Is there any way to Tongs secret place without Tong?
 

We are leaving next month to Thailand - very, very excited. I have my N.Chandler map & some great guide books, but no Tong. I am so envious of the secret place on the boat that she takes everyone. Could anyone suggest an alternative to get there? Thanks!

If you want to go to Tong's secret place, you must go with Tong. This is a personal arrangement she has with a fisherman and his family.

Oops. New forum confusion.

The "secret place" is not just the place. It's Reed and his wife and the ambiance as well. Tong has an arrangement with this family. You could probably book a day there with one of Tong's team, even if Tong is not available. I can assure you it will be a memorable day.

Can somebody give us the link to Tong's website?

www.tourwithtong.com

she is also preparing a new website but i do not think it is quite ready

The little village actually seems to be a local vacation spot with restaurants, hotels, etc. I'm sure if you can manage to get there you can arrange with the fisherman. We paid him directly.

we went with nui from tongs team, and combined the day with a visit to the railway track and floating markets. marvellous. definitely go with a guide- it really is not just seeing a "village"

4bams, so is the railway track market, floating markets and secret place all included in the 2500BT per person tour?

degas, we paid 6400 bhat for 2 people for the railway market, floating market, and secret place, once you add up all the gas, monkey food, etc. See my trip report for the details of the trip as well as the cost breakdown. Tong was booked so we went with Kung, and she was great. We had a goodtime and thought the trip was worth the expense.

http://www.fodors.com/community/asia...s-cambodia.cfm

We recently had the pleasure of spending a day with Tong. We combined the Floating Market with the Secret Village and had an incredible experience. As others have said, the day is more than about going to the Floating Market and Secret Village. Even if you can do these on your own, you would not get the rich experience of spending a day with Tong. From the moment you step into her car, she will fill you with chatter and information about Thailand, the food and the people. She is a delightful person to be with and she truly enhanced our experience. I have heard that her guides are also wonderful. The costs of her services were a bit expensive, but to me the experience was well worth it. If it is the cost that troubles you, perhaps you can find someone else on the forum that would want to share in the day.

sorry I just see now that you asked about the cost (I cannnot get the hang of this new site yet)

no, there were some extras- a lot depends on the type of transport that you use (car vs van etc) I believe those costs are on the web site. we paid for gas, and incidentals like our lunch at the fishing village, bananas and melon for the monkeys. one reason to do the fishing village/train market/floating market on the same day is that the vehicle and driver are needed only once, and as the sites are all out of town there is far less driving to do one longer day than 2 half days. I cannot recall the final tab for the day, but we are a family of 4 travelling with a depressed canadian dollar, and I remember thinking that the tour was worth every penny. personally, this is not the place to cut back in my opinion- it is the experiences that you will remember later, not this hotel vs that, or this meal vs. that.

I'm going to contact the fisherman without using Tong. No middleman. Its win-win this way.

Win for you, lose for Tong?

Mango7-Tong brought the secret place to the attention of tourists. Going behind her back to cut out the middleman to save some money seems a bit distasteful. It has the feel of trademark infringement. Not to mention that the long ride down there and back would be much more enjoyable with her bubbling continuously.

How would you even find the village, and the fisherman, without Tong?!

I've just been and unless you speak Thai, I think you will struggle to get as much out of the trip without a guide as little English is spoken by the fisherman and the other staff at the place. Tong translated a lot for us and put our questions to the fisherman. This isn't like the usual tourist set up you go to in Thailand - we did not see any other people in the vicinity other than locals who live there. Very unusual for Thailand not to see a tourist on a tour...it felt like the most peaceful place in the world.

I think she also mentioned that people who book would have to pay a minimum charge - as if 5 people were going on the trip. With Tong, we paid for just the 3 of us - I think this is because she brings them so much business. You pay the fisherman direct though. We gave a tip as well though - it was such a fantastic day.

I really think it would be better with a guide. Would definitely recommend the trip - with Tong.

One other thing - you can stay the night in the fishing hut. I would definitely do this next time if I had no kids with me - or my kids were older. It would be magical.
BB

I would also LOVE to sleep out there!

i'm just thinking that if i stayed the nite there with gpanda i would kill myself before morning...

there is no air con bob - he might have to keep cool in his speedos!!