Chiang Mai: The Sunday Market

Before I get to the wonderful Sunday Walking Market in Chiang Mai, I thought I'd share what I thought was an odd bit of "safety equipment" found in our room.

 
For some reason, the thought of placing a plastic bag over "mi cabeza" disturbs me……

Chiang Mai's Sunday Walking Market is something to be seen, stretching from the Tha Phae Gate all the way to Wat Phra Singh, streets in all directions are filled with booths selling all matter of goods.

Unlike the merchandising hell that is the Night Bazaar, the Sunday Market is more relaxed, especially since we got there just when the market started, at about 4pm. Our hotel was located just a half block from the the street the market was on, which made things very convenient for us.

When we arrived folks were still setting up…..

 
Not many tourists were seen, possibly due to the rain which seemed to fall for a short while every afternoon, scrubbing the sky and the streets clean. Of course the Thai locals took everything in stride….

 
And since this is Thailand, food stalls are everywhere. You couldn't go but a few steps without running into a food stall.

 

This is Thailand and snacking is a way of life here. I was more than happy to participate……

 If you wanted to give up grazing and get something more substantial, we quickly learned that the courtyard of every Wat along the way was loaded with food booths.

The Wats it seemed, became de facto Food Courts.

And the range of food was amazing……

Bamboo Shoot salad….

Nam Prik…..

And of course things would not be complete without some TFC (Thai Fried Chicken):

 
And of course, there were scores of "items on a stick". Which got me wondering how many wooden skewers were used on every Sunday?

I wish I took a better photo of this woman. Her beef jerky was fantastic…..

I felt no need to partake in the surprising amount of sushi available from dozens of booths.

The variety was indeed breathtaking. From the "standards"…..

To items that were a bit more interesting….

And of course there were the items that were a bit more "challenging"…..

Fried silkworm is delici-yoso stuff…..

 

But there was stuff that I thought was even too strange for me…..

Before you knew it, we arrived at Wat Phra Singh…. and things had gotten pretty crowded.

It was time to turn around and head back to the hotel…but not without a couple of snacks along way……

Arriving back at the Tha Phae Gate we noticed a huge crowd of folks, and young men and women were dancing on a stage.

Apparently, there was some kind of dancing contest going on. We decided to get away from the crowds and head up to our room, where we snacked (yet again), and watched the proceedings.

 
The Sunday Market was an enjoyable experience for us…..

 
As much as we enjoyed the Sunday Market, we did have a few regrets. The Missus really wanted the quail eggs from this stand.

We decided to get them on our way back to our room, but couldn't find the stall….

And of course, we regret not being able to bolt on a second stomach…..