Shopping The Takha Morning Floating Market

The day before yesterday you saw an introduction to this small "locals" floating market, and yesterday there was more about the place itself and my visit there a handful of months ago.

What I enjoyed about it most - other than not running into another Westerner the entire time - was how laid-back the whole area and operation was. While I did hear people bargaining as they negotiated a transaction, there wasn't the heated debate that you might hear at Jatujak market, Patpong or some shopping areas in Chinatown.

To the right you can see off down the canal, where others were buying and selling

As I mentioned, this was a smaller setting, which meant most of the people knew each other, and it wasn't uncommon to see trading of items with no cash changing hands.  The women below made an exchange, as one example...

Parents and their children walked along together, shopping and visiting with their neighbors; the kids shouting to friends and sometimes pulling free of their parent's hand to run off and play.

As the boats passed by each other changing spots or moving up or down the canal you could see their wide-brimmed hats tip in acknowledgement at their neighbors going by.

The woman below was one of a few boatloads of plants, and as she moved away and down the canal she almost blended in with the lush foliage that flanked the sides of the waterway.

Grow-Your-Own coconuts, ready to plant

The hulled garlic was Bt60 per kilogram

There were so many boats selling things to eat that I couldn't sample everything available - or keep up with trying to note what it all was. I suppose I could try to take better notes next time.

If I'd had a comfortable chair I'm sure I'd have been content to just sit in the shade somewhere along there and watch the gentle activity of this place, but my friend had plans and he's so often good at planning spots to share with me that I was OK saying farewell to the place and head back to the car... but in some ways it might have been nice to have simply paddled away and seen where the water took me.