Life at the Night Markets

It is 4 weeks today since I arrived in Chiang Mai and I am enjoying it more each day.
It is so very easy to live here, the people are friendly, the temples are beautiful, the taxis are a mere 40p wherever you want to go, there are hundreds of places to eat good healthy food and it's really laid back despite being a big city.
So far I have spent £400, that includes all food, drink, trips and a double room with wifi, tv and fridge.
It has an old town that is surrounded by a mile square moat, so very easy to read a map and to navigate your way around. Even if you get lost, as long as you haven't crossed the moat you know you are not too lost really.

The Tefl course started on Monday, for reasons best  known to myself (after speaking to lots of people who have completed the course),  I decided a couple of weeks ago that I wasn't going to do it this month but instead go and do some volunteer work, and possibly defer the course to a later date.
I have found a great place in the east of Thailand to do some volunteering, teaching kiddies basic English between 4-7pm  and have been accepted to start around Dec 20th.
I spoke to the director at the Tefl and he was very understanding and suggested that I go along for the first couple of days to see if it is what I want to do.
And so, for the past 2 and a half days I joined the new group and sat in on the class, I will decide in the next month or so if it's what I want.

One of the best things to do here is enjoy the outdoor life, especially the evening markets.
There is a night bazaar every night but the best two by far are the Saturday and Sunday ones.
They are in 2 different locations and take up the length of a road (no traffic allowed) and lots of side streets too.
Almost all the things for sale have been hand made and its all lovely to look at.

It goes without saying that dotted along the way are the mobile eating stalls. Even though I see it every night, it still amazes me how they can create such lovely food from something so basic, here is Pad Thai.
There are so many things to buy and all the stalls are set out so beautifully.

Joss sticks       

Bags purses and key rings

Every where you go you can have a massage and this includes on the side of the street at the market. These people are having a foot maggase for 150 Baht (about £3)    Look at how disinterested the masseurs are, and the lady in pink texting, so funny to see and yet so ordinary here.

Shoes

Time for a food shot...This is the sausage stall, he make some of them onto balls and you can buy strings of them, very easy for walking around with as he divideds them for you and pops them into a plastic tray with some chilli sauce, should you want it 

This lady is always so elegant, she and the rest of the band play lovely music, it is so nice to have this sort of thing included while strolling around the market stalls, and all on the side of the road.

      The Temple makes a wondeful setting for some of the stalls

 

A monk looks for bargains, a man sleeps while his ducks cool, a lady prepares food and this smiley lady shows off her freshly squeezed bottled juice.

This little girl was dessed up and had been sitting on the stool, she was happy to pose for photos, I am not sure why she dressed like this

 Tasty cakes and not so tasty bugs, whatever you want (or don't want to eat), you can find it here

Amazing paintings by a local Thai girl

Fab kebab!

This is Fatima, the girl I met from Morrocco                                                                                          







This about sums up Thailand!

You can enjoy some of the food in one of the Temple grounds, on Sunday I sat here with a girl from Morocco whom I had met during the day, we spent all the evening at the market walking, talking and taking photos.

The area is lit by lanterns, most of the people are local.

Don't laugh, tomorrow I am going to the Doi Suthep Temple, which is high on a hill.

My intention is to stay there and be taught to meditate by monks.

I have signed up for 4 days, it involves getting up at 5am, Breakfast at 7am, last meal of the day is lunch at 11am(yep, that's right, no food after noon although liquid is allowed, sadly not of the alcoholic kind) and sitting or walking around slowly not being allowed to speak.

You can only wear white clothes, of which  I picked up cheaply from the market as I will leave them there afterwards.

Oh, almost forgot, the bed and pillow is purposely hard as one of the rules are 'abstain from comfortable places for sitting or sleeping and over indulging in sleep'

Why would I deny myself the things I like most i.e sleep talking and food ?

To be honest I am not really sure. A little bit crazy I must be.

It has been suggested many times during my life that I should meditate and as this is a Buddhist country with temples and monks all over the place I decided now might be the time.

So, the next blog will be of the experience, watch this space.......