Mae Khlong Railway

There's another semester finished!

Graduation was on Friday, and the annual "March Chill" is in full effect. Now, there's little to do but relax until it's time to go back to the US in April!

To celebrate the end of another school year, Pinky and I took a weekend trip to Samut Sonkhram to visit Amphawa Floating Market. We decided to go by train and take the scenic (and very long) route!

leaving Bangkok

We started our journey at a very small, hidden train station in a part of Bangkok neither of us had ever been to before. The ticket for the first leg of the journey cost me 10 baht, but was free for Pinky (commuter trains are free for Thais).

at the station

Just over an hour or so later on the rattling third-class train, we arrived in Samut Sakorn, down near the coast just south of Bangkok, where a large river empties out into the Gulf of Thailand. The air was salty and breezy, and the water briny. We could tell we were near the sea.

From the station, we had to transfer to a pier to cross the river to the other side. To get from the station to the pier, we had to take a 40-baht bicycle rickshaw trip pulled by a very strong old man.

on the rickshaw!

That was the first time I had ever taken a bicycle rickshaw before! Foreign tourists very rarely come this way, and there were no tuk-tuks. We were in a very local area.

rickshaw driver

Three baht apiece bought us passage across the wide muddy river to the other side, where we awaited the next train to carry us on the second half of our journey.

at the river

Across the river, we had a seafood lunch and waited two hours for the next train. We took the time to explore a nearby Chinese shrine with a large statue of Guanyin, the Chinese female Buddha, which had a cool, shady area to hide from the hot sun.

Guanyin Statue at a temple

Another temple across the street had one of the coolest-looking monk statues I've ever seen! It looks like everyone is getting ready for summer!

very cool monk

There was no train station there. The train pulled up in front of the temple and market area, and we hopped on, paying another ten baht to the ticket attendant on board for the ticket forward.

With the window down, the sea breeze was really nice! We passed old tin-roofed shacks and palm trees. As we got closer to Samut Songkhram, the scenery got marshier and the air got saltier.

marshy scenery

When we chugged past mounds of sea salt drying in the hot afternoon sun, I knew we were nearly there. Sea salt is one of the iconic products of this region.

salt ponds

Then, we arrived!

We were pulling into the famous umbrella market, a market built right on top of the train tracks. As the train pulls in, the vendors scramble to pull back their baskets and carts, and fold down the awnings and umbrellas that cover the market to keep it cool.

We were lucky enough to have arrived on this very famous train!

at the umbrella market

Looking down, it was hilarious to see the tourists all smashed up in the tiny narrow gap left by the train. Visiting this market is one of the big experiences most guidebooks will recommend, but not so many foreign visitors arrive on the train itself! As the train slowed down and arrived in the station, the canvas and tarp umbrella coverings were just inches from our window.

tight squeeze!

Yes, we could have gone there in one hour by bus, but what's the fun in that? Sometimes it can be nice to take things slow, to explore and have an adventure. After all, isn't the journey what's most important?