How to go: There are regular van services costing 70 Baht from Victory Monument under Phaholyothin highway, Saphan Kwai side to Maeklong. some links here, and links here and here.. From Maeklong, take a songthaew (blue shuttle van/truck service) for about 5 baht to Ampawa (15-20mins ride). Some photos of the journey after the jump.
Accommodation: Stay at the cheap and cheerful Chababaancham, a laid-back no-frills resort by Ampawa river. Hotel review at the end of this post.
victory monument
parking bay/terminal where the shuttle is located
van that takes you to Maeklong
on the Songthaew
Amphawa/Ampawa Canal stems from the Maeklong river, and along it's length there are a variety of shops, hotels, and a floating market. Weekends are busy at Ampawa, with locals and foreigners frequenting the Ampawa floating market. The boyfriend and I visited Ampawa over friday and left on Saturday afternoon for Maeklong to catch the train at the train market.
On the friday afternoon we arrived, ampawa was quiet, and the walkways were empty save for a few tourists and store owners.
After having spent a couple of days in the heart of bustling Bangkok, we really appreciate the peace and quiet of Ampawa. It's the best place to relax and do nothing! If you would like to avoid crowds, visit on a weekday afternoon and it would suit you perfectly.
right outside our hotel
Life at Ampawa is pretty much very river-centric, with many of the local folks making a living by fishing, or by selling souvenirs by the river/stream.
After some much-needed rest at the hotel, the boyfriend and I took a stroll around the walkways to explore the shops by the Ampawa canal. There are quite a few souvenir stalls, clothing shops, as well as a few eateries and cafes. Typical things for sale included toys, figurines, postcards and t-shirts (touristy ampawa ones, and also custom-print t-shirts, couple t-shirts).
t-shirts and memorabilia
t-shirts, accessories for sale
Aside from a couple of leather accessories that the boyfriend bought, majority of the souvenirs and clothes for sale didn't really appeal to us, so we decided to explore eating options instead. It was nearing evening time and majority of the food stalls and night market were about to open, so we killed some time eating some local brand of ice cream that had very interesting flavours like blueberry cheese (mine) and sherbet ice cream (his, can't remember the exact flavour but it was a very sour fruit).
blueberry cheese and what was is, passionfruit sorbet? even the sour-loving bf couldn't take it
By the time we were done with our ice creams, the market was in full swing and we were ready to eat, eat, eat! Dining options were aplenty with both snack stalls and sit-down eateries, and even a live-band eatery! Here's a couple of photos of the fare available at Ampawa market:
stuffed crabs. Mmmm delicious
fried mini eggs
soaked tapioca (in unknown sauce)
fried woks of goodness
even stationery is available
The bf's pick: amazingly delicious thai fish cake (spicy!)
My pick: sweet dessert made of flour, egg yolk, coconut
even comes with the ceramic container?!?!
not-so-impressive drinks
fried mini crabs
fried fish balls
sitting-down zhi-char cooked on a boat
chefs hard at work on boats parked by the canalside
Though Ampawa is famous for being a evening floating market, as an evening floating market it closes shop rather early- expect majority of stalls to close by 8pm. Pretty much everything is closed by 9pm, save for the live music venues/eateries.
And contrary to what one would expect, the most special time of the day in Ampawa is actually the morning- at dawn, one can watch the monks trail the walkways, or paddle their boats along the canal, and people (locals and tourists alike), engaging in alms-giving.
a quiet row at dawn
Majority of hotels/bnbs at Ampawa can arrange for guests to engage in alms-giving with monks. This can be carried out on the walk way or by the canal-side, depending on where your hotel/bnb is located. The boyfriend and I opted for this and woke up an early 6am on saturday for it. Though it was very brief (ended before we knew it!), it was an interesting experience and we would highly recommend anyone to try it.
alms-giving
presenting the monk with alms
after sunrise, taken by the bf
After almsgiving and a hearty breakfast, we made our way via the songthaew to Maeklong to catch the train pass through the train market. I'll be writing about this in the next post.
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Accomodation: The boyfriend and I stayed at Chababaancham, a small hotel/bnb located off the canal of Amphawa. We booked through agoda and it cost us below SGD$70 a night but you can try booking through the official site as well, which might offer more competitive costs.
Here are some pictures of the path leading from the bus stop where you get off the song thaew to Chababaancham hote.
map of where you are when you get off the song thaew stop
cross the road and you will see this path, walk straight along it
further on you will pass by some shops (closed) and a colourful pathway
turn right once you hit the walkways, you are now on the walkways along the ampawa canalside
walk straight for about 10 minutes, turn right when you see a statue on a bench, you are now near the entrance of chababaancham resort.
We booked the VIP room, which comes with an 'open' outdoor shower, comfy double bed room and a hammock on the 2nd floor. As we only stayed 1 night we didn't get to fully utilize the hammock, but it was nice chilling out on the hammock.
next door
our unit
our comfy bed
bedside lights
toilet area
outdoor surroundings
VIP hammock
washroom near reception area
Breakfast at chababaancham is a simple affair-their offerings are somewhat limited- we had breakfast around 830am and the items available were the standard bread (toast it yourself), jam, butter, boiled eggs, fried rice, and also some soupy porridge-like dish with prawns. Drinks available were a couple of juices, coffee, tea and milk. There were also some fruits like lychee and longans.
A slight irk is that they didn't keep the food warm- the food had been precooked and left on the dining area tables in their ceramic containers/metal trays, so if you like your food warm, perhaps get up earlier (before 8am) so that you can eat when the food is freshly prepared.
I don't know what mysterious ingredient they put in the fried rice, aside from the carrot, egg, spring onion that are clearly visible, but it was really quite tasty and I couldn't help being a bit greedy, getting myself a second helping.
delicious fried rice
The dining area was located very near our rooms and is quite spacious but in an outdoor setting. The morning we had breakfast there the weather was quite cool so eating there was comfortable.
Our stay at chababaancham was definitely value for money, and put us in a great position to explore the length of the amphawa canals/night market. Though we wouldn't hesitate to recommend this to others, perhaps next time if we return we'd like to try a different hotel/bnb that's located right by the canal instead of deeper inside.
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