We went to Thailand with Affordable World. On the second day in Thailand, we had a tour of a coconut farm, Damneon Saduak Floating Market, and Gem Factory included in our tour. Coconut FarmWe left at 7:00AM from the hotel. It took around an hour and a half to get to the coconut farm. At the farm, we tried some fresh made brown sugar and got to see the process of how its made. There were some souvenirs made of coconut husks available for purchase, as well as a shop in the back with bags and other garments. These exact same items can be found at the market, so do not feel like you need to buy them here, and remember to haggle. There is a restroom here, and I did not see one at the floating market, so I recommend going here. The bus drivers usually have napkins on the bus if you need to go to the restroom; most bathrooms in Thailand did not have toilet paper. Damneon Saduak Floating MarketWe then got back in the bus and continued to the main part of our tour, the Damneon Saduak Floating Market. From pictures, I thought this tour would be riding around in a cute wooden canoe going to and from different boats and shops selling goods along the water. I didn't realize how we were going to be able to do this with our 40+ person tour group. We went 6 people at a time in a speed boat to get to the market. Once we got there, we got out of the boat and were able to explore the land part of the area. It looks like other tourist were in boats and got to shop as I had imagined. When we first got out of the boat, there was shopping right away. We were given about 2 hours to explore and told to be back on the bus by a certain time. I do not recommend buying stuff here, as it is much more expensive. The further you get from this area, the cheaper things get. There is a a hallway of shops in a tight space that feels like IKEA, where you are forced to move in one set direction through a maze. There are people pushing stuff at you and yelling prices, trying to get you to buy their stuff. Don't buy anything here either; we haggled a lot but still felt like we were losing. Soon you will get to a more open area, and this is where things get cheaper. This area is where we got to hold a lemur and a snake, but I'm not sure if they're there every day, so don't use it as a landmark. The open area will allow you to cross the river, and the shops on the other side of the river are the cheapest and sell the same things (you can always go back if you see something you fell in love with and they don't have it at any of the shops across the river). After feeling defeated from the shopping on the original side of the river, we decided to eat at this cute little restaurant they had by the river. We both had types of Phad Thai and it was some of the best Phad Thai we ate on our trip. Their prices for Phad Thai were like 150 bhat, which were pretty standard tourist prices (about $4.50). The hotel Phad Thai was 300 bhat for comparison. A signature Thai dessert is mango with sticky rice, and I highly recommend it. They give you coconut milk in a pouch (I think) to pour over it, and it was pretty take it or leave it. Based on my taste buds, there was no difference between the green rice and the white rice. Gem FactoryLast we went to the gem "factory". This was the worst part of the day, and if you can, I would just leave. I read many reviews saying that, but I ignored them, thinking it could be fun. I don't think anyone from our group bought anything, and I'm certain someone in the company is getting paid to take us there. I heard rumors that taxi drivers get paid to bring tourists to the shop. You're greeted by pretty girls in formal silk attire and sat in a movie theater to watch a video about how great Thai gems are and how they get them. Then you snake through an area where people are crafting the jewelry. Last there are two huge rooms full of jewelry, which looks just like any store in America, and the prices aren't that much better (I could be wrong, I don't buy jewelry often. But it was about $150 for a tiny ruby pendant.) We sat in the cafe until the bus was ready to leave, envious of the smarter people on our tour who managed to get a free shuttle back to the hotel. We heard a member of our group telling the tour guides to stop taking people to the gem market, and they said it was the higher ups in the company's decision, Overall, it was a fun day. If it were not included in my package, I would have booked the floating market separate on my own. The market is pretty far from Bangkok, so it makes it more difficult to get to on your own. Amazing Dinner Cruise by Grand PearlI do not recommend this. I wish I read the reviews before I booked it. The food was not great. The entertainment was okay; it was a guy singing a variety of American pop music, but he was on the other side of the boat, so we could only see his back the entire time. We were supposed to be at the top of the boat, which would have made it better, but it rained, so we went on the top deck. The windows were hard to see out of. We went out in the rain to snag some photos, but most of the sites were not lit up, and it was completely dark outside. The only site lit up was one temple in the photo below, which we passed 3 times; the boat kept going in circles close to the dock. So overall, nothing was great about this tour, and I would not recommend it to anyone. Our hotel was in a nice outdoor market, and it would have been much more preferable to hang out around there than to do the "Amazing" Dinner Cruise.
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AuthorHi! I'm Amber. I love spreadsheets and painting. This blog is where I post about my crafts and adventures. Archives
November 2018
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