Samut Songkram Province is pretty much unknown place for tourists, but for me it's like a hidden treasure, waiting for someone to discover. The good thing is most of the attractions are not crowded, which mean you have a lot of space to walk. My Samut Sakorn trip was continued from Damnoen Sduak Floating Market. Click here to read my floating market trip. I checked on the Lonely Planet Discovery Thailand book, just to see if there have some information about Samut Sakorn. Not surprise about the result, there was no information about it whatsoever. "Sweet" I thought. I told Sam "You gonna be a few foreigners who come to this province!"
It wasn't long drive when we reached Samut Songkram, because our started point was Damnoen Sduak Floating Market. 25 minutes I would say. Along the ride, I napped obviously lol. Our first destination was Wat Bang Kung. Located at the north of Amphawa. What special about this place is the temple ordination hall has been encased by the roots and branches of banyan trees. From that, it made this place one of The Amazing Thailand project. What make it even more special is my uncle is ordaining at this temple! He stands by at the from of the temple ordination hall.
This temple used to a Thai navy base and It holds great significance in our Thai history. Thai navy of King Boromaracha V used Wat Bang Kung as a camp base called Khai Bang Kung. Nowaday, Khai Bang Kung is now a Buddhist temple and a memorial to warrior heroism, King Taksin The Great and King Boromaracha V. Go back to 1767, Ayutthaya was undercontrol by the Burmese. King Taksin The Great managed to gather thousands of warriors, a lot of them are Chinese, at Khai Bang Kung. Burmese naval and land forces surrounded the fort and an extended battle ensued, but King Taksin’s warriors held strong. It was a victory that turned the tide of the war towards the Siamese (now Thailand) side.
Bored of history yet? Let's see what is inside temple ordination hall. The photo on the right side shows the Buddha statue called "Luang Phor Nil Mani" on the attitude of subduing Mara. Locals worship and respect Luang Phor Nil Mani very much. On the wall, there are paintings explaining the story of Lord Buddha. Outside of the temple ordination hall, many of life-size concrete statues of kickboxers displaying Muay Thai moves were also added. If you love Muay Thai, definitely go check it out.ฺ
The actual main temple of Wat Bang Kung is across the road. I really recommend everyone to go there because there is a mini zoo in the temple! The first time I saw that even though I live in Thailand for more than 22 years. The animal ain't like birds or chickens. They are much more cooler than that, camels, horses, geese, ostriches, peacock, bunnies etc. For Sam, his reaction was the best. Uncountable "Oh my god" word kept coming out of his mouth. He told me he can actual feed the camels. By the way, animal here don't eat kibble. Water mimosa is the only food they eat. Not fancy like Western zoo, right? Water mimosa available at the front of the mini zoo. The price is just 10 baht/bundle or around 0.28USD. I really enjoyed my time feeding those animal since I am an animal lover. The thing is even Samut Songkram is not that far from Bangkok. People still drive to Wat Bang Kung to see animals instead because it's closer and no traffic, compare to Dusit zoo in Bangkok, very bad traffic and polluted. We spent good amount of time at the temple. Now let's go to another place!
Mae Khlong was the next destination of our trip. We gonna see market on the train track! I'm very sure a lot of people have seen this online or on the magazine or wherever, however, see with your own eyes is the best. We arrived at Mae Khlong when it's around 1pm, the hottest time ever. Before we booked a spot for the train comes through the market, we got hungry and moody. My dad took us to very yummy noodle place called...I don't remember lol but it's very famous. When stomachs were full, we shall moved on to our target! ...The big amount of Chinese didn't make me feel pleasant. I booked the very front spot to see the train coming through the market but suddenly some of Chinese were just stood in front of me, like I was late and they came here first. Then another worse thing happen, the camera was out of battery! UGH!! If I was a Hulk, I would have turned green. Lucky that I still had another camera to take a photo but that can't heal my mood.
Due to the fact that people stood right next to the rail, so the driver had to be very careful. Nevertheless, a few tourist just didn't seem to care about the safety, for instance, I saw a man who only took photos but didn't stand on a safe place. The driver honked at that man several time before he moved away a bit. I heard a mongers shouted "Save your life, please!" After the train arrived on the platform, the crowd was slowly disappear.
At night time, our accommodation provided a boat to Amphawa floating market. TBH, it's a market next to the canal. Damnoen Saduak floating market is real floating market. Along the ride, we saw so many fireflies. It's a pity because my camera couldn't capture any photos because the light from them are too tiny. Light pollution is such a big concert to fireflies. Both female and male fireflies use their glowing lights to communicate with one another, to find mates, keep interlopers away and establish territory. Research has shown that lights — both stationary, like streetlights or lights from a house, and temporary, like car headlights — make it harder for fireflies to communicate. As a result, the number of fireflies will continue to decline. At Amphawa floating market, we enjoy our time eating many delish plates. Since it is next to the canal, I'd suggest to bring mosquito repellent. You will 100% need it.
The next day we started our day by visiting temples around our accommodation. My dad didn't want to drive a care so our option was ride a bike or walk. Of course, all of us picked bicycles. Sam was very happy bout that. Our first temple of the day was Wat Chulamani. The temple was built in the Ayutthaya period during the late reign of King Prasatthong. It sits on the bank where the Amphawa Canal connects with the Phi Lok Canal. Inside the temple ordination hall, there is a mummified body of LP Nueung, who was an abbot of this temple. Moreover, the relics of the Lord Buddha is also inside as well. What I love about this temple is the magnificent gold wallpaper around the temple ordination hall. It made me felt like I was in heaven.
Next temple was Wat Bang Kapom, Located just 5 minutes from Wat Chulamani. This temple also built in the Ayutthaya period. The temple ordination hall is very interesting. On the upper part of the walls, there are unusual mural paintings in the form of stucco reliefs depicting the Lord Buddha’s history. However, I didn't went in there because I didn't know it was exist. Anyway, we saw a humongous LP Kong statue at the back of the temple. When I say humongous, I literally mean that. Local believe in the power of LP Kong a lot, in fact, he is one of the famous black magic Thai monk. Many of his amulet were sold out quickly and high price.
I saw the very old building that has the sleeping Buddha inside. Behind the Buddha, there are giant tree roots supporting the wall. Some area on the face of the sleeping Buddha has some gold leaves stick on. In Buddhist, we believe that if we stick gold leaves on the Buddha with fully faith and believe, we will gain much good deed and that will lead us to heaven. Not just that, in next life, our skin will beautiful and glory like gold that we stick on the Buddha. Those two little Buddhas sit right next to the sleeping Buddha, I think they are disciples of the Buddha. At the very front, there is a Jivaka Kumar Bhaccha statue. He was born in Rajagriha, Magadh, India around 540 BCE. He was contemporary of King Bimbisara and later Ajatashatru. He is a master of Ayurveda medicine, Jivaka was also well versed in Asana and meditationpractice. Believed to have been inspired by the teachings of the Buddha.
Another beautiful Buddha of this temple that I really like is LP Darm. Darm in Thai mean black. That's right! this Buddha has black colour all over. The pavilion of LP Darm built with terk trees, decorated with two fake ivories and tiny chandelier. Such a charming contrast. On the way back home, my dad asked Sam if he wanted to see seafood market. A big "yes" came out of his mouth with those begging sugar eyes looked at my dad's face. Who can resist that? Seafood market, locals known as Talad Thai located in Samut Sakorn, very near Bangkok. The entire market is full of different kinds of fish, shrimps, crabs even pimps! I have tired pimp eggs before. It tastes like potato chips. Doesn't sound gross but it's gross. Sam pretty much shocked what he saw in front of his face. The variety of seafood like this never exist in Australia I guess, plus the price here is way cheaper than Oz. My dad took us to a restaurant inside Talad Thai market. 100% fresh fish and other seafood that's the slogan of the restaurant. We ordered several things such as Tom Yum Kong, Omelette, Saute Veggies etc. I have to say this is not bad restaurant at all. Their slogan is 100% true. Foods came quick. The service was nice compare to Thai standard. we had no complain.
Only one pity thing was Sam can't have spicy food. I would say 65% of Thai food are spicy, so basically he's already missed those 65%! Poor guy :(
Before I end this blog, Samut Songkram is another good option for a short trip, if you don't wanna drive far from Bangkok. It has many kinds of diverse and so much more to discover. In just a day you can visit many places because attractions are packed in one place. Definitely another must see of Thailand.
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