On our last day in Bangkok, we took a taxi north of town to the Chatuchak Weekend Market. The market occurs every Saturday and Sunday, and is frequented by locals and farangs (thai for “foreigner”). Over 9,000 individual booths including food, handicrafts, clothing (new and used), furniture, pet dogs, cats and lizards, books, towels, silk flowers….and the list goes on. So if you’re in the market for used Nike or Puma tennis shoes, a baby turtle and a new teak dining table, this is the place.

It is refreshing to see true examples of local markets thriving here in Thailand.  I wish that we could say the same in America.  Our flea markets are still going strong, and the farmers markets are picking up again.  But the average purchases are made at shopping malls and big-box stores.  I know that we will never get back to this, but I hope that we can all understand the market’s worth.

At Chatuchak, the market is so huge that they had to set up a street grid with numbered "soi" or lanes, and they distribute printed maps. This reminds me of the huge antique malls that you find in America, or I suppose it is also similar to Ikea but cooler.

There are a few blocks dedicated to books. Most are in Thai, but they were still nice to look through even though I don't know how the shop owners find anything.

This manikin was sporting a sassy grey unitard as she hung out next to the Thai oranges. It looks cool in theory, but I don't know how anyone could pull it off!!

One of many colorful paper stalls

The best thing about Thai Markets (other than the clothes, housewares, shoes, people watching, jewelry, fabric, books and handbags) is the food. Here you see a young lady serving up delicious fruit shakes. Banana is the best!!

I can report that I mostly refrained from buying anything. I walked away with a zebra print beach towel and a Thailand flag patch to add to my growing collection of country patches. I was tempted by fabric, clothing, dishes and jewelry, but we are still in the travel-every-other-day mode, so it was impractical….and I am on a frugal vacation. Is that an oxymoron?

ps. I looked for the silver beads a friend had requested. I haven’t found them yet, but Chiang Mai is supposed to be the silver mecca of Thailand, so hopefully I’ll have better luck there.

Yesterday we spent the day at Siam Square and MBK which are the big, rather, huge shopping malls in Bangkok.

…Rewind…yesterday morning we went to Chinatown again, but saw the REAL Chinatown.  It was very nice but kind of smelly.  There was an entire street dedicated to shoes, and several of them were only $3-5.  Traffic was crazy and we were always in the way.  Oh yeah, we were at the market at 6:30am.  I know.  Too early.  But we were working out the remnants of jet lag.

So back to the malls.  We arrived @ 8:30, but it didn’t open until 10 so we wandered outside people watching.  The dress(code) out in that area is drastically different than the older areas near the guest house.  Everyone at the mall was stylish and modern, which made me very self conscious.  I had also worn the wrong shoes for a day of shopping.  My feet were killing me after an hour, so by the end of the day I could barely walk.

We spent the entire day at the mall only to discover that we had missed nearly half of it.  Oh well.

**Cool Store: Loft – designy bags, containers, dishes, etc.

Afterwards, we met up with A., one of V’s friends from college.  He was super nice and took us to dinner at Cabbages and Condoms.  Decent, but not great food.  Then we went to a coffee shop called Elefin’s for Lemon Icees.  They were a great counter to the sweltering heat.

The most interesting part of last night other than the company, was the area.  The Sukhumvit part of Bangkok is completely different than the Banglamphu/Thewet area.  Sukhumvit is where all of the American and European businessmen stay when they are here.  We supposedly walked through part of the red light district, which comprised of several outdoor bars where young dolled-up Thai girls would meet older, wealthier white men.  The concept disgusts me because you know that these men would never do this in America.

Or maybe they would, I’ll hopefully never know.

Chinatown photo by Nik

Chinatown loading zone photo by Nik

MBK Shopping Mall with crazy traffic! photo by Nik

Our dinner destination photo by Nik

Nik’s Blog: Bangkok

1:30am

Yesterday (meaning 1 1/2 hours ago) was a pretty good day.  We started off by switching rooms at the guest house.  We were in a room with a shower and toilet (650 baht/$20), now we are in a room with a shared shower + toilets (400 baht/$12).  I have to say that I miss the other room, but at least we found a wireless network here!  Nik is writing emails right now!!!
After changing rooms, we made our way to the water taxi which took us down river to the stop near the Grand Palace.  We wandered around the area in search for breakfast, and found ourselves on a small side street eating the best Pad Thai ever!!!  The portions were small, but so tasty.  This is the first Pad Thai I have ever had with the dried shrimp, which is the traditional method.  It is going to be so hard to eat American Thai food after this trip!
Next up was the Grand Palace.  The Palace  has a huge white wall completely surrounding the grounds with Stuppa-like gates on each side.  All streets and sidewalks in the area were covered with Thai nik-naks, tourists, tuk-tuks and tour buses.  You have never seen so many tuk-tuks!
Entry to the Palace was 250 baht/person ($7.50), which is pretty steep, but worth it.  Nearly every wall, ceiling and surface was covered with very colorful glass tiles.  And these weren’t large glass tiles, they were very small.  There were also a couple buildings that were covered in gold leaf glass tiles.  We took several sitting breaks to rest and people watch.
Also, the Emerald Buddha is on these grounds as well.  It is located in the largest religious building on site and the most ornate.  To enter the building we removed our shoes and sat along with the other tourists and devotees.  The shrine was breathtaking.  The image (this is what they call the statue) is seated on top of a lavish golden throne that is protected by two golden guards on either side.  Also, every wall is covered with colorful glass mosaics and the ceiling is painted a deep red with golden motifs.  We were also fortunate to witness a religious ceremony being performed in the Hor Phra Monthian Dharma.  The temple itself was closed to devotees only, but several were seated along its perimeter and the proceedings were broadcast on loudspeakers throughout the complex.  We happened to be close enough to hear the congregation respond, which was beautiful.
Beyond the shrines is the actual Royal Palace.  The grounds were meticulous and the buildings were impressive.  They were a funny combination of Romanesque porches, windows and columns with the more detailed roofs that are gilded like the Buddhist temple next door.
As we were leaving, we found heaven on wheels!  Close to the exit, there was a cold drinking water truck!  It was so delicious!!
The rest of the day was pretty uneventful.  We had lunch at a little noodle shop near the university, took the water taxi back to the guest house, drank an iced coffee and took a “nap”.  We fell asleep around 2pm and woke up at midnight…which is why I am writing @ 1:30am!

Tuk-tuks lined up and ready to take advantage of any willing foreigner!!

Changing of the guard. This is the 3rd time I have witnessed a changing of the guard. First in Copenhagen, next in London and now in Bangkok.

Guard at the main entry to the temple

Reliquary on the Upper Terrace

Reliquary: Detail

Ceiling of the Chapel Royal of the Emerald Buddha

Wall Detail of the Chapel Royal

Scaled model of Angkor Wat

Wall Detail

Guard in front of Chakri Maha Prasat Hall

For more information about the Grand Palace, click here.

Nik’s Blog: In Bangkok