Evening at the Food Market

Chiang Mai, Thailand
Saturday Night

The old section of Chiang Mai is surrounded by a square moat. The moat is flanked on either side by an avenue with the outer road running clockwise and the inner road going the opposite way. There are plenty of places to go in or out. The night food market is situated along a stretch of the inner street on the southern moat lining both sides of the street. Careful, you must walk in the street to check out the stands but the way is still very much open to traffic. We went on a Saturday but I think this market rolls out every night.

Appetizer
-Chicken on a Stick, 5B
-Beef on a Stick, 5B

The process here is a common one for street food in Thailand. The vendor has a small grill, with charcoal, about 5 inches long and deep and 2 feet wide. On your side is a tray of partially-but-mostly cooked meats-on-sticks. You pick your skewer(s) of choice (here, picking up a skewer, examining it, and returning it to the tray is absolutely fair play), and place them on the grill. When ready, you receive the meat sticks, like everything, in a small plastic bag.

-Chicken on a Stick, 5B
Because it was so delicious. The beef was a bit strange.

Main Dish
-Noodle Soup with Pork, 25B
Quite standard, rice noodles, some pieces of pork and, of course, the mystery pork balls that I'm not yet used to. I ate 1 of 2. The fish balls are strange also.
-Bottled Water, 10B
This is a single, sealed bottle of water already on the table before you sit down. Take it or leave it, a bit sneaky because it works. The very trusting Thai people know you'll come back up to pay.

Dessert, Part I
-Hot Ovaltine, 12B
Quite delicious. Served very hot in rubber band-sealed small, plastic bag with straw punched through.
-Some Kind of Chinese Flour, 1B (sample)
That is a direct quote from the menu. A greasy sort of doughy thing with nothing inside.
-Sweetmeat, 1B (sample)
This item was neither sweet nor meat (discuss among yourselves) but was exactly the same as 'some kind of chinese flour', a small, weightless, fried, air-filled puff/poof, but in a different shape.

Asking, in English, what something is usually lead to one of the following events: they will tell you in Thai, leaving you just as kowledgable as were you were the moment prior; they will tell you simply what type of meat is involved with the item; or (I love this one) the seller will summon another to aid in the transaction. This is an English speaking(maybe) person who often tell you simply what type of meat is involved with the item.

I don't fault anyone for not being able to give their products a detailed description in a foreign language, I just ask anyway, because even knowing what meat was used gets you well on your way to a good decision. When in doubt, if it looks good, I usually get it, especially if it's fairly small. If it's no good, which has certainly happened, I'm only out a few Baht, but all the richer in experience (and stomach aches). Stay tuned another day for some of the things I've tried.

Dessert, Part II
-Egg Honey Cups?, 5B (2 pc.)
This one is a little tricky. It is a birght yellow substance that was a flat disk the size of a thin mint but crimped into sort of a flower and held in a little cup just bigger then a single serving half & half. It is sort of a very sweet gel. That's about the best I can do. I had had them the day before and I knew I liked it.

At this point, I'm somewhere between very full and hating myself. At my count, I have spent 69 Thai Baht. The going exhange rate is just over 35 Baht for a US dollar. So if you visit the Chiang Mai food market, you can eat (like an American) all night for less than $2.

Dok Chee(Cheers)

___________________

I'm back in BKK this morning after a nice night-train ride. In three hours I board another train headed for Krabi in the south of Thailand. I did some good street/alley walking today and now I'm hiding out in a heavily air-conned internet room with great chairs, Thai music from someone's machine, and the loud cracking of video game gunfire from another. 15 Baht for an hour of interweb here.

I know I've been light on photographs lately so maybe I can do something about it now.

Awesome animals, always huge and a;ways kinda sad.


Waterfall just a couple steps from where we slept for Trek night 2. I know there's not much for scale, it's pretty big, like 25 feet top to bottom. It was an nice massage. It was paradise minus a few degrees.


Shot in the Garden at the Four Seasons Chiang Mai


Train Station, Chiang Mai


Fresh Ink, right on the train station platform