A late flight that is 4 hours, not 3 as we had hoped.  One bus to take two groups and not enough seats on the bus.  Not a good start.  We get to the hotel at 3:30AM and have to show up ready to go for a full day of sight seeing at 7:30!  Yikes!  When we awake we discover that our room overlooks a river that is busy with all kinds of boats.  There are little sampans all the way to tug boats pulling 3 or 4 barges.

We’re troopers and we all show up almost bushy tailed and ready for anything.  Our guide, Rio, is engaging, funny, and personable. 

First stop is a traditional coconut plantation and home.  It reminded me of when we stop at the home of the traditional family in Santa Elena and they demonstrate how to make tortillas, henequen rope, etc.  Here the house is on stilts and we take our shoes off to enter.  There is a Buddhist shrine and photos of the ancestors.  The sleeping area is open with low beds where night breezes would keep one cool.  There were parakeets, Koi, a monkey, a dog and some chickens wandering the grounds.  They were selling coconut products of every variety.

A short drive takes us to the launch point for the floating market.  One of the James Bond movies was filmed here with long, low boats zooming down the canals.  We zoomed too!  Quite a network of canals lined with houses.  Some of them seemed like they were about to fall into the water and others were quite big, beautiful and well maintained.  In the past, the canals were the main method of transportation for all but now it is mostly tourists.  After about 30 minutes, we arrive at the market area.  We are greeted by vendors of every age hawking everything from small bracelets to huge teak furniture.  Rio recommends the coconut ice cream from a stall on a bridge over one of the canals.  After wandering and my buying a dress, we end with the ice cream.  Rio was right.  It was delicious and refreshing.  It was served in a carved out coconut shell. Many from the group were enjoying the ice cream there too. 

Back to the bus – Luckily, the group is good at getting to the bus at the designated time so we haven’t had to wait for anyone.  Next stop is  a delicious buffet lunch at a beautiful place on a small peaceful lake.  After lunch we walk to an area where they demonstrated traditional crafts.  The people demonstrating tended to seem rather bored with what they were doing.  But, we still had fun trying our hand at making a clay elephant and flower petal hair decoration.  Then everyone entered an auditorium area for a show of traditional dance.  The grace of the women is beautiful. 

We stop for a quick buffet dinner and back to the hotel.  We’re all happy and ready for bed!