The Mystery of the Market

I was invited to go the market in the wee hours of the morning this morning by a woman orginating in Japan, living in Amsterdam, and owning a cafe in Thailand that teaches microbiotic cooking and theroy. Say that 3 times fast! A very interesting woman to say the least and speaks a variety of languages, one of them handily Thai which is a great asset when going to a market where you are the ONLY white person. Not that I minded, and no one really paid me much attention. It was very fun.

They have quite the variety of different foods. The market is held next to the mosque so there was quiet a variety of middle eastern halal foods, people come down from the mountains and over from Myanmar. Lots of avocados, vegetables, chilli concotions, soybean products, whole dead chickens of the white or black type, a variety of smells certain to please anyone. We had doughnuts dipped in molasses, I tasted many things that I can't pronounce, some more familiar falafels and samosas, and we had a soybean soup which was quite gelantenous, but also very delicious!

The market is quite a popular concept here in Thailand, and is gaining popularity more and more around the world. You can find a market just about any day here in Chiang Mai. There is a particular Sunday market that I've been frequenting each week. It's visited by tourists and locals alike and is live with music and food and various wares for sale. Some of the most interesting things I've seen is a food stall selling only deep fried insects, some of them quite large in size! You can even smell the oil as you pass by. Some of the more tasty foods that I've seen are bananas and grapes dipped in chocolate, smoothies and fruit juices everywhere, banana leaves piled with little fried quail eggs or noodles, phad thai (which has continued to disappoint me in Thailand), there are many different foods to be had.

The market is so big that I still haven't see all of it and it gets so busy as the evening wares away to night that you often find yourself slowly inching your way between stalls surrounded by other people, which I find a bit clautrophobic and exhausting after my limit of 2ish hours. There are so many colourful things to look at, paintings, and dresses, and baggy pants in all shapes, colours and sizes. And bargaining is always welcome. The typical thai pants are not so typical after all, I've only really seen tourist wear this baggy monstrous things, all the Thai people seem to be wearing normal tshirts and tank tops just like the western world. I have to admit to owning quite a few pairs myself :O

Markets are fun. Great place to just people watch if you're not in the mood to buy anything. Find a curb, plop yourself down with some watermelon juice, and you'll see all kinds of different people speaking ALL kinds of different languages. No end to entertainment.