Day 1
We set off at 12:30 on the 76 mile trip to Samut Songkhram. A very uneventful journey, and we arrived by 14:30.
First impressions of the Baan Saranrom, Amphawa resort were utter disappointment. We pulled into the car park, and I was looking for the rest of the resort. A tiny little square with 4 parking spaces, and very little turning room. From the Agoda photos, I was expecting a resort full of bungalows, and I’d be parked outside our bungalow. In reality, there were about 3 bungalows, and a 2 story accommodation block. As the only guests we were in the accommodation block. The fact I had booked a ground floor room with wheelchair access had fallen upon deaf ears (more about deaf ears in a minute). We were asked if we wanted ground or first floor. The pathway to the accommodation block was not suitable for a wheelchair – the surface of the moon would have been smoother, and at 6’ 5” I had to limbo under some of the overgrown shrubs in the garden. Lucky I’d had some practice doing the limbo in the cave a few weeks ago.
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Next came breakfast. She would be ordering it in – what would we like? The options were Rice Soup, Shrimp Fried Rice (I don’t do seafood) or Pad Kapow (too hot for breakfast). I opted for the Rice Soup, or at least my dear wife opted on my behalf for the first morning. We have to go to a grubby dining area to eat it. I guess it’s something to look forward to in the morning.
The Baan Saranron was a recommendation from a friend, who has always made good recommendations in the past. The thing that swung it for me with his recommendation was that reception would book the Firefly trip. My wife asked, and was told a definite no. In fact, the lady said you can only view fireflies at the weekend. I was getting quite P’d with the hotel by this stage.
We got to our room, and it was not too bad once you looked through the horrible green paintwork. It was clean and very spacious. It was fortunate I’d remembered to bring by plug adapter because none of my electrical appliances would fit the room’s electrical sockets, and that included my wife’s essential oxygen condenser.
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In all honesty, Baan Saranron did grow on us, and actually turned out to be excellent value for money (it must just be me – a miserable old git). Even the old woman who checked us in turned out not to be as old as I thought, and she was very helpful to my wife during our stay.
It was now time to ask Mr. Google about fireflies. It seemed to be a nightly event, and suggested prices ranged from 1500฿ to >8,000฿ if you booked via some Bangkok travel agencies that I saw on my enquiries. My friend had paid 600฿ for a private boat (him and his wife). I hoped my friend was right, but was prepared to pay the 1500฿.
Amphawa wasn’t far, but too far for my wife to walk.
I wasn’t going to push a wheelchair along dark, strange roads in wheelchair unfriendly Thailand. I drove 2 minutes to the Floating Market and straight into a parking space. We got out of the car, and my wife asked a lady who just happened to be standing there where you get a boat to see the fireflies? The lady said follow me and took us around the corner, and put us in touch with a local boatman, who asked for 600฿. I was very happy with that, and he took our money, showed us where his boat was moored, said to come back at dusk.
We found a nice place to sit and wait. When we returned, the boatman apologized, and said we’d have to share the boat with another family, and returned 300฿ to me – result.
I’d been to Amphawa Floating Market once before and it immediately became one of my most hated experiences in Thailand. So busy, and dirty. Tonight, being there on a Tuesday evening with very few people around it was quite beautiful in its own way. I was quite relaxed sitting by the river whilst waiting for our boat. OK, the river was muddy, and there was a lot of trash flowing out to sea, but this is Thailand.
At least it was quiet until old men driving their prick extensions disturbed the peace. They were most certainly breaking the 10kph speed limit. Their waves damaging their own homes/livelihoods.
There were some very ornate light fittings alongside the river. This seems to be a feature at most Thai attractions.
We got on the boat, and sat in the front 2 seats.
The other family sat behind us, and we didn’t even know they were there. Off to see the fireflies, and what an amazing site. I tried to video them, but all you see is little white dots on a black screen – not very exciting to see like that, but seeing them in the flesh so to speak was something else. I simply deleted the videos. The boatman knew exactly where to find the little beasties, and as he approached he flashed something akin to a green car indicator light, and the trees became illuminated with fairy lights. Beautiful is the only way to describe it. Photos were also useless I’m afraid. A thoroughly recommended experience though – something everybody should see once. Nature at its best. We were both very pleased that we had done the trip.
After the boat, we found a riverside restaurant and ate a very average meal, which was very reasonably priced for the setting at 500฿ for the 2 of us.
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