canals. Anyway, the ride in the boat was fun. All 11 of us fitted in one boat that travelled abt 15 knots. We got thoroughly soaked by other boats travelling fast in the opposite direction. We passed houses along the way that were built on the river on stilts etc.
Mum reckoned she was scared of falling in cos Dad was at the other end of the boat, too far away to save her! Ramesh was worried about getting the dirty water in his mouth and kept it fully covered with his t'shirt. The drama!
When we got to the landing jetty we were given the choice of taking a row boat to the markets (extra money) or going to see a cobra show (lots of extra money). Uncle Clinton really wanted to see the snake show so we just wandered around the very 'touristy' markets that mum reckons are set up for suckers like us. We also climbed upto a viewing point and watched the traffic jams of all the rowing boats and felt a little glad that we hadn't taken the rowing boat. Ramesh and I saw our first BB gun in the markets. We bargained the shopkeeper down to 600baht (abt $20) for a gun and a set of BBs, but didn't end up buying it.
After a quick walk around the markets we caught our van 10 minutes to the snake farm to watch "The Greatest Show in the World". Mum and dad chose not to come in. Mum doesn't like entertainment that mistreats animals. We watched men 'fighting' upto 3 snakes at a time and a mongoose fighting a cobra. One man caught 2 of the snakes with each hand and had a third in his mouth!! We then looked around the farm at the different types of snakes in cages. Next stop, The Bridge on the River Kwai.
It took us over 2 hours to get there and we were all relieved to just stand up. We went to a restaurant on the river overlooking the bridge. Great spot but the food took so long (45mins!) that we just paid for our drinks and left. Some of us walked along the bridge and learnt of the terrible history that took place there. We then went to the small markets nearby and bought some fried chicken kebabs for 10 baht (33c)! The sun was soooo hot that it was too hot to have a full meal. We also stocked up on mangosteen and durian while walking to the little museum nearby.
Being outdoors was so hot that we were actually looking forward to cramming back into the van again! Uncle Clinton asked if we could go to the cemetry next - this was where those that had build the train track were buried. Uncle Clinton's grandfather (or great grandfather?) had helped build the railway line yet survived to die at a ripe old age in Australia.
We then 'vanned' back to the hotel for 3 hrs(!) and everyone slept whilst I was stuck writing this blog! :)
All in all a long, tiring, yet interesting day.
Today we will have a small meeting with Aunty Siriwan in one of our rooms and then do some sightseeing before catching the overnight train to Chiang Mai.
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