You know when you’ve lived in a city for a while, you think you know it all. I can freely admit that I thought I knew Bangkok and Thailand pretty well, but I got a wake up call when I was invited out with TakeMeTour for the day in Ratchaburi.
I’m sure you’ve read some of my blogs about my travels in Thailand, I have been to every corner of this country and seen some of the best sites on offer. So it was a really nice surprise to travel about 90 minutes outside of Bangkok for a day out I’ll remember and definitely bring people who visit me.
Here’s what me and a few blogging buddies got up to on our Noodle and Pottery tour of Ratchaburi.
The Famous Train Market
I feel a little silly that after so many years I hadn’t visited the train market. It became famous around the globe when a few well know bloggers put some videos on Youtube. It’s a really interesting place – it’s a market built around a train track. So when the train approaches the market the shop owners have to quickly pull in their goods so they don’t get hit. It’s fun watching it all take place and somehow it all seems to work perfectly. If you’ve got a guide like we had (Tommy), you’ll arrive at the perfect time to see this great spectacle. Don’t get too obsessed with just watching because you have to get out of the way too! There’s some food and coffee there if you’re looking to get a bit of energy after the 7am start.
Khao Ngu
We’d properly woken up by now after escaping the train and a gulping down a coffee. I genuinely cannot believe I hadn’t been to Khao Ngu before, if ever there’s a place to escape Bangkok mayhem this is it. The name in English means snake park but fear not because you’ll probably never lay eyes on one of them, we certainly didn’t. The park is absolutely beautiful, you instantly feel relaxed once you’re inside and can even hop on a boat ride if you feel like it. You can grab some water and snacks here too.
Coconut Farm
If you’ve been to Thailand or live here then you know coconuts are everywhere and used for loads of things. Visiting the farm made me realise just how important the fruit is to the local economy, it is a way for people to make money by producing oils, juices, milk and sugar. It’s a nice glimpse into local life.
Monkey Road
When you travel around Thailand you run into monkeys from time to time but I have never met as many as there were here. Tommy told our gang that we’d meet monkeys – he failed to mention how many would meet us! It was a super nice surprise and really fun. We bought some bananas from a nice lady and then let the madness commence as they all ran in for a feed. They were very friendly so it wasn’t overwhelming but they are full of energy.
Noodle Lunch
After the excitement with the monkeys, the train and the park, you’re very ready to chow down on some tasty noodles. There are plenty of famous noodle shops here, so you know the quality is going to be high. Tommy took us to an authentic shop away from the touristy places. The noodles didn’t fail to impress and the whole group loved them, you don’t have to get your wallet out because it’s all included in the tour price.
Pottery Tour
This was the part everyone was looking forward to, we’d been chatting all day about trying our hand at pottery. I liked the fact that before we were allowed to get our hands dirty we learnt about the history and traditions of pottery in Ratchaburi. Watching a short introductory video and taking a tour to see how the professionals make the pottery was great. Then it was our turn, now I have to say that we were definitely not the most skilled group to go through! Once we finished our work the guy there asked for our addresses – once the clay sets they’ll box it up and send it home to you, I thought that was really cool.
Should you go?
I think anyone who lives in Bangkok should definitely be doing the TakeMeTour of Ratchaburi, it’s such a great day out. If people are visiting the Bangkok area then heading out for a trip with someone like Tommy will be a highlight of the holiday!
