walking street

We've been making friends with the hotel kitty - who came for a visit on Sunday.

On late Sunday afternoon and evening, the Walking Street (market) happens along Ratchadamnoen and Ratchaphakinai streets. It's an amazing array of handicrafts, food and performers, not to mention a diverse crowd of shoppers, both locals and foreigners. 

One end of the market at Thaphae Gate

Shrine at Wat Chedi Luang (I think)

Services were taking place at the wats along the route. At many of them there were numerous stalls within their grounds selling all the varieties of items in the market, plus religious goods too. No one seemed to mind tourists viewing what was happening in the temples and then continuing to shop.

These guys could really play!

We had a great time walking the length of the market (although we skipped the huge collection of stalls on the other side of Thaphae Gate) and then retired to a restaurant with a good view of the street for a spot of people watching and some nasty South African Chardonnay. (Didn't realise quite how nasty till the next morning). We didn't need any food: while walking we sampled crispy fried squid, spring rolls, pad thai, deep fried and stuffed chillies, dim sims, steamed black bean buns and other sweet things we didn't know the name of. 

M took this pic - jelly and bean sweets - delicious!

I didn't see any of my new favourite dish, khanom khrok (rice cakes cooked with coconut milk, served hot) - but luckily found some tonight, not far from where we are staying. 

wat market wat market wat

Ok, nearly caught up with myself... We've been in Chiang Mai for a couple of days now. The number of markets here is amazing, and the place is well-known for its Night Bazaar, which is HUGE. We had a preliminary viewing last night, and then had to come home for a rest. I will return...

Night bazaar - just a small section...

Our local coffee/ bike rental shop

Today we rode around on our rented push bikes, taking in the sights and stopping when we felt like it. First stop was Warorot Market, a local market over three floors, with a great view of the main floor. 

Warorot Market - where the locals shop

Then it was an exhausting route of coffee shops, side streets (sois), wats, lunch.

Wat Mahawan

Street graffiti

Wat Meng Rai

What wot wat?

Sukhothai (new city) got a bad rap in our guide book, but we decided to stay there to be closer to the main attraction, which was Sukhothai (old city).  The Sukhothai Historical Park covers a wide area and is 12k out of the new city, so we opted for motorised transport. 

We loved both old and new.

 

what wat?

With two nights in Ayutthuya, we had a full day to explore the ancient temples. We ended up riding about 20 kilometres! Some fantastic sites/sights, not many other tourists around - a great town to visit. 

walk the plank

Yesterday there was a story in The Nation (Bangkok newspaper) about the outcry over a photo of a planking monk. We met some Thai friends for lunch, and invited them up to the 52nd floor of our hotel to check out the view. And someone joked - "good spot for planking."  (Even if we didn't think planking was for plonkers, we had to sign a good behaviour policy before they unlocked the doors to the balcony.)


The morning was spent meandering around Chatachak markets. We were there at 10am and it didn't seem too crowded. One of the more startling offerings on sale were what looked like human skulls. 


I loved the ingenuity of wrapping a drainpipe in material. It's hard to tell from this pic, but it looked lovely. 

political posters, Thai style

We don't really know what they mean, but they're way more interesting than Australian campaign media.

One night in Bangkok

Actually, we're staying four nights... in an amazing location, thanks to an internet deal and the god of upgrades. 

After lying relatively fallow yesterday, today we went out to see Wat Arun. We caught the ferry across the river to admire the architecture up close. 

The buildings to the right of the Wat are also very beautiful. When we arrived there weren't many tourists, and it was atmospheric with the tinking of the bells from the Wat next door, and the sky turning darker as rain clouds began to gather. 

M scaled all stairs - half way up was far enough for me. 

In the afternoon, we had an outing to the Bangkok Art and Cultural Centre, a fantastic gallery modelled on the Guggenheim. Some great exhibitions including wall murals covering two levels. 

And you have to love a gallery that lets you buy ice cream from a food exhibition and wander around eating it. M had wasabi flavour, I had green tea and red bean - although I was tempted by global warming.

Brownie, Global Warming, Wasabi

The gallery also has artists' outlets and shops on some of the floors. The best one that I saw was Trash Chic, a collective that makes beautiful bags of all shapes and sizes out of recycled rice bags. Check it out if you're passing.

frog saliva

Wiring more haywire than usual!

Having experienced dodgy internet connections the last few days, this is just a quickie from a local cafe.

For our last night in Saigon, we lashed out and had a fantastic meal at a fancy restaurant called Nam Phan. Decent wine served in proper wine glasses, interesting and delicious food: grilled eggplant, braised tofu and mushrooms, mudfish and pork claypot, beef in betel nut leaf, goose with galangal. Also the most beautiful bathroom I've ever been in.

My dessert was hasima with lotus seeds - we asked a couple of waiters what 'hasima' was and finally got 'frog saliva - good for your health.' So of course we had to try it - the texture and appearance was like soft pear, no real flavour of its own - the lotus seeds made it kind of nutty, in what seemed to be a fruit syrup.


We're departing for Thailand tonight.

Swizzle stick of the week

Strawberry & sugarcane juice, Pho 24

Saigon Sunday

We started the day with a walk to the park, collecting some passing donuts on the way. 

A still photo just doesn't capture the beauty of the whirlygig man's bike - beauty amongst chaos. He's here every weekend and makes more windmills while he's waiting for sales. 

Walking around district 1 we came upon a display in another park. The lanterns looked gorgeous, even in the daylight. 

 After a spot of shopping we enjoyed some cocktails at the Hotel Majestic. Built in 1925, it's a splendid building riverside and has fantastic views of the river. 

This party boat was getting ready to leave as we left the hotel. 

We called into the Co-op on the way home, and found out that this weeks' promotion/entertainment is Koko the koala - not sure exactly what he's promoting, but he gave us a friendly wave when he could see I was taking his photo.