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More of crazy Bangkok
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Hello Everyone,
We ended up staying in Bangkok for 8 days. You kind of get sucked up into everything going on here and the time flies by very quickly.
We made our way to the Chatuchuk market, or weekend market as it is also called. It was about a half hour away from our hotel. The choices were, wait for the bus which would take about an hour to get there. It would have cost less than a dollar. Or pay for a taxi at a whopping cost of 90 baht (less than $3) It is so cheap to get around here by taxi I would hardly opt for the bus, in short distances anyways.
The weekend market is the largest shopping mecca we have ever seen. They hand out a map of the area, the stalls of vendors are marked in sections. Housewares, clothing, food vendors, crafts, live animals, jewelery, etc. It goes on for miles. We spent about 4-5 hours there and only saw about 10 percent of it, it is that big! We had to leave because it was closing at 6pm. We will definitely have to go back when we are in Bangkok again.
If the shopoholics want somewhere to go, Thailand, or Bangkok in general is your place. You can shop until you drop here literally. You just might drop in the heat. The market has a lot of the stalls covered in tin roofs. Jack and I have never sweat so much, not anywhere in Africa had we experienced heat like this. I think it is the humidity that makes it so much worse. Like Africa we ended up coming to Thailand at the hottest time of the year. It can get between 40-45.C
The pricing here is so cheap, you can try to barter with the vendors, sometimes you can be successful at getting the price down a lot, other times not. You walk away thinking, did I pay too much for this? Then you realize even if you did, you just bought a beautiful silk robe for $12! Don't even get started on the shoes and purses for all of you with that fetish! We made sure to stay away from any area selling live poultry, can't be too careful with the bird flu these days! We did get to one area selling puppies. I can only imagine the puppy mills that exist here. I tried not to think about it as we awed over the cute little dogs. They had tea cup chihuahuas and fluffy little things no bigger than a powder puff. They also had little pigs with red and pink bows, probably some kind of potbelly pig.
A stall with food for sale, the 2nd picture believe it not has a bicycle inside all of that stuff. The guy peddles it around as a mobile shop on wheels.
 
We have no idea what this yellow head is supposed to be and the pig sign is beyond us as well. We spotted it as we were walking down a main road of traffic.
 
Let's talk about what we call the taxi game. It was no problem to get to the market. We simply had our hotel call a taxi for us and it was there within minutes. Getting back from places, especially at night can be an issue. We had to go stand in the middle of a busy street in between two lanes of traffic. None of the taxis could get into the lane along side the market because it was filled with vendors. They were waiting to get in with their vehicles to pack up their wares.
Walking down the tight fit between the moving cars we had to poke our heads into the taxis to see if one would take us back to the hotel. We had to go through about 8 taxis before one would agree to take us. This game goes on all the time. Taxis here will only take you to your destination if they feel it is a big enough fare, or if the traffic in that direction is not so bad, or maybe they just don't feel like it, who knows.
You have to make sure the taxi is going to use the meter. This can have you going through many taxis as well who won't turn on the meter. Then they will want to charge you some ridiculous fare. It is almost impossible to get a driver to use the meter at night. They know they have you because it is late and you have to get back, so the price goes up dramatically. Your other choice is to take a tuk tuk, but that can be taking your life in your hands, especially if you have to go onto major roads of traffic.
Now lets talk seat belts, not!!! There are no taxis we have come across yet that have had seat belts in the back seat. A few have the shoulder strap part, but no belt on the seat to clip into, we can't figure this out. The traffic is insane and the driving is that of a mentally disturbed person most of the time. We pray a lot while we go places that's all I can say!
We went out again with our fellow travelers from Chilliwack. This time to a night market. It goes on until midnight. One venue there is a large food court area, it's the size of a football field. Nothing is done on a small scale here! It has different food vendors around the outside perimeter serving up all kinds of food and drinks. You go to one central stall and buy coupons which are then used to pay for your food at any of the stalls.
The middle is filled with seating and at one end is a giant stage. Live singers come up to entertain throughout the evening. They are young Thai girls and boys trying to take their crack at fame. They sing a lot of North American music as well as some local stuff. Some of them are really good, others sound like they are at Karaoke practice. Many of the girls are doing stuff with gogo dancers, its kind of like watching a cheesy Brittney Spears video. This market was also very good. It has more high end shops than the weekend market. Very nice stuff, but the prices are also higher because of it. Still it is a good bargain for what you get compared to home.
Another night, guess what, more shopping, lol! We got a cab out to a large shopping complex called MBK. This turned out to be our most terrifying ride yet. We swore this driver was going to kill us all. He was getting very impatient with the traffic and swerving into the wrong lane to pass, and honking at everyone.
The mall is a very busy place filled with a lot of students. It has great food courts with English subtitles for the food. The food is of good quality and it makes a great place for tourists to get their first fills of Thai cuisine. The mall had 7 floors with steep escalators going up a center opening. It made quite a dizzy experience to look down as you got to the higher floors. One entire floor of the mall was all cell phones stalls. I don't know how any one vendor could make money. There were hundreds to choose from.
One thing I should mention about the clothing here, or at least what I have experienced so far in Bangkok. Unless you are like size 0 or a 1 or 2 at the largest, forget about getting clothes here. They are all made for tiny barbie doll people. Seriously I think about size 5 is the norm for the largest size offered. You can however get a ton of clothes custom made for very reasonable prices. You just have to watch who you use. There are tailor shops every few feet on the main tourist roads. Look closely at the clothes to see the sewing quality.
We were ecstatic to find out Bangkok has Starbucks. We immediately rushed into the first one we saw on Khao San road, only to be disappointed. None of the Starbucks have Chai tea here. Very strange. So we have resorted to cold Mocha Frappes. Several times we have had the banana pancakes that are made around town, especially on Khao San road. They are so delicious. We took a video of the lady making them with our camera. She whips these things out so fast, you wouldn't believe it. You can eat until your hearts content here. The food is so cheap. Jack and I can stuff ourselves to the point of explosion for under $10 Canadian. Most times that we eat a meal it is around $4-$8 for the two of us depending on what we have. We have become addicted to fresh watermelon shakes, they are so refreshing.
We have had fun walking around Khao San Road at night. All the freaks really start to come out then. We are not sure who is worse, the tourists or the local weirdos. As it gets later into the night, usually starting around 10 to 11pm you get the touts on the street approaching you. As you walk past all you hear is Tuk Tuk , peep show and ping pong. I don't think I need to go into further explanation of this. We have seen many of the Lady-boys in this area. Some of them are stunningly beautiful. You really have to look twice before you realize it isn't a women. Sometimes you just can't tell.
A family has their evening meal right on the side of a busy road
 
We quickly learned the term that is used by the locals for the western tourists here. We are known as Farangs. Some of the taxis even have stickers on their windows that say I Love Farangs!
One day Jack walked past a bar on Khao San road at about 11am. it was full of tourists. He poked his head in to find them all glued to the t.v. set on the wall. There is only a couple of channels here in English. On the set was Mr. Bean, everyone seemed thrilled to be watching it, they were laughing hysterically.
You have to give people here credit. There are some people just sitting on the sides of the road begging for money, but most are trying to earn it somehow. We have seen the same guy twice now, once on Khao San road and then again at the weekend market. He is probably in his 40's. He is totally blind and is led about by what looks like his mother. He has a speaker hanging around his neck and karaoke music that he sings to. He is actually not too bad.
People do all kinds of stuff to make money. There is another guy who rides around in a peddle cab that is totally decked out as if he was in a parade. He wears a weird outfit with high boots and a funny hat. He calls himself Mr. Thailand and has a big banner saying so across the front of the cab. You get to sit perched up high in the back like royalty as he peddles you about.
Next stop in Thailand, Kanchanaburi.
See you there.
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