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January 01, 2006
Kentung morning market, then Kentung to Chiang Mai
The next morning I woke up early and wondered about the local early morning market. Before taking pictures of people, I first asked or tried to bribe. The first attempt was with a women selling these small bags of fried culrly things. She handed one to me, I ate it, thought “ummm…yuck”, but bought a package for 500 Jyet anyway. Then I got the shot. Later one I walked about the market and offered the curled whatevers to people I wanted to take pictures off, including this old woman and young girl. She didn’t seem to like the friend curly things either.
After getting bored with the main street market I wandered into the surrounding side streets where people were going about their daily business. At two houses I found people working on some sort of dough making machine which were basically 3m long cantilevered hammers that would pound the dough. Two to four people would work one end to raise the hammer and then let the hammer head fall onto the dough itself every second or two. (There will be a a sound clip in the audio gallery soon.) As the hammer head was being raised, a woman would flip the dough halfway like an omelet. After many minutes of this, they would add some red stuff and be done with it. I think the end result was the doughy-like fried things we ate for breakfast, but am not sure.
After my stroll I sent back to Harry’s for coffee, etc. My fellow guesthouse tenants told me that the friend curely things were pork rinds. Double yuck! Somehow this lead to a conversation about my vegetarianism. At one point, this lone 50-something American package tourist with guide asks me “Is your skin turning yellow? All the vegetarians I know turn yellow.” It is one of the strangest questions I’ve ever heard, but coming from this bumbling fool (he said lots of little, zany things) it was really not a surprise.
Once it reached 9am or so, Britney and I caught a 500 Baht each taxi to the boarder and made such good time that we made it back ‘home’, well at least for me. She was en route to Pai for New Years Eve. Once we crossed the boarder we caught a fully packed 8 Baht Sawngthaew to the bus terminal were within twenty minutes we were on a 50 Baht, one hour long, air-conditioned, 2nd class bus ride to Chiang Rai. I had seat 4A, just behind Brittany’s 3A window seat. (The direct Chiang Mai bound bus was sold out.) In Chiang Rai we did well and within another twenty minutes had boarded the 3 hour, 88 Baht bus number N261 for Chiang Mai in seats 9A and 9B. This was my first-third class bus ride in Thailand and I won’t be doing it for any long haul travel again.
We finally arrived into Chiang Mai about 2200 where we took a Tuk Tuk to the Child’s Dream office, picked up the scooter, dropped off Brittany at a guesthouse, and I was off for bed at Pam’s flat. Yipee.
Posted by stu at January 1, 2006 03:57 AM