Sting Rays, Massages, and Silk oh my!

January 11

Reading about the great markets in Thailand, James and I set out to witness the biggest of them all today. The Chatuchak Weekend Market in Bangkok is home to over 10,000 stalls and offers anything from live chipmunks to knockoff clothing to gorgeous Thai silk. While the whole place was insane (over 200,000 people visit daily) I am mainly going to discuss the “pet” section for I was blown away. If the chipmunks, dogs, various fish (many of which we saw while diving in Australia), or tropical birds were not to our fancy, we had the option to purchase sting rays in a bag, snakes, turtles, and monkeys. We did not see any monkeys or snakes for they were hidden because some of them are endangered. I do believe I saw one snake that was bundled in a sack. I cannot be sure because the sales lady did not speak English when James asked her. All I know it was moving around and was very eerie….I did not stick around too long.

The weekend market was an interesting place; you could buy just about anything. I wish I made more room in my backpack because I would have bought so much more. I fell in love with so many home furnishings. I still cannot get over how cheap everything is. We shared a taxi with a couple that moved from Oregon to Zambia, Africa, for work. They were explaining to us how expensive everything was in Zambia. (i.e. cheese for 10 dollars a block or gas for 12 dollars a gallon) They are in Thailand for an HIV convention and were going to the market to buy things for home. They were going to buy all of their clothes, dried foods, and home furnishings. I asked how they would get it all home and they said they only brought 10 kilos of items with them for this reason. I wish I could bring stuff home with me….

After the market, James and I decided to take the skytrain to the river and then hop on a longtail boat. The couple we shared the taxi with told us to take a private longtail versus the commercial because they were cheaper and would take us on a “back roads” tour. During our tour we saw many local homes, wats (temples), and floating markets. I could not believe some of the “homes”; think of the worst looking home you know and triple it. Not only were these shacks falling apart, they also were along the river and probably smelled horrible. The longboat tour definitely gave us a preview of another side of Bangkok. I thought Bangkok was a pretty rough place with the tailless cats, children begging for money, general appearance, and bathrooms…this was even worse.

For our evening activities, we decided to check out KhoaSan Road since we didn’t make it there last night. It was early, so we grabbed a drink at a restaurant and played cards with some other travelers. I say a drink as if we could order whatever we wanted, but it is not true. It is Election Day in Thailand so there is no selling of alcohol. Many of the restaurants/bars are breaking the rules by not selling beer or drinks that look like they could have alcohol. It is funny because James couldn’t order a whiskey and club, but he could have a whiskey and coke. Our hotel restaurant got around this by putting beer in cups instead of clear glasses. The other travelers we met were very interesting. They were both from Canada and had met earlier in the day. One of them is actually an ex-pat is living in Thailand for three years and works for Haliburton (sp). My cousin Brad works for the company in Oklahoma. It is funny how it is a small world. Blair was telling us how he has also lived in Africa and the States with his position. What an exciting life he lives!

After a few hours of playing cards, James and I moved up the road in search for dinner. We stopped by one of the street food stands and shared Phad Thai. I have had this many times in the states, but it was never as good as this. James and I were both blown away. My stomach was feeling better, so it tasted even better. I am still on the search for banana pancakes. When I’m not in the mood I see them everywhere, but when I want them they all disappear.
After our outstanding dinner, we walked into a long market. I found so much, but didn’t get anything…we have so much more time in Thailand. James, however, found a really nice pair of Billabong swimming trunks. The tags and everything were still on them. They are listed at $49.95 USD and bought them for 400 baht (13.50 USD). He wanted to try them on, so we asked and she said of course. We looked around for a dressing room, but she said you do it right here, it’s ok. Next thing I know, James is trying on the swimming trunks in the middle of the market. Only in Thailand….

After the market we ventured to a movie/DVD stand. I fell for this in New York, so I was skeptical, but James kept on saying ‘it’s Asia, it has to be better!’. James wanted the movies Australia and the new James Bond movie, so we bought those…two movies for 160 baht (5.33 USD). The man said they were in English, but when we sat down to watch, they were in Thai with English subtitles that did not translate well. The video quality was amazing, just like watching it on a real DVD. James thinks he will be able to bring them back tomorrow, I think he is crazy. We shall see…

It was another great day in Bangkok, I look forward to continuing our trip and seeing what tomorrow brings. Who knows, maybe we will see the lady boys…the possibilities are truly endless. : - )

Now a few words from James...

Well Sam has given you the run down on what we have been up to. Bangkok is fun even if it is a little hectic. The weekend market was crazy, but Sam forgot to tell you about the “rooster” section. We passed hundreds of cock fighting roosters in wicker cages. The cage looks like a smaller version of an upside down papa-san chair, except smaller in diameter and maybe a little taller, with more wicker going around to keep it from getting out. We even passed the pit where they fight, and it look like last night’s losers weren’t doing so well. We should have taken some pictures but I think we were both trying to walk through without getting pecked from either side. Some of you may know my feelings about PETA, but this place was 10 times worse than anything you would ever imagine in the states. Walking through the pet section first shocked us a little bit, but the rest of the market was better. It would be nice to buy a lot of stuff here and take it home, but it’s just not possible. Maybe towards the end of the trip we can throw out some clothes or something that we don’t want to take home. In regard to the movies, the quality really is amazing, I’m just mad because he assured me they were in English. I’m going to go back there and ask him why he lied, and just see what he says. I don’t really think I will get anywhere, but maybe some potential customers will hear me asking and not buy.

That covers everything we wanted to tell you about except for one major thing: the toilets. I think Sam is more fortunate than I am because the women’s are sometimes a little better than the men’s. In our hotel it’s not too bad. It looks like a regular toilet, you just can’t throw any paper products in it, there’s a little trash can for that. But speaking of paper I should say that Southeast Asians do not use toilet paper, they use bidets or possibly the bucket (I will tell you about that in a minute). We knew this ahead of time and brought some TP with us. When you flush it the water rushes in and it fills up to the top. Then gravity takes the water level slowly back down to where it started. This isn’t very efficient since you will need to go through this process a few times. But really that’s not too bad. Public toilets, or toilets that are anywhere besides the “nice” hotels, are where it really gets interesting. The first one I tried to use had a small bowl with a low water level in it, about a third of the height of a regular toilet, but no seat. There were two foot pads that you are supposed to stand on to hover over the bowl (I saw a similar setup once in Europe). When you are finished you can’t flush, you have to sluice it yourself. If you aren’t sure what that means I’ll try to explain it, or maybe if you are feeling energetic you can Google this process yourself. There is a faucet to the side with a large bucket underneath it. In the bucket is another smaller bucket and water that has dripped from the faucet. You take the smaller bucket, turn on the faucet, and fill it up. Then you dump this in the toilet, the water level comes up, and then gravity causes it to very slowly settle back down to the original level. This is even slower and less efficient than the toilet in our hotel room. It's almost like watching water leave through a partially clogged shower drain, although I don't think DRANO would help at all... I don’t know where everything goes after it leaves the bowl, but that really isn’t my problem so I’m not going to worry about it. Sam said that the one she used actually had a seat, but I guess men aren't afforded such luxuries. She did say that the next time she used one it was similar to mine, so I guess it depends on where you go. I should also mention that if you want to wash your hands you better bring your own soap and towel; we carry hand sanitizer with us everywhere. So basically I use the hotel bathroom and try to avoid anywhere else. But that's what it's like, so maybe we will get used to it. I don't know what the bathrooms will be like when we are volunteering, but maybe they will at least be a little cleaner. Two people have told us to prepare ourselves for toilets on the train when we travel up north. They must be even worse than what we have already seen. Don't worry, I'll report back after we get there :).

That's it for now. Keep the comments coming, although it would be nice to see that someone other than our immediate families are still reading (even though we appreciate their support!).