Get
start for the trip to the south of Thailand |
|
| aSamut-sakorn
and Samut-songkram
are 2 small coastal provinces no so far |
a |
| ato
the west of Bangkok. They are located along the Rama II
road,which is |
a |
| athe
shortest route from Bangkok to the south of Thailand.
Being closed to |
a |
| athe
sea, the local people live more
on the marine products, which is the |
a |
| afundamental
way of the thai southern living. Though, the provinces
are in |
a |
| abetween
Bangkok and the main tourist attraction,Damnern Sauduak
floating |
a |
| amarket,
the local lifestyle is only slightly changed from the
past decade. their |
a |
| alocation
and the local charm make these provinces good places to
start the |
a |
| atrip
to the south of Thailand. |
a |
| ride
on train from Wongwienyai station to mahachai,seafood
town |
|
| aWe
start our journey on train from Wongwienyai
station. The train is |
a |
| ascheduled
to run from here to Mahachai regularly once in an hour
from |
|
| a05:30
till 20:00 daily. It takes almost
an hour to arrive the destination along |
a |
| aone
of the oldest railroad in Thailand (since 1904). Being
on the real local |
a |
| atrain,
we can be very closed in touch with the local lives. Students
may take |
a |
| atrain
to classes and traders may ride on it for their inter-provincial
trade. |
a |
| aThe
scene along the railside changes obviously from the city
to upcountry |
a |
| athe
closer we approach Mahachai,the
final station on this route. |
a |
| aWe
leave the train and walk along the local fresh market.
Part of it lies |
a |
| adirectly
over the rail. The products are placed so closed to the
rail that we |
a |
| acould
hardly imagine what will they do on arrival of the train.
We hold this |
a |
| aquestion
in mind still. The answer will reveal once we arrive Samutsongkram |
a |
| awhere
the bigger market of similar placement is on. |
a |
| aThe
main part of the market is however on the railside away
from track. In |
a |
|
addition
to what being offered in the local fresh market, we find
a lot more |
a |
afresh
and dry seafood. We walk till the end of the seafood
market.
There,we |
a |
| afind
a group of the Myanmist labors working
busily to unload and grade fish |
a |
| afrom
the fishing boat onto the the private
fish pier. |
a |
| aMahachai
is not the last train station on this direction. We may
go further |
a |
| aon
train to Maeklong, Samut-songkram from Baan Laem station
just across |
a |
| athe
river. Lots of mangroves and salt fields can be seen from
the train. Yet |
a |
| awe
prefer to be closer to the salt field, one of the landmark
of Maeklong. |
a |
| aThus,
we decide to go on car this time. |
a |
asee
the salt field and walk along the exciting market at
Samut-songkram |
a |
| aWe
drive back to Rama II road and head toward samut-songkram.
Just 30 |
a |
| km.
before town, many salt fields
show up to us till the end of eyesight.Many |
|
| asalt
farmers are making piles of salt, which will later be
carried to the salt |
a |
| astorage
for sale during the rainy season. These farmers are so
hospitable.They |
a |
| ascold
their barking dogs away from us and wouldn't mind to be
taken photos. |
a |
| aWe
arrive Samut-songkram city earlier than the train. At
the exciting market, |
a |
| awe
see roughly a hundred vendors display their products alongside
the rail. |
a |
| aMany
spread shelters against the shining sun. the answer from
the question |
a |
| athat
we hold since Mahachai finally arrives with the train's
whistle. Products |
a |
| aare
put aside and shelter are lowered down for the train to
pass through. |
a |
| aThey
will be push back again in the absence of the train. |
a |
aExplore
different highlights of Ampawa |
a |
| aBack
to our car, we drive further up to Ampawa district. Before
we arrive the |
a |
| adistrict,
we turn left across the Maeklong river to visit wat
BangKaenoi. |
a |
| aExternally,
this temple looks similar to all other traditonal temples
around |
a |
| aThailand.
Its special feature is on its interior which relies on
wooden frame. |
a |
| aSeven
big planks of wood lay the floor. The artful wooden decoration
on wall |
|
| aand
ceiling are carved by the aritist from Petchaburi. They
tell the story of the |
a |
| acurrent
buddha and his previous lives. |
|
| aWat
Bang Koong noi is next
on our list. It is honored in the list of the unseen |
|
| aThailand.
People may see from posters a temple ruin which is wrapped
up |
|
| aby
the roots of 4 figwoods. As similar to wat Bangkaenoi,
this temple was |
|
| aconstructed
for the elite / wealthy men' concubine during Ayuthaya
period. |
|
| aThis
temple was twice set in the heart of the Thai military
camp,once on the |
|
| aend
of Ayuthaya, the other during Thonburi period. Set of
Thai boxers on |
|
| athe
foot of King Taksin' s monument were built up to remind
us fo such |
|
| aevent. |
|
| aWe
cross the Maeklong river over another bridge upstream.
The Nativity |
|
| aof
our Lady cathedral stands on left of the bridge.
It has been the center of |
|
| aheart
for the Thai catholics since 1890. Its structure and main
decorations |
|
| aare
in French Gothic style. The stainglasses tells the stories
of the Jesus, of his |
|
| amother,
Maria, as well as of many Christian Saints. they are the
master |
|
| pieces
from Italy. |
|
| aWe
leave behind the peaceful catholic community and drive
back to Ampawa |
|
| adistrict.
the road runs along the Maeklong river,parallel to the
road we drove |
|
| aon
earlier. We bypass the district to visit the house
of ceramicware first. |
|
| aWokers
in this house work on painting and glazing the ceramicwares.
The |
|
| adesigns
are mainly the imitation of the Thai valuable antiques.
However, the |
|
| atrendy
design is also as good. Some beautiful pieces are on sale
in their |
|
| ashowroom.
|
|
| Wat
Chula-manee is on another street next to the
street to the house. It was |
|
|
an old temple in Ayuthaya, being renovated by monk Nuang
Kovitako. He |
|
| practised
hard on meditation and contributed more on social service.
After |
|
|
death, his body is free from being decay. His disciples
built a Thai house and |
|
|
kept his dead body there in a glass coffin.The house is
quite outstanding from |
|
| the
wooden structure and its gilt design. To reach this temple,
it is possible by |
|
| either
car or boat. |
|
walk
along the evening floating market at Ampawa |
|
| Finally,
it comes to the final attraction of the day, the evening
floating market |
|
| in
Ampawa district.This market is on only in the evening
of the weekends and |
|
| also
the public holidays. it is enlived recently for the local
Thai Tourism. |
|
| Many
Thai traditional food and drink are on sale here. Local
fusion of snack |
|
| are
also available. Visitors can enjoy walking on the land
market. they may |
|
| walk
further to visit the floating market by the canal. A boat
trip to see |
|
| millions
of fireflies is another special programme. Many guesthouses
are |
|
| avialable
on advance reservation. |
|
| We
decide to leave such the busy market to stay in a more
quiet homestay at |
|
| at
Thaka sub-district.
It is in a big Thai houses by the canal in mid of the |
|
| coconut
plantation. lots of fireflies also live along the quiet
canal, though they |
|
| are
not as many as at district. The house owners fills our
dreams of fireflies up |
|
| with
her paddle boat. |
|
| We
sleep early in the calm atmosphere. Early tomorrow we
need to wake up |
|
| to
meet the monks who will come to receive our food on boat.
Good night, |
|
| my
friends. |
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| |
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| |
|
