day 3 - Bangkok, markets and jam on toast

Sunday, 27 October 2013

Our Sunday started earlier than previous days, leaving the hotel at 7am to find the local flower market. On the way through a nearby park, we came across lots of Thai people walking and jogging and making the most of the cooler part of the day. In one square, an energetic young Thai man was leading a group of middle aged and elderly people in an aerobic workout. There was a lot of wiggling of hips and waving of arms to the beat of some 90s club music.

(Locals enjoying a morning wiggle)

Back out on the street, it was quieter than usual and we even encountered some locals who were yet to wake up.

(This Thai man was happy to sleep perched above his basket)

The flower market was only a short walk from the hotel and it was wonderful to see the locals preparing for the big day ahead. Monks dressed in orange robes walked from stall to stall, and appeared to be blessing the stallholders and their goods as they walked past.

(One outdoor section of the market)

(A relief on the market building)

 (A monk wanders between stalls)

The market was full of beautiful flowers, of all sorts - roses, orchids, lilies, carnations and more.

 (Orchids at the Flower Market)

There was also lots of fresh food and fragrant spices, ready for people to make their flavoursome Thai dishes. Limes, chilli, garlic, ginger, turmeric, tamarind, cinnamon, safflower and so much more.

(No shortage of chilli)

(Dried herbs and spices to bring home)

 (Two little kangaroos made an appearance at this stall)

(All shades of pink. Preparing garlic to sell)

We headed back to the hotel for breakfast where we enjoyed a Thai style bento box. It contained sweet mini omelettes, rice noodles with roast pork, coconut jelly and fresh watermelon. Yummy!!

(The dining room set for breakfast) 

(Thai style bento box for breakfast)

After brekkie, we headed out to the Chatuchak weekend market; the largest market in Thailand. It holds 15,000 stalls and has around 200,000 visitors per day. It contained everything from souvenirs, to clothes, pets, plants, food and household items. Nicky was a bit distracted by all the shiny, sparkly things so unfortunately there aren't any photos to record the experience but suffice to say the variety of goods and the number of people was pretty overwhelming.

We arrived back at the hotel mid afternoon and relaxed for a while before Paul and his Dad began assembling the bikes. The plan is to catch the train on Tuesday morning to Ayuthaya (pronounced Ay-yoo-tay-ah) where the four of us will spend the day together and on Wednesday morning we'll say goodbye to Paul's parents before setting off on our bikes.

(Paul looking just a little bit excited)

(Putting the final touches on the bikes)

Once the bikes were built, we headed out for dinner. Many restaurants are closed on Sundays but we found one that served good food in a nice, clean setting. On the way back to the hotel, we came across what looked like a dessert parlour, serving interesting looking sweets. We pointed to one item on the menu, expecting to receive some custardy pudding thing which turned out to be strawberry jam on toast! Noodles for breakfast and toast for dessert... we'll get the hang of this eventually.

It was a great day altogether - both markets were fun and so interesting but we are definitely looking forward to getting out into the countryside and breathing some fresh air.