18th January: Bangkok, Thailand
After a quiet day yesterday, today was back to an early start for a day trip out from Bangkok. On the way to the Skytrain, we saw monks out for early morning alms giving, which felt strange to see against the shopping centres and main roads of the city. It took us about 25 minutes to get to Wongwian Yai SkyTrain station, as the sun rose between the towers of Bangkok. The walk around the corner to Wongwian Yai train station meant finding a way across the intense construction that was underway – perhaps for another Skytrain line? – but in true Thai fashion there was a guy with a flag stopping the traffic occasionally for people to cross. The station was quite a shock after spending so long on the Chinese network. It was one track, surrounded by market stalls with many monks giving blessings to stallholders whilst waiting to board. It was little more than a halt and the trains seemed incidental in the scene.
We bought our tickets for 10 baht (24p) each for the 1-hour ride out to Maha Chai. This is a Bangkok commuter line, with only 3rd class carriages and opening windows. We perched on the hard, dusty seats and enjoyed rolling out of the city. There was no separation between life and the train as we seemingly passed through people’s front rooms and regularly stopped for just a few seconds at local halts. Drainage channels (or open sewers?), often filled with rubbish, ran under the track at regular intervals. The suburbs grew more ramshackle and temporary in appearance as we headed southwest. Many were in swamps, slightly lifted off the ground on stilts, however as we approached this morning’s fairly high tide some were beginning to flood. Eventually, the shacks gave way to the industrial hinterlands of distant main roads, warehouses, and wet grasslands full of herons and storks.
The town of Samut Sakhon on the east side of the meandering Tha Chin estuary seemed to consist of one giant market (this is Maha Chai) as we walked straight out of the train station through dark winding alleys for hundreds of metres before emerging into the already hot sun. The main road itself was lined with fish sellers.
To cross the river, we paid 3 baht each for a local ferry from which a giant gold Buddha was visible upstream. This happened to be the direction we needed to go, so we got a closer look at the sitting Buddha and found some rice and cold Thai coffee from street vendors. From this side of the river, we were to board another single-line railway to continue further west along the coast. Suddenly, our relaxed journey to this point was broken as multiple tour groups descended upon Ban Laem station from minibuses. This was way busier than we’d anticipated! We got seats beside the window but the four-coach train was full, including standing, as we passed salt farms and the occasional mangrove.
After another 1-hour 10-baht ride, we made it to today’s goal – the Maeklong Railway Market. As we approached, the number of people blew our minds. The train inched through, barely clearing the crowds who reached out for high-fives through the open windows. We will be in a thousand Instagram rolls tonight. Looking down, fruit and veg could be seen disappearing under the train. Maeklong station, just behind the market, is the end of the line and we alighted to brave the crowds and find a spot in the market to watch it pass back through on departure. One trader said we could sit on his bench, just at a safe distance, if we bought a mango smoothie. That was fine by us! Soon, the announcement could be heard in the distance and the train horn blared. The stalls all around us lifted their awnings and rolled in cabinets. People urgently looked for safe spots behind the red line. We sat, enjoying our delicious mango smoothie, as the train passed less than 10 centimetres away from our knees.
Deciding to get out of the ridiculously busy area, we tracked down a blue songthaew to head to another town upriver. These vehicles are basically pick-up trucks with bench seats on each side facing inwards. The ride to Amphawa was almost full, but Kaja was able to get a seat. This meant that I had to hang off the back for the 7- or 8-kilometre journey, which was a unique way to see this part of Thailand! Amphawa allegedly has a floating market although there were only a handful of small boats selling wares today. The entire riverside market, however, is on stilts so I guess this might be what they mean by floating? Anyway, we got some sticky rice for snacks, checked out the local temple and managed to get the same songthaew back to the train station in time for the afternoon departure.
We watched the inbound train from the market this time. The crowds were still dense to the point it was difficult to imagine this place in the way photos show it, but nowhere near to the ridiculous level they’d been in the morning. We boarded for the slightly convoluted journey back towards Bangkok and watched as a stallholder packed up for the day and rode off on the moped, all with a green parrot walking around on her head and shoulders! We saw more tropical wildlife on the way back, as a monkey was climbing an electricity pylon beside the track. The journey was hot and dusty, and we were both covered in layers of suncream and orange dirt! On the metro back, there was a warning out for high PM2.5 levels this week, suggesting that people should work from home. This explains the spectacular red sunset!
Having not eaten a proper meal today, we got off the metro a stop early to try a restaurant Kaja had found. It was in a very busy shopping centre food court and took us a while to track down but was so worth it! We shared three dishes, all of which were incredibly flavoursome. The tom yum mushrooms packed so much heat and sourness in the soup that my ears hurt (!) but we still finished it off. The stir-fried noodles with tofu were fantastically delicate and fresh. Finally, the soy protein satay was amazing. This is the first time I’ve been able to eat satay in 3 years or so, since I randomly became allergic to peanuts. My tolerance seems to have built back up to the point I can enjoy it again and it felt incredible to finally taste one of my favourite flavours again.
