Thaton 3: Walking Market

On Sunday we drove the three hours back to Chiang Mai so that we could go shopping at the Sunday 'Walking Market,' although I think 'Ambling Market' might be a better name as one must not be in a rush to make it from one end to the other. We were out to see what may be found that was new and interesting, but there was not much we hadn't seen before. We couldn't help noticing the price of cotton scaves went from 79THB each at the popular end of the market, to 25THB each at the far end. I suppose they are relying on people getting worn out by the slow and hot walk and giving up before they make it all the way down.


The food was, as ever, very tasty and we started with Khao Soi (yellow noodles with red chicken curry) and followed it up with various Khanom (tidbits? snacks?), little pastries and sticky rice sweets, my green coloured coconut and tapioca wormy drink, mango with sticky rice, and sweet roti which I didn't need at all but thoroughly enjoyed.

We bought a pair of hot pink and black shoes with pompoms for SP, and hummed over some baby fisherman pants but put them back in the end. I was a bit taken by some of the prints being sold by a Chiang Mai artist, Chumpol Taksapornchai, and I bought a limited print of a watercolour entitled 'Calm in Awareness,' which will probably end up on SP's wall eventually.

Nearly away!

Woo! Exciting! On Tuesday D, SP, and I are all off to Penang via Bangkok for a week or so, and then my aunt's place in Thaton in far Northern Thailand for another week or so. We haven't been to Thaton for a few years and I am very much looking forward to it, it's like our second home. It will be the shortest overseas holiday we have ever taken; we are easing ourselves into travel with a munchen. Even stranger, we have even booked our hotels in advance instead of just rocking up on the doorstep and hoping they have a room for us. This pair of backpackers is now a trip is going to need to do things very differently from now on. In Penang we intend to wander about eating fabulous Malaysian food and not much else. We might even sit by the pool at our hotel for hours at a time (it's where the WiFi is ;-)) When we get to Chiang Mai we're going to hire a car and drive the few hours out to Thaton. And then not do much at all because that's what holidays are all about.