We took a taxi from central Chiang Mai back to the airport around 8AM and arrived WAY too early for our second Air Asia flight. The date was Saturday, May 9. Our plan at this point was to head from Chiang Mai over to Cambodia to visit Angkor Wat. Unfortunately, there were no flights that went from Chiang Mai to Siem Reap without stopping in Bangkok. So, I thought that rather than rush from one place to the next (I thought I learned my lesson from Germany), we would stop back in Bangkok for the day and have some R&R. I realized when we were there, however, that instead of it being a relaxing day, it was another single night in a strange hotel and 2 flights back to back. The flights weren't long, but we did spend a lot of time in airports.
One of the main reasons for spending an extra day in Bangkok at this particular time, however, was the famous Chatuchatk weekend market in the northern part of the city. Only open on the weekends (hence the name), our first few days in Bangkok were during the week. (Side note - there is one classic Thai experience that we didn't do, that I feel I should mention. Floating markets used to be a staple in historic Thai culture. The ones we read about or the ones close enough to visit from Bangkok had become huge tourist traps. If you're interested in seeing one, you'll have to make the effort to get far enough outside the city to see an authentic one.)
It's also worth noting that when we flew internationally from the United States to Bangkok, we flew into the Suvarnabhumi Airport, officially known as the Bangkok Airport. This is the new international airport that just opened not too long ago. Prior to that, the main Bangkok airport was the Don Mueang Airport. This airport is still in use and used by budget airlines for shorter flights. When you're taking a taxi to the airport, you need to be specific about from which airport you're departing.
Anyway, where was I? Oh yes, back in Bangkok for the weekend market. Since I knew this is was our main activity for the day, I picked a hotel in a good location to the market, and this particular hotel even had a shuttle just for the market. For our second Bangkok hotel, we picked the Centara Grand at Central Plaza Ladprao Bangkok. (I've hyperlinked my review if you care to read it.) It was the cheapest hotel we stayed at (about $95/night), and was a very nice hotel. The only negative was that the shuttle had no return service. It dropped us off at the market, and then we had to find our own way back. The hotel is too far north (hence the lower price) to make it terribly desirable for sightseeing the rest of the city, but for our purposes, the location suited us.
They allowed us to check in around noon (early!) and we booked the 2:00 shuttle. In the meantime, we took a covered walkway over to the Central Plaza (mall!) and got some lunch.
What a crazy place, this market! Thankfully, they prohibited smoking, though there were plenty of other strange odors. The market has a main strip of outdoor stalls, and then a vast network of covered stalls. Unfortunately, about 10-15 minutes after we arrived, it started pouring down rain. The air always feels a little fresher while it's raining, so we hung out near the exterior stalls because the interior stalls were still stifling. The rain storm lasted the better part of an hour, so at one point, we did venture through the inside alley ways.
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| Chatuchatk Weekend Market - Bangkok, Thailand |
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| Downpour at the Chatuchatk Weekend Market |
The stalls had everything imaginable. Food, clothes, terrible designer knockoffs, ceramics, flowers, etc. Only the San Pedro market in Cusco, Peru seemed to have a wider variety of wares.
My husband purchased some balls of dough that contained a sweet mango/nut goo. Yes, that's the official description. Haha! I got a grape ice pop from a random old lady with a barrel. (Side note - that was a very dumb thing to do! Have you ever heard of the traveler's bug?? Just wait until my section on Singapore...and you'll understand.)
I also bought some trinkets. I got a mini Buddha, a golden elephant and a magnet for our Tae kwon do master.
Since it had rained so much, we found transportation in limited supply. We decided to walk back to our hotel. The heat made the walk very unpleasant though we enjoyed the scenery. Well...most of it. We walked through a lovely park that had a beautiful pond. Here is the conversation that ensued.
Me - Wait a minute? Do you see that?
J - What IS that?
Me - Is that some sort of hose or filter system?
J - Do you see the color of that pond? That's not a filter.
Me - Uh...then what is it?
J - I think we should leave...and quickly....
Me - Why? <<gasp>> please tell me that's not a snake...
J - Well, I can't exactly tell if it's a python or a boa, and I don't really care to find out.
Friends, I do not jest. We stood in the middle of this park in Thailand, and saw the. single. biggest. snake. I have ever seen in my life.
We arrived back at the hotel drenched in sweat and fear. We showered, and then headed back across the walkway to find dinner and breakfast for the next day.
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| Walking to the Central Plaza from our hotel - Bangkok, Thailand |
After indulging in some Thai pizza for dinner, we took a walk around and found a food market in the basement. This reminded me much of the huge Japanese super malls. These high-rise shopping centers had everything you could possibly want to buy from clothing to television sets, but the basement always contained a food market.
For dessert, we found these amazing cream-filled corn cakes. There were 8 in the little bag that we bought, and they were some of the most delicious little cakes I've eaten in my life!
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| Cream filled corn cakes in Bangkok, Thailand |
Thanks for reading!
- Foxy the Traveler
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