The Floating Market (April 24 - 25)

Getting a bus to Damnoen Saduak seemed too easy, so the Backpacking Gods threw a little wrench our way.

Instead of being dropped off in the city as expected, we were dropped off at the highway and found out soon enough that our hotel is 25 kilometers from where we were dropped off. After a bit of detective work on our part, we figured out that we had to take a song teauw (a pickup with a roof that looks like a jeepney) to the only hotel in Damnoen Saduak.

It looked like a really old hotel, but it was clean and the mattress was comfy. The only trouble was the receptionist, who refused to acknowledge us after we told him we don't want to get a boat to the floating market from him because it's too expensive. We told him the tourism bureau in Bangkok said boats go from 200 - 800 baht, and we can only afford 200. He said it's impossible to find a boat for less than 500, and he wouldn't talk to us again after; he kept his eyes on the TV screen.

We had no idea how to get to the floating market; there were no maps on the Lonely Planet because most people come here on package tours. Luckily, even though the hotel doesn't have wifi (free or otherwise), we found a weak signal and got enough time to look for the market on online maps. Even online sources were inconclusive, though, so we left the next morning with our fingers crossed that we were going in the right direction, and that we could find a boat cheaper than 500 baht.

Well, we did. In fact, we got a longtail boat for 250, no motor, and had the whole boat to ourselves, too.

We came early to avoid the package tourists, and we grabbed a few things to eat and drink from the vendors on their boats.

But the big buses arrived soon enough. And the souvenir shops made a killing from collectors of kitsch  and fake designer goods.

We asked the boatman to take us to the village, so we saw what life on the banks of the canal was like: just going with the flow.

We packed our bags at 11am and checked out of the hotel. The morning shift people were nicer than the afternoon receptionist, and when they couldn't understand what we were saying, they called the owner in. She spoke very good English and we had everything sorted out in no time, but surprise, surprise - the owner is Filipina!

She and the Thai women at the reception told us how to get to our next destination, Prachuap Khiri Khan. The directions seemed easy enough, but it was nothing like we expected. The "bus stop" we were supposed to go to was not at the bus terminal where we were dropped off. The "bus stop" was a few more kilometers away by song teauw, and it wasn't even a proper bus stop with a sign and a waiting area... there wasn't even a place to stop... we were supposed to flag down buses ON THE HIGHWAY.

And apparently, we couldn't even get a bus. The big ones speeded past us, and the bus number we were given was nowhere to be seen. I asked for help from the policeman, but he said, just wait there. Argh. The only vehicles that took passengers there were mini vans, and about three refused to take us because of our big backpacks.

It took us two hours before we could find a mini van willing to take us, and the fare was more than an ordinary bus - but we had no choice at this time. Then, we stopped just before Hua Hin to try our luck catching a bus because we heard there were supposed to be buses there. But lo and behold! The people there insisted there were only mini buses.

We asked around at the Big C Supermarket if they knew of a bus that goes to Prachuap Khiri Khan and a man said there's an orange bus... but when we got downstairs, it was the same story - "only mini vans" was the answer. Instead of wasting another 2 hours trying to get the truth out of people, we gave up and took the mini van. It began to be annoying because it seemed like the people there were fooling us into getting into the van, and even though you know it's a con, you don't really have a choice because the people there conspire to stop you from saving money.

Well, eventually we got to Prachuap Khiri Khan and we had two shanti-shanti days there, but our struggles with the public transport system in Thailand had only just begun.