Sunday at the markets

Today was an early start from the Amari Boulevard. We had a van, complete with head and plenty of room for all of us and al the gear. First stop was a place called the "Risky Market". Vendors set up their stall on either side of the railroad track. Right up to the track. People walk the track between the stalls to do their shopping. When a train comes, everyone steps off the track into a stall. Vendors fold up the awnings that extend over the tracks. The train goes through and everything goes back to normal. Amazing.

"Risky Market" Note people walking along the tracks.

All of these awnings are set up to be pulled back and out of the way when the train comes through. 

And here's the train. Not a great picture, but you can see the sides of the train run right over the food displayed on the side of the tracks.

Some people have a real stall - not just baskets. 

No idea what these are, but the shells are pretty

Fish on a stick

At times it was quite crowded. 

A block of dried squid. Really an amazing collection of food, both along the tracks and in the "inside" market along side.

Next we went to a "floating market". The vendors are in boats. There is one in Bangkok, but this has become a tourist attraction. We were out in the countryside, where mainly the locals show up. A few of us got a ride in one of the shallow boats. I'll have to get the picture from Michael. 

 Some bring plants, others cook in their boats, others bring produce. It seemed to be a place for people to not only shop, but come for Sunday brunch. As we were leaving we saw a man with 4 sprouted coconuts that he would take home to plant on his farm. Our guide told us that people used to plant and therefore rely on only one crop until the king did some research and decided that people should diversify. Now farms usually have coconuts and bananas, or a fish farm where the banks of the ponds are planted with other crops like Thai basil. 

We also got to drink some green coconut water and eat some of the white. Much different than from a ripe fruit.

We stopped at one other market/shop house where we had hoped to get lunch, but the restaurant was closed. Being somewhat nervous about seeing the dishes being washed in tap water and no soap. We decided to wait until we got back to eat.

We drove back to BKK through rice paddies, fish farms and shrimp farms. Those pics are on the iPhone, which I have not moved to the laptop yet.

More rational start time tomorrow - meeting at 9 AM.