We had an early breakfast before our approximate 2 hour ride to the Floating Market. The market is southwest from Bangkok on a river that leads right to the Gulf of Thailand. After about 1 and 1/2 hours we made a rest stop and learned about making coconut sugar. It's actually a very interesting process where they extract the sap from the coconut flowers which are above the coconuts on the trees. They boil the sap for several hours to get the sugar. We tried a taste and it kind of reminded me of fudge but with a granular feel to it. Ray also demonstrated how to grind up coconut meat then squeeze or press it to get coconut milk. Boiling the coconut sap to make sugar Shredding the coconut meat Squeezing the shredded coconut to extract milk The coconut sugar along with other items We continued on for about another 30 minutes and arrived at the place we were to get on the canal boats for a 30 minute ride through the canals to reach the market. It was a very nice ride. We were down low right on the water so the breeze and occasional spray of water felt good. Once we arrived we saw just how incredibly busy the market gets. You can either shop right from your boat or get out in a central area to walk through the market. The boats go by each other frequently so keep your fingers inside your boat This seemed quite chaotic at times but all went well The market comes right to you This was amazing, food prepared right on the boats and served to you Rush hour on our freeways has nothing on this place Prepared right on the boat for eating right on the dock Pictures just don't do this place justice, you need to see it for yourself After spending about an hour on our own shopping we left and had a really nice lunch on the way back to Bangkok. We had our farewell dinner as a group in one of the hotel's nice restaurants as this was our last day of the trip. After our wonderful dinner we said our goodbye's to our group and made our way back to our room. Another fireworks display went on as if it was scheduled for us.
This was a wonderful and very enjoyable trip. We saw incredible sites, stayed at 5 star hotels, ate wonderful food and learned a lot about the various cultures we visited. I can't recommend this trip enough.
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