Bangkok - Train Market

The train market was one of Nick's favorite parts of the trip.  We actually saw few other tourists there.  It was great to see a more local activity.

For two of our four days in Bangkok, we had hired a guide through Tour with Tong.  I had heard fantastic reviews of Tong and her team, including one from a good friend who'd used her the previous year.  Unfortunately I found Tong's services very lacking.  She is terrible at responding the emails.  After we had booked, we tried to confirm our itineraries and meeting times with her on a nearly daily basis in the weeks before leaving.  She did not answer or sent us back an email saying she would work on it or get back to us later.  We arrived in Bangkok without hearing from her.  We had our hotel concierge call the morning after we arrived for the next day.  If the concierge hadn't called, she was planning on ignoring our reservations.  The guide we were assigned was called by her to lead our tour the night before.  

Our guide, Charlie, was excellent for the two days that we had him.  I just cannot recommend booking through Tong though.  The lack of organization and customer service were terrible and there are many other great guides available in Bangkok.

The first stop of our day with Charlie was the train market about 45 minutes outside of Bangkok in a small town.  We got there early and toured the market a little bit.  It was quite odorous.  Fish + hot day = smelly.  They offered all kinds of produce, seafood, and meat.  I'd never seen some of the produce.  They had creepy things like eels.

The market is set up right along a train track and we wandered up and down for a while checking out the food for sale.

The train comes through about four times a day.  Seconds before the trains come through the vendors pull in their canopies and their wares.  

They actually leave some of their goods sitting on the ground and the train runs right over the top of them!  This didn't make me feel confident in the cleanliness of some of the food after a dirty train goes right over.