About ten minutes from us are some markets that set up on a Sunday afternoon to service the local population. On the other side of Mae Jo university they are about 30 minutes outside the centre of Chiang Mai so not on the tourist agenda, and they are not designed to be.
I am in tourist guide mode with my good friends Gaz and Saskia visiting us from Perth. The afternoon was given over to exploring some local sights. The R Rated Buddhist temple was first off – my post HERE, followed by coffee at Biscotti – my post HERE, and then drop into the local Sunday markets to pick up some fish to BBQ on Monday.
Hidden away in the back streets the market sets up on a crossroads close to a small Wat.
The bridge across the canal to the markets.
The canal. We are on the edge of Chiang Mai here.
Gaun, Gaz and Saskia.
These are true “local” markets selling everything from meats, fruit and veggies and a small range of clothes, shoes plus of course heaps of cooked food as shopping builds an appetite.
Many mini “stalls” selling whatever was picked that morning.
Mangos at $0.50 a kilo.
Market colours. Small packed fish being sold on the right.
A wonderful array of fresh vegetables. Everything here $0.30 a bag/plate.
Small super sweet pineapples. Sold with a little packet of sugar, salt and chilli as a dip. Recommended if you haven’t tried it. Sweet, sour and hot.
Everything $0.30. Chilli, tomatoes and potatoes. Garlic round the corner.
Buying our fish. Three large ones cost $8.00. Killed as you watch!
Looking through one part of the markets to the clothes area at the back.
Mixed bags of fruit and vegetables to nibble on as you shop.
And it goes on and on.
One way of getting your attention. Baby chickens for sale at $0.30 each. Colouring included.
Or “natural” ducks for $0.65.
Clothes priced from $1.00
Daughter hopped up on the bike for the ride home. I managed to catch the moment.
The serious business of buying some snack food. These are pork sausages made with a rice filling. They are slightly sour in taste and very yummy.
A fish shaped fried coating with a sweet filling.
Piles of fruit.
Very sweet brightly coloured cordial and ice. $0.15.
Pork sticks. One of my favourites. $0.30 each.
Enough food already.
As well as the food, both fresh and cooked there is a range of other “basics” such as the following:
Cheap shoes.
$3.00 watches.
Sunglasses.
For the smaller members of the family. $4.00 a pair.
Me selecting a new pair of shorts for $2.60.
Our shopping done we headed back to the car. Water and kids always go together and it is no different here. The canal proved too much for these children on a hot day while mum was shopping or working.
Bliss.
With friends.
I find one of the great things about living here is that one can “treat” oneself and have it not cost too much. I have been meaning to have a drink at this little bar just outside the markets and having visitors gave me the ideal excuse. In Australia a side-trip to the bar for a few drinks would end up costing a significant amount. Here not so much!
Riverside seating!
I wanted a glass of Thai whisky, it is actually rum, ice and coke. In the local bars the Thais don’t understand the concept of a single glass of spirits and mixer. What you are offered is the full bottle with matching bottle of mixer. As the cost for the bottle of whisky at this bar was 300 baht, only 30 baht or $1.00 more than I can buy it in the shop, it seemed like a reasonable solution.
Sang Som is my drink of preference here and at $8.50 a bottle why not.
Coming from Australia where the mark-up is 200 – 300% on a bottle a 10% premium on retail price is awesome. A bucket of ice, a 1.5 litre of coke, a 750 ml of whisky and three serves of fried chicken wings cost us a bit over $16.00. Treating oneself and guests is not a drain on the pocket.
After a hard day at the R Rated Wat, Biscotti and market shopping this went down well.
Looking down the row of salas. We were the only farang in sight.
The local rubbish bin.
The owner of the bar. Very friendly. A Thai tomboy maybe.
Heading back to the car we came across the proud owner of this Datsun Stanza. Haven’t seen one of these for a while.
This part of the day happily over. We headed home to drop off the shopping and then head out to the Sunday walking markets and a ladyboy show! Blog post HERE.
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Thanks for dropping by.
Thanks for many very interesting and informative blogs Tony. My Thai wife Mek and I are visiting Chiang Mai soon and your information has been invaluable.(She has never visited this city either) Luckily we will have a tour guide in the form of a young Thai man who lived with us in Sydney while he was studying at Uni. Looking forward to visiting some of these places you have reviewed. As we will only have 3 days there before heading up to Surin, we won’t have time to see everything on offer.
Kind Regards,
Greg Hayman.
Sorry to be slow in responding Greg. Thank you for your kind comment. Having a local will be a real bonus and you will probably writing to let me know of new places to visit! I hope you have a wonderful three days in Chiang Mai and I hope that my recommendations prove to be as “advertised”. All the very best Tony