{Day Eight}

On our last day in Thailand we wanted to check out a market. After doing some research we found one that was supposed to be relatively obscure so we could get more of an authentic feel for the city. We packed our day bags and made our way to the bus depot to try to catch a shuttle to the Amphawa floating market.

Getting the bus tickets was surprisingly easy and we were even left with time to check out a local shopping area where the prices of accessories in Thailand got the better of me, and I left with a new pair of shoes and an unhealthy amount of sunglasses. But where else can you buy sunglasses for less than a dollar?! No regrets.

We hopped on our little bus and ventured about an hour and a half out of Bangkok to the small town of Amphora. While I don’t think I could pick a favorite day from our trip to Thailand, this market was definitely high on my list.

We were greeted by a street lined with vendors and quickly found what we dubbed as the food aisle of the market. We sampled a few different items like mochi ice cream and these delicious cheesey potato balls. Perhaps not the most traditional Thai foods, but definitely tasty. After our bite to eat we explored rest of the market which was made up of hundreds of little shops along a canal.  Both sides of the market were connected by small bridges and had sweet older Thai women cooking and selling food from their little floating boats.

After exploring the market for a while we decided to take a boat trip down the river around dusk to see the sunset and fireflies. They’re known to have trees that light up as if they have Christmas lights because of the amount of fireflies living near them which was really cool to see, though impossible to photograph.

I have to say my favorite part of the day was this cruise. Not because of the sunset or the fireflies, but because the boat took us down a part of the water that backed up to people’s homes. It was beyond fascinating to see what local people were doing in this tiny little Thai town on a Saturday night. We saw families having dinner outside, a man working on his river boat, people watching tv, women cleaning, men sitting on their docks with a beer. It was so interesting, and I’ll admit a bit creepy, to have a glimpse in on what these people who live here were doing, and to see the similarities and also stark differences to life in the U.S.

We ended our night with one last run to the “food aisle” of the market to grab some snacks for the hotel and then made our way to catch the last bus and head back Bangkok.  I love a market, and  with our flight leaving early the next morning, and I couldn’t have asked for a better experience to close out our incredible trip.

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And there it is. Eight days exploring Thailand and memories for a lifetime. I cannot wait to venture back and see more of this unbelievable country.